Patience Pays Off For Triton
July 28, 2016 at 4:25 p.m.
By Anthony [email protected]
Jumping out to a 20-4 lead on the Class 1A No. 10 Triton Lady Trojans (6-2), the host Lady Vikings (2-5) gradually let it slip away in a 58-54 loss.
“I think the turning point was in the second quarter,” Valley coach Chris Kindig said. “We’re up 20-4 after the first quarter, and the last two minutes of the second quarter, I felt like it started to get away from us a little bit. They sped us up a little bit. So, we went into halftime with what should have been a double-digit lead, but we’re only up seven. Now, it’s a dogfight. We have to be able to have that killer instinct, where you’re up 14, 16 points, you have to keep going.”
In the opening quarter, Valley dominated Triton on the boards, using its much bigger post players to nab 21 rebounds and hold the Lady Trojans to 1-16 shooting.
However, things began to even out as Triton’s guard-heavy lineup successfully sped things up, resulting in 64 shot attempts from Valley and 62 itself.
Outscoring Valley 16-4 in the second quarter, Triton was right back in the game at 27-20 going into the half and stayed within striking distance the entire second half.
“I felt like the kids were patient,” Triton coach Adam Heckaman said. “They worked it back one possession at a time. That’s what you have to do in a game like that.”
Still down 41-38 going into the fourth, Triton’s three-point shooting began to heat up.
Going into the final stanza, Triton had connected on just 2 of 12 attempts, but junior Taylor Hatfield reversed that by hitting her next three attempts.
“Once it fell and we saw we could make it, the girls settled a little bit and saw those were shots they make everyday in practice,” Heckaman said. “They stepped up and knocked them down at the right time.”
Despite Hatfield hitting from beyond the arc, the Lady Vikings weren’t surrendering their lead, as they clung to a 52-51 advantage following Hatfield’s third trey of the quarter with 1:59 remaining.
After Valley junior Cara Hoffman misfired on a trey, Triton took its first lead when sophomore Krystal Sellers missed a three-pointer, but senior Breanna Lemler was all alone for the putback.
Plagued by foul trouble, Lemler only played 14-and-a-half minutes, but came up big in the fourth, nabbing seven of her nine rebounds in the frame, while also making big offensive plays.
Having already given Triton its first lead, she then helped secure the win for her team.
Following her putback bucket, Valley senior Courtney Newsome put the Lady Vikings back on top 54-53, but Sellers then drilled a three-pointer with 51 seconds remaining.
“They hit four threes in that fourth quarter, but it sure felt like a lot more,” Kindig said. “It felt like it was double that, because they were big shots at times where we might get a two, then they come down and get a three.”
Sellers’ trey was followed by a miss from Valley junior Sara Alexander, forcing the Lady Vikings to foul.
Playing the free-throw game, Valley sent Triton junior Mallorie Jennings to the line for a one-and-one situation, where she missed the first.
Given another life, the Lady Vikings instead turned the ball over on its next possession and were forcing to foul again, and this time it was Hatfield.
Although Hatfield also missed the first of her one-and-one chance, Lemler nabbed the offensive rebound, was fouled and made two free throws to make it a two-possession game at 58-54 with 13 seconds left.
“Not blocking out on a free throw was huge,” Kindig said. “We’re down two and we don’t block out on a one-and-one. That can never happen.”
In limited minutes, Lemler made her time on the court count.
“She did a great job, Heckaman said of Lemler. “She came in and did what we needed her to do down the stretch. She got a big offensive rebound, then was able to make the two free throws. It couldn’t have gotten any bigger than that.”
Triton was led by Hatfield’s 21 points, while Sellers had 10 points, eight assists and four steals.
For Valley, sophomore Caylie Teel scored a team-high 15 points on 7-of-16 shooting, while also garnering six steals and six rebounds.
“I thought she was looking for her shot a little bit more tonight,” Kindig said of Teel. “I’ve been talking to her about that all year, about how she needs to get more aggressive. She’s shooting 40-plus percent from the field. From our perspective, as a team, we’re only shooting 30-some percent, so if we have someone shooting over 40 percent, she needs to get more shots.”
Valley outrebounded Triton 52-39 thanks in large part to junior Kelsey Ball’s 17, but Kindig would like to see her scoring increase, as she netted four points, hitting 1 of 5 field goals.
