Repeat Is Sweet For Triton
July 28, 2016 at 4:25 p.m.
INDIANAPOLIS - The wrong people wore the capes.
Several Triton boys wore yellow capes over their blue Triton jerseys as they revved up some 1,400 Trojan fans at Saturday's Class A state finals at Conseco Fieldhouse.
But it was Triton's girls basketball players who turned in the superhuman-like first-quarter effort for a state finals game.
Triton, ranked No. 1 in Class A with a 22-3 record, jumped on top of No. 2 White River Valley 16-0 in winning its second state championship in a row. The Trojans, who topped Rising Sun 57-54 in overtime last year, had it easier this time with a 55-38 win over the 22-6 Wolverines.
"You dream about winning one," 11th-year Triton coach Mark Heeter said. "To come back and win two in a row is unbelievable.
"These girls have had a target on their back all year. They were ranked No. 1 before the season started, and they maintained that No. 1 ranking from start to finish."
Senior center Betsy Salyer, named the Class A MVP, led Triton with 13 points and 15 rebounds.
Sophomore guard Ashli Senff added 10 points and nine rebounds, and junior forward Amber Feldman delivered 10 points and five steals. They joined Salyer on the Class A all-tournament team.
When Heeter entered the media room for the postgame press conference, he leaned too far into the microphone and apologized, saying "I'll back off."
Good thing for him his players never did in the first quarter, the deciding quarter.
The Trojans' full-court press squeezed the life out of the Wolverines for one crucial quarter as Triton shot ahead 20-3. From the second quarter on, the teams played to a 35-35 tie.
"The 16-0 start was huge," Heeter said. "They had to dig out of too deep a hole."
Triton's press and traps all over the floor kept a shell-shocked White River Valley team from getting the ball to its end of the floor until one minute passed.
"We let their press bug us," White River Valley coach Joe Pigg said.
Feldman, who hit the game-winning overtime shot in last year's state finals, came up big early. She had six points and two steals as Triton ran ahead 8-0 with 6:05 left in the first quarter. A dazed White River Valley team called timeout. White River Valley players, previously wide-eyed at Triton players who seemed to come at them in waves with their traps, shuffled off the court, shoulders slumping and heads drooping.
"I thought Triton played an awesome ballgame," White River Valley's Lesli White said. "We have never met anyone as aggressive as they were."
For the Wolverines, it got worse before it got better.
Triton tacked on eight more points after the first timeout to extend the lead to 16-0. White River Valley's dry spell mercifully came to end when Ashlee Arthur hit the first basket with 1:33 left in the first quarter to make it 16-2.
When White River Valley players got the ball to their end and ran their offense, they faced another problem: shooting. The Wolverines hit just 1 of 12 field goals (eight percent) in the quarter, even though many of their shots came underneath the basket. Triton outrebounded White River Valley 12-4 in the quarter, and the Wolverines had eight turnovers. Triton shot 10 of 16 from the field (63 percent).
On paper, rebounding and shooting were problems for the Wolverines, and that held true in the game. The Wolverines averaged 25 rebounds per game compared to Triton's 36, and Triton shot 46 percent from the field on the season compared to White River Valley's 38 percent.
Led by Salyer's 15 rebounds, the Trojans outrebounded the Wolverines 40-19. Triton hit 22 of 48 from the field, right at its 46 percent average. White River Valley finished a woeful 12 of 54, 22 percent.
After the strong first quarter, foul trouble slowed Triton in the second quarter. Senior forward Rachel Speicher and Feldman each picked up their second foul and played only a minute each.
With the two starters on the bench Triton's rhythm got thrown off, and the Trojans scored just eight second-quarter points in taking a 28-13 halftime lead.
"Once they came out with foul trouble, we didn't seem to keep it going," Heeter said. "We struggled with that, but we held the lead.
"You can tell the kids it's 0-0 at the start of the second quarter, but they know it's 20-3. They look at the scoreboard."
White River Valley's one run at Triton came in the third quarter. After hitting just 5 of 29 field goals (17 percent) in the first half, the Wolverines hit 5 of 10 field goals and 5 of 5 free throws in the third quarter as they whittled a 32-15 Triton lead down to 40-29. The hot spell continued into the fourth quarter when April Williams hit a three-pointer to trim the lead to 40-32.
"I felt good in the third quarter, and then we hit the three-pointer to start the fourth quarter," Pigg said. "I thought the game then would change."
