Triton Girls Top Valley On Hardwood
July 28, 2016 at 4:25 p.m.
By Anthony [email protected]
Triton (4-3) entered the game losers of three of its last four games, while (Valley 3-4) had lost three-straight following a 3-0 start.
In its last four games, the young Tippecanoe Valley Lady Vikings have faced strong teams, including Noblesville (7-1), Plymouth (6-1), Class 2A No. 8 Wabash (7-1) and Triton, and coach Chris Kindig is hoping at least lessons are being learned.
“Saturday night (against Wabash), we gave up a lot of offensive rebounds, and tonight we missed a lot of free throws at critical times or we turned the ball over at critical times,” he said. “That’s the sign of a team with a lack of experience. When we put the ingredients together, I think we’re going to be a pretty good team.”
Against Triton, the lesson learned was knowing where the sharpest shooter on the court is.
Running a box-and-one defense to slow down Triton junior guard Kylie Mason, the effort fell short.
In the first four minutes, Mason had Valley junior Caylie Teel chasing her all over the court. Mason hit her first three shots, including two treys, to help the Lady Trojans build a 16-7 lead.
By the end of the night, Mason had scored a game-high 21 points, making 4 of 5 three-point attempts.
“She hit a couple tough shots,” Kindig said of Mason. “I mean, she hit a couple of those 3s with someone draped all over her. That’s a credit to her, more than it was a lack of our defense.”
Despite Triton’s fast start, Valley used a 17-3 run to take a 24-19 lead with 1:24 remaining in the first half, but Mason then converted a three-point play, senior Taylor Hatfield drained a three-pointer and Mason scored again, giving the home team a 27-24 halftime lead.
The teams jostled back and forth throughout the second half, until Mason landed a shot to the jaw of Valley, draining a three-pointer from the top of the key on an in-bound play under the basket that put Triton on top 44-43 with 3:32 to play.
“We had talked about that in-bound play in practice several times (Tuesday),” Kindig said. “We just hesitated for a second and she got the ball and hit it at the top of the key.”
The Triton lead swelled to 49-43, but Valley freshman Meredith Brouyette gave her team life, draining a three-pointer with 2:03 remaining.
But just as it looked like Valley was back in it, Mason hit another three-pointer, this time following an offensive rebound to put the Lady Vikings right back in a 52-46 hole with 1:31 remaining.
“Kylie has confidence,” Triton coach Adam Heckaman said. “She has the green light and she knows that. She can step up and hit those big shots. We don’t want her to shy away from them. She’s definitely understanding the game more, as far as situations. That’s a shot we want her to take in that situation.”
If the game told a scout anything, it was that just about any Lady Trojan has the green light.
Routinely, if a Triton player was open, she was shooting, be it junior Becca Kennedy hitting a jumper from just inside the arc in third quarter or junior Hannah Jennings scoring her only two points with 2:15 left in the game, giving Triton a 49-43 lead.
“All the kids are very capable shooters,” Heckaman said. “They know that and they know I have confidence in them. I put Becca in for that purpose. If they want to run a box-and-one (defense) on somebody we’re going to put some shooters out there that are going to knock down jumpers. She hit a shot and (junior) Krystal (Sellers) knocked down a big 3. Eventually, you can’t run a box-and-one or a triangle-two on two kids, because other kids will step up and knock down shots.”
Along with Mason’s production, senior Taylor Hatfield had 12 points and Mallorie Jennings tallied 10 points and eight rebounds.
Once again for Valley, it was freshman Anne Secrest who was the story, recording 19 points, 16 rebounds and three blocks.
“She completely dominates the game for them,” Heckaman said. “She’s a great player. It’s amazing that that kid’s a freshman. Coming in, we talked about not letting her go to her right hand, because that’s what she really likes to do, but she finds ways to do it. She’s a dominant force.”
While Secrest continues to dominate, more and more defenses will continue to sag down on her, so the outside shot will be more important for Valley.