“She’s going to have to step up and give us the offensive numbers night-in and night-out that Caylie’s giving us,” Kindig said.
“On the rebounding end, she’s doing a really nice job,” he added. “She’s really helped us a lot, but she just needs to step it up offensively.”
Valley takes a four-game losing streak into Friday’s Three Rivers Conference home game against North Miami, while Triton is also home Friday, hosting Bremen in a Northern State Conference game.
TRITON 58, TIPPECANOE VALLEY 54
Tr 4 16 18 20 – 58
TV 20 7 14 13 – 54
Triton – Taylor Hatfield 7-19 4-6 21, Breanna Lemler 2-4 2-2 6, Krystal Sellers 4-12 0-1 10, Kylie Mason 3-7 2-2 9, Mallorie Jennings 2-14 0-1 4, Allie Kann 0-0 0-0 0, Becca Kennedy 1-1 0-0 2, Hannah Jennings 2-5 2-3 6. Totals 21-62 10-15 58.
Valley – Danielle Bussard 0-4 2-2 2, Cara Hoffman 2-12 2-3 7, Caylie Teel 7-16 1-2 15, Kelsey Ball 1-5 2-2 4, Connor Fraser 4-7 0-0 8, Taylor Trippiedi 2-6 0-0 5, Karis Tucker 0-0 0-0 0, Courtney Newsome 3-7 0-3 6, Sara Alexander 3-7 1-2 7. Totals 22-64 8-14 54.
Three-point goals – Triton 6-19 (Hatfield 3, Sellers 2, Mason), Valley 2-10 (Hoffman, Trippiedi); Team Fouls (fouled out) – Triton 13, Valley 20 (Teel); Turnovers – Triton 15, Valley 23; Rebounds – Triton 39 (Lemler 9), Valley 52 (Ball 17); Assists – Triton 17 (Sellers 8), Valley 12 (Newsome 4); Steals – Triton 12 (Sellers 4), Valley 10 (Teel 6); Blocks – Triton 3 (H. Jennings 3), Valley 1
Records: Triton 6-2, Valley 2-5
JV – Valley 47, Triton 36[[In-content Ad]]
Jumping out to a 20-4 lead on the Class 1A No. 10 Triton Lady Trojans (6-2), the host Lady Vikings (2-5) gradually let it slip away in a 58-54 loss.
“I think the turning point was in the second quarter,” Valley coach Chris Kindig said. “We’re up 20-4 after the first quarter, and the last two minutes of the second quarter, I felt like it started to get away from us a little bit. They sped us up a little bit. So, we went into halftime with what should have been a double-digit lead, but we’re only up seven. Now, it’s a dogfight. We have to be able to have that killer instinct, where you’re up 14, 16 points, you have to keep going.”
In the opening quarter, Valley dominated Triton on the boards, using its much bigger post players to nab 21 rebounds and hold the Lady Trojans to 1-16 shooting.
However, things began to even out as Triton’s guard-heavy lineup successfully sped things up, resulting in 64 shot attempts from Valley and 62 itself.
Outscoring Valley 16-4 in the second quarter, Triton was right back in the game at 27-20 going into the half and stayed within striking distance the entire second half.
“I felt like the kids were patient,” Triton coach Adam Heckaman said. “They worked it back one possession at a time. That’s what you have to do in a game like that.”
Still down 41-38 going into the fourth, Triton’s three-point shooting began to heat up.
Going into the final stanza, Triton had connected on just 2 of 12 attempts, but junior Taylor Hatfield reversed that by hitting her next three attempts.
“Once it fell and we saw we could make it, the girls settled a little bit and saw those were shots they make everyday in practice,” Heckaman said. “They stepped up and knocked them down at the right time.”
Despite Hatfield hitting from beyond the arc, the Lady Vikings weren’t surrendering their lead, as they clung to a 52-51 advantage following Hatfield’s third trey of the quarter with 1:59 remaining.
After Valley junior Cara Hoffman misfired on a trey, Triton took its first lead when sophomore Krystal Sellers missed a three-pointer, but senior Breanna Lemler was all alone for the putback.
Plagued by foul trouble, Lemler only played 14-and-a-half minutes, but came up big in the fourth, nabbing seven of her nine rebounds in the frame, while also making big offensive plays.