But the shooting touch the Wolverines suddenly found in the third quarter deserted them just as quickly.
White River Valley returned to first-half form. Instead of missing layups, now the Wolverines shot perimeter airballs, finishing 2 of 14 from the field (14 percent) in the fourth.
By then, it didn't matter. All that mattered occurred in the first quarter, when Triton stepped on White River Valley's throat.
"Sitting back here now," April Williams said, "I realize they had an advantage being in the state championship before. When they were announcing the starting lineups, I was in awe of everything. They were down to earth."
That's just the way Heeter had it scripted.
"At the beginning of the game," he said, "I saw an experience factor there, and that's what I was banking on."
Pigg left the impression Triton was more impressive in person than on game tape.
"I wasn't disappointed in our defense," he said, "other than I thought we should have been in front of [Salyer] more. She was so strong down on the block.
"They're quick from all five spots, including [Salyer]. They're quick from every spot on the floor."
The Wolverines thought they had solid frontcourt players in seniors Christy Herrington and Rachel Beach. The 5-foot-9 Beach averaged 14 points and six rebounds per game, and the 6-foot Herrington averaged 10.9 points and 4.7 rebounds per game.
But the 5-foot-10 Salyer dominated inside, so much so Pigg acknowledged after the game that weight-lifting, never stressed at White River Valley, would be now. Triton already has a weight-lifting program in place.
Herrington and Beach combined for four points and five rebounds as Salyer had her way.
"I work hard on my positioning," she said, "and everybody else boxed out their girls."
Said Heeter: "I don't like guarding Betsy Salyer in the post in practice. I catch elbows every once in a while, and she can push me around a little bit."
A year ago, Triton beat Rising Sun 57-54 in overtime on Feldman's last-second three-pointer to win the state title. This year Triton commanded the game as the Trojans held a lead of 11 or more points in the final 6:30. With 58 seconds left, figuring a 52-38 lead was safe, Triton's fans chanted "repeat."
When the game ended, Heeter reacted by simply raising his arms.
"It feels great no matter what," he said. "Last year was a shocker at the buzzer. This year we could start enjoying it before the game ended. We didn't make it quite as dramatic as last year, but that's OK. We could start enjoying it before the end of the game. That was special."
CLASS A STATE
CHAMPIONSHIP
No. 1 Triton 55
No. 2 White River Valley 38
Triton (23-3) 20 8 12 15 - 55
WRV (22-6) 3 10 16 9 - 38
Triton FG FT A S R Pts.
Salyer (C) 6-12 1-2 0 0 15 13
Senff (G) 4-14 2-4 4 2 9 10
A. Feldman (F) 5-7 0-0 0 5 3 10
Speicher (F) 3-3 0-1 1 0 0 6
Ganshorn (G) 2-4 2-6 1 1 2 6
Westafer 1-3 6-6 0 0 7 8
Miller 1-1 0-0 0 1 1 2
Salisbury 0-1 0-0 0 0 1 0
Bell 0-3 0-0 0 0 1 0
Kreiter 0-0 0-0 1 0 0 0
Bates 0-0 0-0 0 0 0 0
C. Feldman 0-0 0-0 0 0 1 0
Totals 22-48 11-19 7 9 40 55
WRV FG FT A S R Pts.
A. Arthur (G) 5-14 3-5 1 0 5 14
Ap. Williams (G) 1-9 4-8 1 5 0 7
Herrington (C) 2-9 1-1 2 4 2 5
White (F) 0-2 1-2 0 2 2 1
Firestone (F) 0-0 0-0 1 0 0 0
Beach 2-4 0-0 0 2 6 5
Halt 2-9 0-0 0 3 2 4
Am. Williams 0-4 2-2 0 1 1 2
Floyd 0-2 0-0 0 1 1 0
C. Arthur 0-1 0-0 0 0 0 0
Summitt 0-0 0-0 0 0 0 0
Davis 0-0 0-0 0 0 0 0
Totals 12-54 11-18 5 18 19 38
Three-point field goals - Triton 0-3 (Senff 0-2, Ganshorn 0-1), WRV 3-13 (A. Arthur 1-5, Ap. Williams 1-3, Beach 1-1, Halt 0-2, Am. Williams 0-1). Turnovers - Triton 25, WRV 16. Total fouls - Triton 16, WRV 20. Fouled out - none. [[In-content Ad]]
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INDIANAPOLIS - The wrong people wore the capes.
