Triton Girls Fall To County Rival Plymouth

July 28, 2016 at 4:25 p.m.

By Anthony [email protected]

PLYMOUTH — In its first real test of the season, the Class 1A eighth-ranked Triton girls basketball dropped a tough 45-39 decision at county rival Plymouth Thursday night.
The Triton Lady Trojans (2-1) opened the season with victories over North Judson and Argos, winning by a total score of 123-57, but the Plymouth Lady Pilgrims (2-0) were a different kind of opponent.
“They’re a great defensive team,” Triton coach Adam Heckaman said. “They’re probably only going to allow 30-some points a game all year, against some really good teams. To come over here and be able to score 39 points, I can’t be too upset with that. They do a good job of covering everybody. They make you work the ball around and be patient, killing some clock.”
Making things even tougher for the Class 1A Lady Trojans against the Class 4A Lady Pilgrims was the loss of junior Hannah Jennings and sophomore Jaela Meister.
Jennings also missed Tuesday’s game against Argos with an illness, but Meister was on hand Thursday night before having to leave with the flu.
Without the two post players, Heckaman only had two girls on the bench, but he was pleased with the effort given.
“We had at least three kids that played 32 minutes, and one that played 31,” he said. “That’s going to wear on you. We’re looking forward to getting everybody back. We had a couple with the flu tonight. When we get everybody back, we’ll be deep. The kids out there tonight really stepped up and played with a lot of heart. We just couldn’t hit that big shot after Plymouth took the lead, and I think that was a little bit due to tired legs.”
Despite the lack of reserves, Triton built a 25-18 lead following a bucket by Taylor Hatfield with 5:22 remaining in the third quarter.
Following the bucket, Plymouth coach Dave Duncan called a timeout to regroup his squad, which worked.
Out of the timeout, Plymouth junior Hunter Stevens and freshman Nicole Horvath made back-to-back baskets, cutting the lead to 25-22.
At that point, Stevens and Horvath had scored all of Plymouth’s points, with Stevens netting 13 and Horvath accounting for nine.
Plymouth junior Haley Harrell tied the game with a trey with 1:07 remaining, then hit another 3-pointer after Triton junior Krystal Sellers’ field goal, giving Plymouth a 28-27 lead.
“What deflated us a little bit was Harrell’s two 3s,” Heckaman said.
The two teams battled back-and-forth from that point, with Triton junior Becca Kennedy knotting things up at 37-37 with 2:38 to play in the game.
With the game tied, Triton appeared to get a break when Stevens missed two free throws, but sophomore Shannon Stephenson got the offensive board, was fouled and made her two free throws.
Just after getting the lead, Stephenson got a steal, which Stevens tracked down and took for a layup, putting Plymouth on top 41-37 with 2:13 left.
Triton pulled within 41-39 following a putback bucket by senior Mallorie Jennings, put that was as close as it got.
Stevens led all scorers with 21 points on 9-of-15 shooting, while also nabbing five rebounds.
For Triton, Hatfield led the way with 11 points and five assists, Sellers had eight points, five rebounds and three steals and Jennings posted six points, eight rebounds and two blocks.
“Mallorie Jennings is kind of an unsung hero for us,” Heckaman said. “A lot of people don’t notice her because she doesn’t put up big numbers on the offensive end. She’s not a kid that’s going to go out every night and score 20, 30 points, but she does the dirty work. She leads our team in minutes, which a lot of people probably don’t realize. She’s probably averaging 27 or 28 minutes a game, and it’s because she can play inside and outside.”
Up next for Triton is another game against a Northern Lakes Conference opponent Tuesday at Class 3A No. 7 NorthWood.
Despite the loss to Plymouth, Heckaman did take a positive out of the way his team played.
“We learn a little bit from every game,” Heckaman said. “In this one, I think we learned we don’t have to put up 60, 70 points to be competitive. We can play defense and be patient on offense, so we can play that type of game when we need to.”

PLYMOUTH 45, TRITON 39
T    12    7    10    10    –    39
P    11    7    12    15    –    45
Plymouth – Hunter Stevens 9-15 3-6 21, Bailey Brown 0-3 0-0 0, Haley Harrell 2-6 0-0 6, Kirstin Riise 0-0 0-0 0, Nicole Horvath 4-9 2-4 10, Elise Patrick 0-1 0-0 0, Shannon Stephenson 2-3 4-4 8. Totals 17-37 9-14 45.
Triton – Taylor Hatfield 2-5 6-7 11, Krystal Sellers 3-7 2-3 8, Kylie Mason 3-14 0-0 7, Mallorie Jennings 2-7 2-2 6, Lauren Hostrawser 3-5 0-0 6, Allie Kann 0-0 0-0 0, Becca Kennedy 0-4 1-2 1. Totals 13-42 11-14 39.
3-point goals – Plymouth 2-7 (Harrell 2), Triton 2-14 (Hatfield, Mason); Team Fouls – Plymouth 12, Triton 13; Turnovers – Plymouth 15, Triton 11; Rebounds – Plymouth 30 (Brown 6), Triton 22 (Jennings 8); Assists – Plymouth 6 (Brown 3), Triton 9 (Hatfield 5); Steals – Plymouth 4, Triton 8 (Sellers 3); Blocks – Plymouth 3 (Horvath 2), Triton 5 (Hostrawser 3)
Records: Plymouth 2-0, Triton 2-1
JV – Plymouth 37, Triton 10
Triton JV – Brooklyn Beatty 6, Shayla May 2, Katie Lenker 2[[In-content Ad]]

