Triton Downs Defending State Champs
July 28, 2016 at 4:25 p.m.
BOURBON - The defending state champions went down, and you can safely say one thing about Clinton Prairie's players: They went down shooting.
Clinton Prairie, which won last year's Class A state championship, lost to Triton (18-7) 59-53 in Saturday's first round of the Triton A Semistate. The No. 10 Gophers (15-9) finished 17 of 63 (27 percent) from the field.
"How many easy shots did we miss?" Clinton Prairie coach Connie Garrett groaned after the game. "We didn't shoot here yesterday because of the long drive. Looking back, we probably should have."
Clinton Prairie graduated three key players off last year's team, including Indiana All-Star Kourtney Mennen, who averaged 28 points per game. At the same time, only two of Clinton Prarie's nine losses were by more than 10 points, and most of the losses were to talented girls basketball programs like Plymouth (twice, by two and three points), Terre Haute South, Frankfort, Lebanon and Westfield.
"I know some people may look at their record, but they were good," Triton coach Mark Heeter said. "They had the state championship experience. They may not have the same team as last year, but we still had to beat the defending state champs."
Triton junior guard Brandie Ganshorn, who entered averaging 5.3 points per game, hit four three-pointers and led Triton with 16 points. Junior forward Rachel Speicher added 14, and junior center Betsy Salyer scored 13. Senior forward Missy Nifong grabbed 10 rebounds.
Senior guard Heather Allen scored 24 for Clinton Prairie, albeit on 6-of-25 shooting (24 percent) from the field.
Triton took the 16-12 lead at the end of the first quarter and never trailed again. The Trojan lead settled in around 10 to 12 points the rest of the way until the final four minutes, when Clinton Prairie closed the lead to six but came up short.
TRITON 59
CLINTON PRAIRIE 53
Triton (18-7) 16 15 11 17 - 59
C. Prairie (15-9) 12 9 11 21 - 53
Triton FG FT A S R Pts.
Ganshorn (G) 6-8 0-0 6 2 2 16
Speicher (F) 7-14 0-0 4 0 6 14
Salyer (C) 6-11 1-3 1 3 8 13
Senff (G) 3-7 3-4 1 0 2 9
Nifong (F) 2-5 0-0 1 0 10 4
Feldman 0-0 2-2 4 1 2 2
Salisbury 0-2 1-2 1 0 2 1
Miller 0-1 0-0 0 0 2 0
Kreiter 0-0 0-0 0 0 0 0
Totals 24-48 7-11 18 6 34 59
C. Prairie FG FT A S R Pts.
Allen (G) 6-25 8-13 2 1 8 24
Snyder (F) 3-6 2-2 0 3 5 8
Nance (F) 2-9 3-4 1 0 2 7
Jacoby (C) 1-11 1-4 0 0 7 3
Seigfried (G) 0-3 0-0 0 0 1 0
Mennen 4-5 0-0 0 2 3 9
Fox 1-3 0-0 1 0 4 2
Devore 0-0 0-1 0 0 2 0
Lahrman 0-1 0-1 0 0 1 0
Clossin 0-0 0-0 0 0 0 0
Totals 17-63 14-25 4 6 33 53
Three-point goals -ÊClinton Prairie 5-18 (Allen 4-9, Mennen 1-1, Nance 0-3, Seigfried 0-2, Jacoby 0-1, Fox 0-1, Lahrman 0-1), Triton 4-6 (Ganshorn 4-5, Nifong 0-1). Turnovers - Clinton Prairie 9, Triton 18. Total fouls - Clinton Prairie 15, Triton 20. Fouled out -ÊNone. [[In-content Ad]]
BOURBON - The defending state champions went down, and you can safely say one thing about Clinton Prairie's players: They went down shooting.
Clinton Prairie, which won last year's Class A state championship, lost to Triton (18-7) 59-53 in Saturday's first round of the Triton A Semistate. The No. 10 Gophers (15-9) finished 17 of 63 (27 percent) from the field.
"How many easy shots did we miss?" Clinton Prairie coach Connie Garrett groaned after the game. "We didn't shoot here yesterday because of the long drive. Looking back, we probably should have."
Clinton Prairie graduated three key players off last year's team, including Indiana All-Star Kourtney Mennen, who averaged 28 points per game. At the same time, only two of Clinton Prarie's nine losses were by more than 10 points, and most of the losses were to talented girls basketball programs like Plymouth (twice, by two and three points), Terre Haute South, Frankfort, Lebanon and Westfield.
"I know some people may look at their record, but they were good," Triton coach Mark Heeter said. "They had the state championship experience. They may not have the same team as last year, but we still had to beat the defending state champs."
Triton junior guard Brandie Ganshorn, who entered averaging 5.3 points per game, hit four three-pointers and led Triton with 16 points. Junior forward Rachel Speicher added 14, and junior center Betsy Salyer scored 13. Senior forward Missy Nifong grabbed 10 rebounds.
Senior guard Heather Allen scored 24 for Clinton Prairie, albeit on 6-of-25 shooting (24 percent) from the field.
Triton took the 16-12 lead at the end of the first quarter and never trailed again. The Trojan lead settled in around 10 to 12 points the rest of the way until the final four minutes, when Clinton Prairie closed the lead to six but came up short.
TRITON 59
CLINTON PRAIRIE 53
Triton (18-7) 16 15 11 17 - 59
C. Prairie (15-9) 12 9 11 21 - 53
Triton FG FT A S R Pts.
Ganshorn (G) 6-8 0-0 6 2 2 16
Speicher (F) 7-14 0-0 4 0 6 14
Salyer (C) 6-11 1-3 1 3 8 13
Senff (G) 3-7 3-4 1 0 2 9
Nifong (F) 2-5 0-0 1 0 10 4
Feldman 0-0 2-2 4 1 2 2
Salisbury 0-2 1-2 1 0 2 1
Miller 0-1 0-0 0 0 2 0
Kreiter 0-0 0-0 0 0 0 0
Totals 24-48 7-11 18 6 34 59
C. Prairie FG FT A S R Pts.
Allen (G) 6-25 8-13 2 1 8 24
Snyder (F) 3-6 2-2 0 3 5 8
Nance (F) 2-9 3-4 1 0 2 7
Jacoby (C) 1-11 1-4 0 0 7 3
Seigfried (G) 0-3 0-0 0 0 1 0
Mennen 4-5 0-0 0 2 3 9
Fox 1-3 0-0 1 0 4 2
Devore 0-0 0-1 0 0 2 0
Lahrman 0-1 0-1 0 0 1 0
Clossin 0-0 0-0 0 0 0 0
Totals 17-63 14-25 4 6 33 53
Three-point goals -ÊClinton Prairie 5-18 (Allen 4-9, Mennen 1-1, Nance 0-3, Seigfried 0-2, Jacoby 0-1, Fox 0-1, Lahrman 0-1), Triton 4-6 (Ganshorn 4-5, Nifong 0-1). Turnovers - Clinton Prairie 9, Triton 18. Total fouls - Clinton Prairie 15, Triton 20. Fouled out -ÊNone. [[In-content Ad]]