Unfortunately for Valley, the outside shot hasn’t fallen regularly.
Including Wednesday’s 3-of-12 three-point shooting against Triton, Valley’s making just 29 percent of its three-point attempts.
“We’re going to have to get a little bit better at that, because, with Anne Secrest (down low), she’s a tough matchup, and so is (senior) Kelsey Ball,” Kindig said. “I think teams are really going to start packing it in and making us hit that outside shot. I think we have the capability of hitting 3s, we just need to work on them a little more in practice.”
One nice thing in the loss for Valley was the play of Teel.
After missing the Plymouth game, and playing limited minutes against Wabash, she appeared to be coping with her wrist and finger injury better en route to 15 points, six rebounds, two assists and two steals.
“That’s what we’ve been missing the last couple games – someone who can defend, rebound and can just get you double-figure points with that athleticism,” Kindig said.
“Tonight, she was up to about 80, 85 percent with the wrist and I think it showed in her play,” he added. “I think she played with a lot more confidence with it, so, obviously, it’s feeling better.”
The schedule lightens up for Valley when it travels to North Miami (2-7) Friday for a Three Rivers Conference game.
“That’s a must-win for us, as far as I’m concerned,” Kindig said. “If we have any shot of winning the conference, we need to win that game Friday. That’s our focus.”
Triton is also in need of a conference road win Friday, as it travels to Bremen (2-5).
After sweeping through the Northern State Conference last season, Triton opened its NSC season with a loss at Knox Saturday.
The game at Bremen got a little tougher after the Lady Lions added Penn High School sophomore-transfer Michaela Box to its roster, which helped in a 65-61 NSC win at Class 1A No. 9 Culver Saturday.
“With it being a conference game and us having one loss, the girls know how important it is,” Heckaman said. “It’s a Bremen team that we’ll be ready for, but it’s hard to be ready for a kid that’s only played one game – and part of one game at that. She’s going to come in and make a difference for that team. We’ll go over there and see what we can do.”
TRITON 55, TIPPECANOE VALLEY 48
TV 9 15 13 11 – 48
Tri 16 11 12 16 – 55
Triton – Taylor Hatfield 4-11 1-3 12, Krystal Sellers 1-4 3-6 6, Kylie Mason 8-14 1-1 21, Mallorie Jennings 2-9 6-9 10, Lauren Hostrawser 1-2 0-0 2, Allie Kann 0-0 0-2 0, Hannah Jennings 1-2 0-0 2, Becca Kennedy 1-3 0-0 2, Jaela Meister 0-4 0-0 0. Totals 18-49 11-21 55.
Valley – Karis Tucker 0-2 0-2 0, Cara Hoffman 2-10 1-2 7, Caylie Teel 6-14 3-5 15, Kelsey Ball 0-3 0-0 0, Anne Secrest 8-15 3-6 19, Taylor Trippiedi 1-3 0-0 2, Meredith Brouyette 1-4 2-3 5. Totals 18-51 9-18 48.
Three-pointers – Triton 8 (Mason 4, Hatfield 3, Sellers), Valley 3 (Hoffman 2, Brouyette); Team Fouls – Triton 16, Valley 19; Turnovers – Triton 10, Valley 13; Rebounds – Triton 33 (M. Jennings 8), Valley 43 (Secrest 16); Assists – Triton 12 (Sellers 3), Valley 12 (Ball 4); Steals – Triton 8 (Hatfield 2, Sellers 2), Valley 6 (Tucker 3); Blocks – Triton 0, Valley 4 (Secrest 3).
Records: Triton 4-3, Valley 3-4
JV – Valley 37, Triton 31
Valley – Morgan Brazo 11, Brynda Krueger 10, Casey Dunn 8, Hanna Dalrymple 4, Taneisha Brown 2, Hannah Dunn 2.