Several Triton boys wore yellow capes over their blue Triton jerseys as they revved up some 1,400 Trojan fans at Saturday's Class A state finals at Conseco Fieldhouse.
But it was Triton's girls basketball players who turned in the superhuman-like first-quarter effort for a state finals game.
Triton, ranked No. 1 in Class A with a 22-3 record, jumped on top of No. 2 White River Valley 16-0 in winning its second state championship in a row. The Trojans, who topped Rising Sun 57-54 in overtime last year, had it easier this time with a 55-38 win over the 22-6 Wolverines.
"You dream about winning one," 11th-year Triton coach Mark Heeter said. "To come back and win two in a row is unbelievable.
"These girls have had a target on their back all year. They were ranked No. 1 before the season started, and they maintained that No. 1 ranking from start to finish."
Senior center Betsy Salyer, named the Class A MVP, led Triton with 13 points and 15 rebounds.
Sophomore guard Ashli Senff added 10 points and nine rebounds, and junior forward Amber Feldman delivered 10 points and five steals. They joined Salyer on the Class A all-tournament team.
When Heeter entered the media room for the postgame press conference, he leaned too far into the microphone and apologized, saying "I'll back off."
Good thing for him his players never did in the first quarter, the deciding quarter.
The Trojans' full-court press squeezed the life out of the Wolverines for one crucial quarter as Triton shot ahead 20-3. From the second quarter on, the teams played to a 35-35 tie.
"The 16-0 start was huge," Heeter said. "They had to dig out of too deep a hole."
Triton's press and traps all over the floor kept a shell-shocked White River Valley team from getting the ball to its end of the floor until one minute passed.
"We let their press bug us," White River Valley coach Joe Pigg said.
Feldman, who hit the game-winning overtime shot in last year's state finals, came up big early. She had six points and two steals as Triton ran ahead 8-0 with 6:05 left in the first quarter. A dazed White River Valley team called timeout. White River Valley players, previously wide-eyed at Triton players who seemed to come at them in waves with their traps, shuffled off the court, shoulders slumping and heads drooping.
"I thought Triton played an awesome ballgame," White River Valley's Lesli White said. "We have never met anyone as aggressive as they were."
For the Wolverines, it got worse before it got better.
Triton tacked on eight more points after the first timeout to extend the lead to 16-0. White River Valley's dry spell mercifully came to end when Ashlee Arthur hit the first basket with 1:33 left in the first quarter to make it 16-2.
When White River Valley players got the ball to their end and ran their offense, they faced another problem: shooting. The Wolverines hit just 1 of 12 field goals (eight percent) in the quarter, even though many of their shots came underneath the basket. Triton outrebounded White River Valley 12-4 in the quarter, and the Wolverines had eight turnovers. Triton shot 10 of 16 from the field (63 percent).
On paper, rebounding and shooting were problems for the Wolverines, and that held true in the game. The Wolverines averaged 25 rebounds per game compared to Triton's 36, and Triton shot 46 percent from the field on the season compared to White River Valley's 38 percent.
Led by Salyer's 15 rebounds, the Trojans outrebounded the Wolverines 40-19. Triton hit 22 of 48 from the field, right at its 46 percent average. White River Valley finished a woeful 12 of 54, 22 percent.
After the strong first quarter, foul trouble slowed Triton in the second quarter. Senior forward Rachel Speicher and Feldman each picked up their second foul and played only a minute each.
With the two starters on the bench Triton's rhythm got thrown off, and the Trojans scored just eight second-quarter points in taking a 28-13 halftime lead.
"Once they came out with foul trouble, we didn't seem to keep it going," Heeter said. "We struggled with that, but we held the lead.
"You can tell the kids it's 0-0 at the start of the second quarter, but they know it's 20-3. They look at the scoreboard."
White River Valley's one run at Triton came in the third quarter. After hitting just 5 of 29 field goals (17 percent) in the first half, the Wolverines hit 5 of 10 field goals and 5 of 5 free throws in the third quarter as they whittled a 32-15 Triton lead down to 40-29. The hot spell continued into the fourth quarter when April Williams hit a three-pointer to trim the lead to 40-32.
"I felt good in the third quarter, and then we hit the three-pointer to start the fourth quarter," Pigg said. "I thought the game then would change."
