Triton Looks To Continue Winning Ways
July 28, 2016 at 4:25 p.m.
Triton Looks To Continue Winning Ways
By Anthony [email protected]
Winners of back-to-back Northern State Conference championships, the Triton Lady Trojans have gone 33-12 the past two seasons and 13-1 in the NSC.
Gone from last year’s perfect 7-0 NSC campaign are three-time Times-Union All-Area Team member Shana Anderson, as well as Breanna Lemler.
In her senior season, Anderson led Triton in scoring (14.3 ppg), rebounding (6.0) and steals (3.4) and was second on the team in assists per game (2.0), while Lemler was second on the team in rebounding at 5.4 per game.
“They were top two in rebounding, top two in steals,” Triton’s sixth-year head coach Adam Heckaman said. “So, we’re missing a lot from last year, but we have a lot of good experience returning. With our three seniors – Allie (Kann), Mallorie (Jennings) and Taylor (Hatfield), then our juniors that played a lot last year, with Kylie (Mason), Krystal Sellers and Hannah Jennings. Then we have (juniors) Lauren Hostrawser and Becca Kennedy and (sophomore) Jaela Meister stepping in from the (junior varsity).”
Hatfield and Mason were each Times-Union All-Area Second Team members last season, averaging 14.1 and 13.9 points per game, respectively.
The 5-foot-4 Hatfield has run the point guard position for Triton the past two seasons, posting 2.2 steals and 1.7 assists per game in 2012-13, but her role may alter a bit in 2013-14.
“We’re actually going to move her off the point a little bit this year and let her play one of the wing spots,” Heckaman said of Hatfield, who caused opposing defenses fits with her driving ability. “Krystal will run the point some, so they can kind of share the responsibility.”
Mason, a 39.7 percent 3-three point shooter last season, has done most of her damage with the jump shot, but Heckaman says she’s added a new dimension in the offseason.
“She worked real hard this summer,” he said of Mason, who also averaged 2.0 assists and 1.8 steals per game last year. “She played a lot of games with her AAU team. She’s really developed. She worked on different parts of her game, so she’s not just a shooter. She’s looking to get to the basket more this year. I think that will really help her out and help us out as a team in the long run.”
Another player that will help Heckaman out is the versatile Mallorie Jennings.
Undersized for a post player, Mallorie Jennings still averaged 3.9 rebounds last season, while also posting 4.6 points, 1.5 assists and 1.1 steals.
“Mallorie’s one of those players that I really love, because she can go anywhere I want her to,” Heckaman said. “She knows all the spots and she can run any of them. She’ll play wing, she’ll play in the post. She’ll do whatever she can to help us win.”
With so many interchangeable parts on this year’s squad, Heckaman likes his depth and versatility, which will allow him to do a lot things.
“One thing that’s going to be different this year is that we have some size,” he said. “Last year, we played small ball the whole time. Our center was Bre, who’s 5-6 or 5-7. This year, we actually have some girls that are around 6-foot. We’ll be able to mix it up a little bit. We’ll get out and run, just like we like to, but in some games when we need to slow it down, we’re going to have some options in the paint.
“We want to get up and down,” he added. “Our big girls, they can get up and down, so we’re not afraid to get out and run with them. We also have girls that we can sub in and out. We have nine kids and I feel like it’s one of the deeper teams we’ve had. If we get a little tired with the kids we have in, we can sub someone else in and still get up and down.”
Triton’s ‘small ball’ strategy did work out last year, but according to Heckaman, the road to a third-straight NSC crown may be bumpier this season.
“Our conference is real competitive this year,” he said. “We won last year, but you have Culver and John Glenn that really didn't graduate much, and I don’t think Culver graduated anybody. Each of those teams have its nucleus back. I also expect some of the teams that were young last year to step up and be able to compete. I know New Prairie’s improved a lot since last year. And we have a tough schedule, with just two conference games at home. We’re going to have to be on our game every night.”
While conference crowns have come for Triton, it’s the sectional titles that have been hard to capture.
This year, Heckaman’s banking on a strong schedule to benefit the Lady Trojans in the postseason, as they vie for their seventh sectional crown and first since the 2010-11 season.
“We’ve added a few teams to our schedule the past couple of years to really strengthen it up,” he said. “I feel like one thing we really need to get better at is being ready every single night to play and not just counting on being able to show up and win. With our schedule, we can’t just show up and win. We have to compete every night. I think that will help us in the long run, going into our sectional.”
And at the sectional, the inevitable showdown with Oregon-Davis looms.
O-D has won the past three Sectional 51 titles and six of the last seven, and looks to be very strong again this year.
Despite Triton being ranked in the top 10 of Class 1A for much of last season, O-D still went 3-0 against the Lady Trojans, winning by an average score of 74-43.
O-D also ended Triton’s season with a 76-38 sectional championship victory, and lost just one bench player.
“You have O-D in there, and they graduated one kid, and she didn’t play a whole lot last year,” Heckaman said of the sectional. “But Culver also didn’t graduate anyone, South Central didn’t graduate anybody. It’s a real solid sectional. Argos will be back up too. We’ve got to be ready to play when it’s sectional time.”
But with three returning starters back, as well as seven letter winners, Triton should be primed for another successful campaign.
“We have a good core coming back,” Heckaman said. “We have pretty high expectations. We’re battling some injuries right now and are off to a slow start, but we do have high expectations and we’re looking forward to getting going.”