Triton – Brooklyn Beatty 14, Shayla May 11, Quinn Downing 3, Heather Stichter 2, Kayla Kreft 1.[[In-content Ad]]
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Triton (4-3) entered the game losers of three of its last four games, while (Valley 3-4) had lost three-straight following a 3-0 start.
In its last four games, the young Tippecanoe Valley Lady Vikings have faced strong teams, including Noblesville (7-1), Plymouth (6-1), Class 2A No. 8 Wabash (7-1) and Triton, and coach Chris Kindig is hoping at least lessons are being learned.
“Saturday night (against Wabash), we gave up a lot of offensive rebounds, and tonight we missed a lot of free throws at critical times or we turned the ball over at critical times,” he said. “That’s the sign of a team with a lack of experience. When we put the ingredients together, I think we’re going to be a pretty good team.”
Against Triton, the lesson learned was knowing where the sharpest shooter on the court is.
Running a box-and-one defense to slow down Triton junior guard Kylie Mason, the effort fell short.
In the first four minutes, Mason had Valley junior Caylie Teel chasing her all over the court. Mason hit her first three shots, including two treys, to help the Lady Trojans build a 16-7 lead.
By the end of the night, Mason had scored a game-high 21 points, making 4 of 5 three-point attempts.
“She hit a couple tough shots,” Kindig said of Mason. “I mean, she hit a couple of those 3s with someone draped all over her. That’s a credit to her, more than it was a lack of our defense.”
Despite Triton’s fast start, Valley used a 17-3 run to take a 24-19 lead with 1:24 remaining in the first half, but Mason then converted a three-point play, senior Taylor Hatfield drained a three-pointer and Mason scored again, giving the home team a 27-24 halftime lead.
The teams jostled back and forth throughout the second half, until Mason landed a shot to the jaw of Valley, draining a three-pointer from the top of the key on an in-bound play under the basket that put Triton on top 44-43 with 3:32 to play.
“We had talked about that in-bound play in practice several times (Tuesday),” Kindig said. “We just hesitated for a second and she got the ball and hit it at the top of the key.”
The Triton lead swelled to 49-43, but Valley freshman Meredith Brouyette gave her team life, draining a three-pointer with 2:03 remaining.
But just as it looked like Valley was back in it, Mason hit another three-pointer, this time following an offensive rebound to put the Lady Vikings right back in a 52-46 hole with 1:31 remaining.
“Kylie has confidence,” Triton coach Adam Heckaman said. “She has the green light and she knows that. She can step up and hit those big shots. We don’t want her to shy away from them. She’s definitely understanding the game more, as far as situations. That’s a shot we want her to take in that situation.”
If the game told a scout anything, it was that just about any Lady Trojan has the green light.
Routinely, if a Triton player was open, she was shooting, be it junior Becca Kennedy hitting a jumper from just inside the arc in third quarter or junior Hannah Jennings scoring her only two points with 2:15 left in the game, giving Triton a 49-43 lead.
“All the kids are very capable shooters,” Heckaman said. “They know that and they know I have confidence in them. I put Becca in for that purpose. If they want to run a box-and-one (defense) on somebody we’re going to put some shooters out there that are going to knock down jumpers. She hit a shot and (junior) Krystal (Sellers) knocked down a big 3. Eventually, you can’t run a box-and-one or a triangle-two on two kids, because other kids will step up and knock down shots.”
Along with Mason’s production, senior Taylor Hatfield had 12 points and Mallorie Jennings tallied 10 points and eight rebounds.
Once again for Valley, it was freshman Anne Secrest who was the story, recording 19 points, 16 rebounds and three blocks.
“She completely dominates the game for them,” Heckaman said. “She’s a great player. It’s amazing that that kid’s a freshman. Coming in, we talked about not letting her go to her right hand, because that’s what she really likes to do, but she finds ways to do it. She’s a dominant force.”
While Secrest continues to dominate, more and more defenses will continue to sag down on her, so the outside shot will be more important for Valley.
Unfortunately for Valley, the outside shot hasn’t fallen regularly.