But the shooting touch the Wolverines suddenly found in the third quarter deserted them just as quickly.
White River Valley returned to first-half form. Instead of missing layups, now the Wolverines shot perimeter airballs, finishing 2 of 14 from the field (14 percent) in the fourth.
By then, it didn't matter. All that mattered occurred in the first quarter, when Triton stepped on White River Valley's throat.
"Sitting back here now," April Williams said, "I realize they had an advantage being in the state championship before. When they were announcing the starting lineups, I was in awe of everything. They were down to earth."
That's just the way Heeter had it scripted.
"At the beginning of the game," he said, "I saw an experience factor there, and that's what I was banking on."
Pigg left the impression Triton was more impressive in person than on game tape.
"I wasn't disappointed in our defense," he said, "other than I thought we should have been in front of [Salyer] more. She was so strong down on the block.
"They're quick from all five spots, including [Salyer]. They're quick from every spot on the floor."
The Wolverines thought they had solid frontcourt players in seniors Christy Herrington and Rachel Beach. The 5-foot-9 Beach averaged 14 points and six rebounds per game, and the 6-foot Herrington averaged 10.9 points and 4.7 rebounds per game.
But the 5-foot-10 Salyer dominated inside, so much so Pigg acknowledged after the game that weight-lifting, never stressed at White River Valley, would be now. Triton already has a weight-lifting program in place.
Herrington and Beach combined for four points and five rebounds as Salyer had her way.
"I work hard on my positioning," she said, "and everybody else boxed out their girls."
Said Heeter: "I don't like guarding Betsy Salyer in the post in practice. I catch elbows every once in a while, and she can push me around a little bit."
A year ago, Triton beat Rising Sun 57-54 in overtime on Feldman's last-second three-pointer to win the state title. This year Triton commanded the game as the Trojans held a lead of 11 or more points in the final 6:30. With 58 seconds left, figuring a 52-38 lead was safe, Triton's fans chanted "repeat."
When the game ended, Heeter reacted by simply raising his arms.
"It feels great no matter what," he said. "Last year was a shocker at the buzzer. This year we could start enjoying it before the game ended. We didn't make it quite as dramatic as last year, but that's OK. We could start enjoying it before the end of the game. That was special."
CLASS A STATE
CHAMPIONSHIP
No. 1 Triton 55
No. 2 White River Valley 38
Triton (23-3) 20 8 12 15 - 55
WRV (22-6) 3 10 16 9 - 38
Triton FG FT A S R Pts.
Salyer (C) 6-12 1-2 0 0 15 13
Senff (G) 4-14 2-4 4 2 9 10
A. Feldman (F) 5-7 0-0 0 5 3 10
Speicher (F) 3-3 0-1 1 0 0 6
Ganshorn (G) 2-4 2-6 1 1 2 6
Westafer 1-3 6-6 0 0 7 8
Miller 1-1 0-0 0 1 1 2
Salisbury 0-1 0-0 0 0 1 0
Bell 0-3 0-0 0 0 1 0
Kreiter 0-0 0-0 1 0 0 0
Bates 0-0 0-0 0 0 0 0
C. Feldman 0-0 0-0 0 0 1 0
Totals 22-48 11-19 7 9 40 55
WRV FG FT A S R Pts.
A. Arthur (G) 5-14 3-5 1 0 5 14
Ap. Williams (G) 1-9 4-8 1 5 0 7
Herrington (C) 2-9 1-1 2 4 2 5
White (F) 0-2 1-2 0 2 2 1
Firestone (F) 0-0 0-0 1 0 0 0
Beach 2-4 0-0 0 2 6 5
Halt 2-9 0-0 0 3 2 4
Am. Williams 0-4 2-2 0 1 1 2
Floyd 0-2 0-0 0 1 1 0
C. Arthur 0-1 0-0 0 0 0 0
Summitt 0-0 0-0 0 0 0 0
Davis 0-0 0-0 0 0 0 0
Totals 12-54 11-18 5 18 19 38
Three-point field goals - Triton 0-3 (Senff 0-2, Ganshorn 0-1), WRV 3-13 (A. Arthur 1-5, Ap. Williams 1-3, Beach 1-1, Halt 0-2, Am. Williams 0-1). Turnovers - Triton 25, WRV 16. Total fouls - Triton 16, WRV 20. Fouled out - none. [[In-content Ad]]