NORTH MANCHESTER -ÊA strong third quarter by the Triton girls basketball team helped the Trojans catch up to the Manchester Squires Monday night, but their success was short-lived as the Squires pounded out 25 points in the fourth to earn a 69-52 win.

Manchester held the Trojans scoreless until the 6:31 mark in the first and built a 15-8 lead by the end of the quarter fuelled by eight points from Megan Eckert and Jessica Hicks.

In the second, Manchester continued to attack the net, scoring 22 points, but Triton picked up the pace as well, scoring 22.

At the half, Manchester held a 37-28 lead over Triton. More than half of Triton's points came from Betsy Salyer who scored 16 of her 20 total points in the first half. Manchester's scoring was more balanced with nine points from Hicks, and seven points each from Eckert, Carrie White, and Sherri Wagoner.

The third stanza was a different story, however, as Triton went on a 10-1 run in the first four minutes of the quarter to tie the score at 38.

With 3:36 left in the third, Melissa Nifong netted a two-point goal to put the Trojans up 40-38, but the Triton lead would be short-lived. Manchester went on a 6-2 mini-run in the last two minutes to regain the lead, 44-42 at the end of the frame.

The Squire defense stepped up in the fourth quarter to hold the Trojans scoreless for the nearly six minutes in the final stanza to build a 65-42 lead with just over two minutes to play.

"We wanted to concentrate on defense and put more pressure on the ball," said Manchester coach Keri Nichols. "Then we concentrated on offense, getting inside where we could get shots or get fouled and not settling for jump shots."

Triton scored ten points in the last two minutes, but the Trojans were unable to dig out of the hole created early in the fourth, and in the end, Manchester came out on top 69-52.

"For three quarters, we played outstanding defense, but after the first five minutes of the fourth, that's all she wrote," said Triton coach Mark Heeter.

Eckert and Hicks finished the night with 20 points apiece while Carrie White chipped in nine of her own.

"We played well in spurts," said Nichols. "It really showed that it was Monday. Overall I'm pleased with the effort the girls put in and their ability to make adjustments as the game went on."

Salyer's 20 points led the Trojans, and Amber Feldman was close behind with 10 Triton points.

"Turnovers and missed shots killed us in the fourth," said Heeter. "We just couldn't seem to score, and our defense suffered too. When your offense slows down, your defense needs to pick up, and we couldn't seem to get that done. Manchester is too good a team to back off of."

Manchester 69

Triton 52

Manchester 15 19 7 25 - 69

Triton 8 20 14 10 - 52

Manchester FG FT R S Pts.

Eckert 6-15 7-8 6 3 20

Hicks 8-14 3-4 4 1 20

C. White 2-7 5-7 2 3 9

Sell 0-0 0-0 1 0 0

Wagoner 3-5 0-0 2 0 7

Jester 2-6 1-1 3 4 6

E. White 0-1 0-0 0 1 0

Terflinger 3-5 1-3 2 1 7

Harms 0-0 0-0 0 1 0

Speicher 0-1 0-0 0 0 0

Totals 24-54 17-23 20 14 69

Triton FG FT R S Pts.

Salyer 9-12 2-2 5 2 20

Nifong 2-6 0-0 4 4 4

Feldman 3-6 4-4 4 2 10

Ganshorn 0-5 2-2 2 2 2

Speicher 4-9 0-0 3 1 8

Roberts 1-1 0-0 1 0 2

Bell 1-3 0-0 0 0 2

Blackford 0-0 0-0 0 0 0

Salisbury 2-2 0-0 0 0 4

Totals 22-44 8-8 19 11 52

Three-point goals -ÊManchester 4-13 (Eckert 1-5, Hicks 1-1, Wagoner 1-1, Jester 1-5, Speicher 0-1), Triton 0. Turnovers -ÊManchester 22, Triton 24. Fouled out -ÊSalyer. Total fouls -ÊManchester 12, Triton 20.

JV Score -ÊTriton 41, Manchester 37.

JV Leaders -ÊManchester: Speicher 11 points, Harms 9 points; Triton: C. Feldman 10 points, McIntyre 9 points. [[In-content Ad]]