"She is one-third of our points and one-third of our rebounds," Triton girls basketball coach Mark Heeter said. "That's a lot by one of 12 people."

Triton met Oregon-Davis in the Culver Sectional Wednesday, and the Bobcats' plan was obvious as the 2-3 zone it stubbornly stayed in: Don't let Salyer beat us.

Salyer didn't by herself, but she and her teammates did, as Triton (7-14) downed Oregon-Davis (5-14) 57-39.

Oregon-Davis started with a 2-3 zone and stayed in a 2-3 zone until the final three minutes.

The defense worked in the first half as they packed players around Salyer under the basket. She picked up her second foul with 7:09 to go in the second quarter, and rather than risk letting her pick up her third, Heeter put her on the bench until the third quarter.

Triton led 25-22 at halftime.

The Trojans pulled away in the second half when their perimeter shots fell. Salyer was back in, Oregon-Davis was still in its 2-3 zone, and Triton finally began making Oregon-Davis pay. Triton outscored Oregon-Davis 32-17 in the half.

Brandie Ganshorn and Melissa Nifong did a lot of the second-half damage from outside.

"We had to have somebody else step up and hit outside shots," Heeter said. "The second half, we did that.

"I thought Oregon-Davis had a great gameplan. They did an outstanding job on Salyer."

Even when Triton led 43-33 with five minutes left, Oregon-Davis stubbornly stayed in zone. When Triton's lead grew to 51-36 in waning minutes did the Bobcats come out of their zone.

"I thought he would go man earlier," Heeter said. "But he knew if he did, our size would finish them out."

Nifong scored 16 and grabbed eight rebounds to lead Triton. Amber Feldman added 14 points and nine steals. Ganshorn and Rachel Speicher scored seven each. Salyer scored five and grabbed eight rebounds.

"We have the ability to shoot outside, but we haven't had to do it the last couple of weeks," Heeter said. "This was a wakeup call for when teams concentrate on Betsy. Feldman and Nifong stepped up."

Triton meets Michigan City Marquette (12-9) tonight at 7:30.

TRITON 57, OREGON-DAVIS 39

Triton (7-14) 16 9 16 16 - 57

Oregon-Davis (5-14) 10 12 9 8 - 39

Triton -ÊMelissa Nifong 7 0-0 16, Amber Feldman 3 8-10 14, Brandi Ganshorn 3 1-4 7, Rachel Speicher 3 1-2 7, Betsy Salyer 2 1-2 5, Kendra Blackford 1 0-0 3, Gwen Roberts 1 0-0 2, Janell Salisbury 0 2-2 2, Kelli Hackett 0 1-2 1. Totals -Ê20 14-22 57.

Oregon-Davis -ÊTara Kensinger 5 4-4 14, Andrea Minix 3 0-1 7, Amanda Minix 3 0-0 8, Jamie Foster 1 3-3 5, Leah Matusiak 1 0-0 3, Angel Plummer 0 2-4 2, Lisa Bowsher 0 0-1 0, Amy Berg 0 0-0 0, Crystal Lonigro 0 0-0 0. Totals -Ê13 9-13 39.

Three-point goals -ÊTriton 3 (Nifong 2, Blackford), Oregon-Davis 4 (Amanda Minix 2, Andrea Minix, Matusiak). Rebounds - Triton 38 (Nifong 8, Salyer 8), Oregon-Davis 35. Assists -ÊTriton 16 (Ganshorn 6), Oregon-Davis 8. Steals -ÊTriton 20 (Feldman 9), Oregon-Davis 6. Turnovers -ÊTriton 14, Oregon-Davis 24. Total fouls - Triton 17, Oregon-Davis 20. Fouled out - None. [[In-content Ad]]