Triton gets its going Nov. 15 at North Judson, a team it’s defeated the past three seasons.[[In-content Ad]]
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Winners of back-to-back Northern State Conference championships, the Triton Lady Trojans have gone 33-12 the past two seasons and 13-1 in the NSC.
Gone from last year’s perfect 7-0 NSC campaign are three-time Times-Union All-Area Team member Shana Anderson, as well as Breanna Lemler.
In her senior season, Anderson led Triton in scoring (14.3 ppg), rebounding (6.0) and steals (3.4) and was second on the team in assists per game (2.0), while Lemler was second on the team in rebounding at 5.4 per game.
“They were top two in rebounding, top two in steals,” Triton’s sixth-year head coach Adam Heckaman said. “So, we’re missing a lot from last year, but we have a lot of good experience returning. With our three seniors – Allie (Kann), Mallorie (Jennings) and Taylor (Hatfield), then our juniors that played a lot last year, with Kylie (Mason), Krystal Sellers and Hannah Jennings. Then we have (juniors) Lauren Hostrawser and Becca Kennedy and (sophomore) Jaela Meister stepping in from the (junior varsity).”
Hatfield and Mason were each Times-Union All-Area Second Team members last season, averaging 14.1 and 13.9 points per game, respectively.
The 5-foot-4 Hatfield has run the point guard position for Triton the past two seasons, posting 2.2 steals and 1.7 assists per game in 2012-13, but her role may alter a bit in 2013-14.
“We’re actually going to move her off the point a little bit this year and let her play one of the wing spots,” Heckaman said of Hatfield, who caused opposing defenses fits with her driving ability. “Krystal will run the point some, so they can kind of share the responsibility.”
Mason, a 39.7 percent 3-three point shooter last season, has done most of her damage with the jump shot, but Heckaman says she’s added a new dimension in the offseason.
“She worked real hard this summer,” he said of Mason, who also averaged 2.0 assists and 1.8 steals per game last year. “She played a lot of games with her AAU team. She’s really developed. She worked on different parts of her game, so she’s not just a shooter. She’s looking to get to the basket more this year. I think that will really help her out and help us out as a team in the long run.”
Another player that will help Heckaman out is the versatile Mallorie Jennings.
Undersized for a post player, Mallorie Jennings still averaged 3.9 rebounds last season, while also posting 4.6 points, 1.5 assists and 1.1 steals.
“Mallorie’s one of those players that I really love, because she can go anywhere I want her to,” Heckaman said. “She knows all the spots and she can run any of them. She’ll play wing, she’ll play in the post. She’ll do whatever she can to help us win.”
With so many interchangeable parts on this year’s squad, Heckaman likes his depth and versatility, which will allow him to do a lot things.
“One thing that’s going to be different this year is that we have some size,” he said. “Last year, we played small ball the whole time. Our center was Bre, who’s 5-6 or 5-7. This year, we actually have some girls that are around 6-foot. We’ll be able to mix it up a little bit. We’ll get out and run, just like we like to, but in some games when we need to slow it down, we’re going to have some options in the paint.
“We want to get up and down,” he added. “Our big girls, they can get up and down, so we’re not afraid to get out and run with them. We also have girls that we can sub in and out. We have nine kids and I feel like it’s one of the deeper teams we’ve had. If we get a little tired with the kids we have in, we can sub someone else in and still get up and down.”
Triton’s ‘small ball’ strategy did work out last year, but according to Heckaman, the road to a third-straight NSC crown may be bumpier this season.
“Our conference is real competitive this year,” he said. “We won last year, but you have Culver and John Glenn that really didn't graduate much, and I don’t think Culver graduated anybody. Each of those teams have its nucleus back. I also expect some of the teams that were young last year to step up and be able to compete. I know New Prairie’s improved a lot since last year. And we have a tough schedule, with just two conference games at home. We’re going to have to be on our game every night.”
While conference crowns have come for Triton, it’s the sectional titles that have been hard to capture.
This year, Heckaman’s banking on a strong schedule to benefit the Lady Trojans in the postseason, as they vie for their seventh sectional crown and first since the 2010-11 season.
“We’ve added a few teams to our schedule the past couple of years to really strengthen it up,” he said. “I feel like one thing we really need to get better at is being ready every single night to play and not just counting on being able to show up and win. With our schedule, we can’t just show up and win. We have to compete every night. I think that will help us in the long run, going into our sectional.”
And at the sectional, the inevitable showdown with Oregon-Davis looms.
O-D has won the past three Sectional 51 titles and six of the last seven, and looks to be very strong again this year.
Despite Triton being ranked in the top 10 of Class 1A for much of last season, O-D still went 3-0 against the Lady Trojans, winning by an average score of 74-43.
O-D also ended Triton’s season with a 76-38 sectional championship victory, and lost just one bench player.
“You have O-D in there, and they graduated one kid, and she didn’t play a whole lot last year,” Heckaman said of the sectional. “But Culver also didn’t graduate anyone, South Central didn’t graduate anybody. It’s a real solid sectional. Argos will be back up too. We’ve got to be ready to play when it’s sectional time.”
But with three returning starters back, as well as seven letter winners, Triton should be primed for another successful campaign.
“We have a good core coming back,” Heckaman said. “We have pretty high expectations. We’re battling some injuries right now and are off to a slow start, but we do have high expectations and we’re looking forward to getting going.”
Triton gets its going Nov. 15 at North Judson, a team it’s defeated the past three seasons.[[In-content Ad]]
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