Including Wednesday’s 3-of-12 three-point shooting against Triton, Valley’s making just 29 percent of its three-point attempts.
“We’re going to have to get a little bit better at that, because, with Anne Secrest (down low), she’s a tough matchup, and so is (senior) Kelsey Ball,” Kindig said. “I think teams are really going to start packing it in and making us hit that outside shot. I think we have the capability of hitting 3s, we just need to work on them a little more in practice.”
One nice thing in the loss for Valley was the play of Teel.
After missing the Plymouth game, and playing limited minutes against Wabash, she appeared to be coping with her wrist and finger injury better en route to 15 points, six rebounds, two assists and two steals.
“That’s what we’ve been missing the last couple games – someone who can defend, rebound and can just get you double-figure points with that athleticism,” Kindig said.
“Tonight, she was up to about 80, 85 percent with the wrist and I think it showed in her play,” he added. “I think she played with a lot more confidence with it, so, obviously, it’s feeling better.”
The schedule lightens up for Valley when it travels to North Miami (2-7) Friday for a Three Rivers Conference game.
“That’s a must-win for us, as far as I’m concerned,” Kindig said. “If we have any shot of winning the conference, we need to win that game Friday. That’s our focus.”
Triton is also in need of a conference road win Friday, as it travels to Bremen (2-5).
After sweeping through the Northern State Conference last season, Triton opened its NSC season with a loss at Knox Saturday.
The game at Bremen got a little tougher after the Lady Lions added Penn High School sophomore-transfer Michaela Box to its roster, which helped in a 65-61 NSC win at Class 1A No. 9 Culver Saturday.
“With it being a conference game and us having one loss, the girls know how important it is,” Heckaman said. “It’s a Bremen team that we’ll be ready for, but it’s hard to be ready for a kid that’s only played one game – and part of one game at that. She’s going to come in and make a difference for that team. We’ll go over there and see what we can do.”
TRITON 55, TIPPECANOE VALLEY 48
TV 9 15 13 11 – 48
Tri 16 11 12 16 – 55
Triton – Taylor Hatfield 4-11 1-3 12, Krystal Sellers 1-4 3-6 6, Kylie Mason 8-14 1-1 21, Mallorie Jennings 2-9 6-9 10, Lauren Hostrawser 1-2 0-0 2, Allie Kann 0-0 0-2 0, Hannah Jennings 1-2 0-0 2, Becca Kennedy 1-3 0-0 2, Jaela Meister 0-4 0-0 0. Totals 18-49 11-21 55.
Valley – Karis Tucker 0-2 0-2 0, Cara Hoffman 2-10 1-2 7, Caylie Teel 6-14 3-5 15, Kelsey Ball 0-3 0-0 0, Anne Secrest 8-15 3-6 19, Taylor Trippiedi 1-3 0-0 2, Meredith Brouyette 1-4 2-3 5. Totals 18-51 9-18 48.
Three-pointers – Triton 8 (Mason 4, Hatfield 3, Sellers), Valley 3 (Hoffman 2, Brouyette); Team Fouls – Triton 16, Valley 19; Turnovers – Triton 10, Valley 13; Rebounds – Triton 33 (M. Jennings 8), Valley 43 (Secrest 16); Assists – Triton 12 (Sellers 3), Valley 12 (Ball 4); Steals – Triton 8 (Hatfield 2, Sellers 2), Valley 6 (Tucker 3); Blocks – Triton 0, Valley 4 (Secrest 3).
Records: Triton 4-3, Valley 3-4
JV – Valley 37, Triton 31
Valley – Morgan Brazo 11, Brynda Krueger 10, Casey Dunn 8, Hanna Dalrymple 4, Taneisha Brown 2, Hannah Dunn 2.
Triton – Brooklyn Beatty 14, Shayla May 11, Quinn Downing 3, Heather Stichter 2, Kayla Kreft 1.[[In-content Ad]]
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