PLYMOUTH — In its first real test of the season, the Class 1A eighth-ranked Triton girls basketball dropped a tough 45-39 decision at county rival Plymouth Thursday night.
The Triton Lady Trojans (2-1) opened the season with victories over North Judson and Argos, winning by a total score of 123-57, but the Plymouth Lady Pilgrims (2-0) were a different kind of opponent.
“They’re a great defensive team,” Triton coach Adam Heckaman said. “They’re probably only going to allow 30-some points a game all year, against some really good teams. To come over here and be able to score 39 points, I can’t be too upset with that. They do a good job of covering everybody. They make you work the ball around and be patient, killing some clock.”
Making things even tougher for the Class 1A Lady Trojans against the Class 4A Lady Pilgrims was the loss of junior Hannah Jennings and sophomore Jaela Meister.
Jennings also missed Tuesday’s game against Argos with an illness, but Meister was on hand Thursday night before having to leave with the flu.
Without the two post players, Heckaman only had two girls on the bench, but he was pleased with the effort given.
“We had at least three kids that played 32 minutes, and one that played 31,” he said. “That’s going to wear on you. We’re looking forward to getting everybody back. We had a couple with the flu tonight. When we get everybody back, we’ll be deep. The kids out there tonight really stepped up and played with a lot of heart. We just couldn’t hit that big shot after Plymouth took the lead, and I think that was a little bit due to tired legs.”
Despite the lack of reserves, Triton built a 25-18 lead following a bucket by Taylor Hatfield with 5:22 remaining in the third quarter.
Following the bucket, Plymouth coach Dave Duncan called a timeout to regroup his squad, which worked.
Out of the timeout, Plymouth junior Hunter Stevens and freshman Nicole Horvath made back-to-back baskets, cutting the lead to 25-22.
At that point, Stevens and Horvath had scored all of Plymouth’s points, with Stevens netting 13 and Horvath accounting for nine.
Plymouth junior Haley Harrell tied the game with a trey with 1:07 remaining, then hit another 3-pointer after Triton junior Krystal Sellers’ field goal, giving Plymouth a 28-27 lead.
“What deflated us a little bit was Harrell’s two 3s,” Heckaman said.
The two teams battled back-and-forth from that point, with Triton junior Becca Kennedy knotting things up at 37-37 with 2:38 to play in the game.
With the game tied, Triton appeared to get a break when Stevens missed two free throws, but sophomore Shannon Stephenson got the offensive board, was fouled and made her two free throws.
Just after getting the lead, Stephenson got a steal, which Stevens tracked down and took for a layup, putting Plymouth on top 41-37 with 2:13 left.
Triton pulled within 41-39 following a putback bucket by senior Mallorie Jennings, put that was as close as it got.
Stevens led all scorers with 21 points on 9-of-15 shooting, while also nabbing five rebounds.
For Triton, Hatfield led the way with 11 points and five assists, Sellers had eight points, five rebounds and three steals and Jennings posted six points, eight rebounds and two blocks.
“Mallorie Jennings is kind of an unsung hero for us,” Heckaman said. “A lot of people don’t notice her because she doesn’t put up big numbers on the offensive end. She’s not a kid that’s going to go out every night and score 20, 30 points, but she does the dirty work. She leads our team in minutes, which a lot of people probably don’t realize. She’s probably averaging 27 or 28 minutes a game, and it’s because she can play inside and outside.”
Up next for Triton is another game against a Northern Lakes Conference opponent Tuesday at Class 3A No. 7 NorthWood.
Despite the loss to Plymouth, Heckaman did take a positive out of the way his team played.
“We learn a little bit from every game,” Heckaman said. “In this one, I think we learned we don’t have to put up 60, 70 points to be competitive. We can play defense and be patient on offense, so we can play that type of game when we need to.”

PLYMOUTH 45, TRITON 39
T    12    7    10    10    –    39
P    11    7    12    15    –    45
Plymouth – Hunter Stevens 9-15 3-6 21, Bailey Brown 0-3 0-0 0, Haley Harrell 2-6 0-0 6, Kirstin Riise 0-0 0-0 0, Nicole Horvath 4-9 2-4 10, Elise Patrick 0-1 0-0 0, Shannon Stephenson 2-3 4-4 8. Totals 17-37 9-14 45.
Triton – Taylor Hatfield 2-5 6-7 11, Krystal Sellers 3-7 2-3 8, Kylie Mason 3-14 0-0 7, Mallorie Jennings 2-7 2-2 6, Lauren Hostrawser 3-5 0-0 6, Allie Kann 0-0 0-0 0, Becca Kennedy 0-4 1-2 1. Totals 13-42 11-14 39.
3-point goals – Plymouth 2-7 (Harrell 2), Triton 2-14 (Hatfield, Mason); Team Fouls – Plymouth 12, Triton 13; Turnovers – Plymouth 15, Triton 11; Rebounds – Plymouth 30 (Brown 6), Triton 22 (Jennings 8); Assists – Plymouth 6 (Brown 3), Triton 9 (Hatfield 5); Steals – Plymouth 4, Triton 8 (Sellers 3); Blocks – Plymouth 3 (Horvath 2), Triton 5 (Hostrawser 3)
Records: Plymouth 2-0, Triton 2-1
JV – Plymouth 37, Triton 10
Triton JV – Brooklyn Beatty 6, Shayla May 2, Katie Lenker 2[[In-content Ad]]
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