Having already given Triton its first lead, she then helped secure the win for her team.
Following her putback bucket, Valley senior Courtney Newsome put the Lady Vikings back on top 54-53, but Sellers then drilled a three-pointer with 51 seconds remaining.
“They hit four threes in that fourth quarter, but it sure felt like a lot more,” Kindig said. “It felt like it was double that, because they were big shots at times where we might get a two, then they come down and get a three.”
Sellers’ trey was followed by a miss from Valley junior Sara Alexander, forcing the Lady Vikings to foul.
Playing the free-throw game, Valley sent Triton junior Mallorie Jennings to the line for a one-and-one situation, where she missed the first.
Given another life, the Lady Vikings instead turned the ball over on its next possession and were forcing to foul again, and this time it was Hatfield.
Although Hatfield also missed the first of her one-and-one chance, Lemler nabbed the offensive rebound, was fouled and made two free throws to make it a two-possession game at 58-54 with 13 seconds left.
“Not blocking out on a free throw was huge,” Kindig said. “We’re down two and we don’t block out on a one-and-one. That can never happen.”
In limited minutes, Lemler made her time on the court count.
“She did a great job, Heckaman said of Lemler. “She came in and did what we needed her to do down the stretch. She got a big offensive rebound, then was able to make the two free throws. It couldn’t have gotten any bigger than that.”
Triton was led by Hatfield’s 21 points, while Sellers had 10 points, eight assists and four steals.
For Valley, sophomore Caylie Teel scored a team-high 15 points on 7-of-16 shooting, while also garnering six steals and six rebounds.
“I thought she was looking for her shot a little bit more tonight,” Kindig said of Teel. “I’ve been talking to her about that all year, about how she needs to get more aggressive. She’s shooting 40-plus percent from the field. From our perspective, as a team, we’re only shooting 30-some percent, so if we have someone shooting over 40 percent, she needs to get more shots.”
Valley outrebounded Triton 52-39 thanks in large part to junior Kelsey Ball’s 17, but Kindig would like to see her scoring increase, as she netted four points, hitting 1 of 5 field goals.
“She’s going to have to step up and give us the offensive numbers night-in and night-out that Caylie’s giving us,” Kindig said.
“On the rebounding end, she’s doing a really nice job,” he added. “She’s really helped us a lot, but she just needs to step it up offensively.”
Valley takes a four-game losing streak into Friday’s Three Rivers Conference home game against North Miami, while Triton is also home Friday, hosting Bremen in a Northern State Conference game.
TRITON 58, TIPPECANOE VALLEY 54
Tr 4 16 18 20 – 58
TV 20 7 14 13 – 54
Triton – Taylor Hatfield 7-19 4-6 21, Breanna Lemler 2-4 2-2 6, Krystal Sellers 4-12 0-1 10, Kylie Mason 3-7 2-2 9, Mallorie Jennings 2-14 0-1 4, Allie Kann 0-0 0-0 0, Becca Kennedy 1-1 0-0 2, Hannah Jennings 2-5 2-3 6. Totals 21-62 10-15 58.
Valley – Danielle Bussard 0-4 2-2 2, Cara Hoffman 2-12 2-3 7, Caylie Teel 7-16 1-2 15, Kelsey Ball 1-5 2-2 4, Connor Fraser 4-7 0-0 8, Taylor Trippiedi 2-6 0-0 5, Karis Tucker 0-0 0-0 0, Courtney Newsome 3-7 0-3 6, Sara Alexander 3-7 1-2 7. Totals 22-64 8-14 54.
Three-point goals – Triton 6-19 (Hatfield 3, Sellers 2, Mason), Valley 2-10 (Hoffman, Trippiedi); Team Fouls (fouled out) – Triton 13, Valley 20 (Teel); Turnovers – Triton 15, Valley 23; Rebounds – Triton 39 (Lemler 9), Valley 52 (Ball 17); Assists – Triton 17 (Sellers 8), Valley 12 (Newsome 4); Steals – Triton 12 (Sellers 4), Valley 10 (Teel 6); Blocks – Triton 3 (H. Jennings 3), Valley 1
Records: Triton 6-2, Valley 2-5
JV – Valley 47, Triton 36[[In-content Ad]]
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