BOURBON - It wasn't pretty, but it didn't matter.

Despite 38 turnovers, Triton's girls basketball team held off LaVille in a double-overtime marathon game for a 63-59 victory Monday.

The Trojans won largely because of clutch shooting down the stretch. In the fourth quarter and two overtimes, Triton knocked in 75 percent (12 of 16) of its shots and made 78 percent (7 of 9) from the free throw line. The Trojans are shooting less than 50 percent from the line for the year so the improvement was a big bonus.

However, the 38 turnovers weren't a bonus. Head coach Mark Heeter could hardly do more than shake his head after seeing the performance his team put together.

"We didn't deserve to win, bottom line," Heeter said. "(LaVille) had their chance to put us away. Fortunately for us, they didn't do it, otherwise we lose."

LaVille's big chance to finish off Triton came late in the fourth quarter with a 56-52 lead. Shanan Sklarek picked up one of her six steals with just over one minute to play. However, she missed the easy fast break layup, and Triton pulled even with a pair of Jessica Kintzel free throws and a Missy Nifong basket.

That's not to say the Trojans didn't have their chances to put away LaVille, because they did.

Triton led 24-13 with 3:53 to play in the second quarter and looked to blow the Lancers out of the building. However, Triton did not score a point for the next seven minutes, spilling over to the third quarter. During the stretch, the Trojans missed 12 consecutive shots. By the time Nifong made a layup with 4:27 to play in the third quarter, LaVille had fought back into the game.

"If we hit some shots early in the game, who knows," Heeter said. "Maybe we put them away early."

Triton looked to have another chance midway through the fourth period. The Trojans held a 40-37 advantage with 3:37 to play in regulation and seemingly had momentum. But LaVille's Katie Strycker made consecutive three-pointers to turn the three-point deficit into a three-point lead. That set up LaVille's late fourth quarter run.

In the first overtime, the game's momentum see-sawed from team to team. LaVille had leads at 48-46, 50-48 and 54-52, while Triton held a 52-50 advantage. But Chris Scott scored a layup on a pass from Nifong with 19 seconds to play to knot the score at 52-52, and Amilia Devros blocked a final LaVille shot with two seconds to play to send the game to a second extra frame.

With Kintzel sitting on the bench with five fouls, Triton looked to be short-handed in the second overtime. But Devros had a pair of baskets and Sarber made 3 of 4 free throws in the final 20 seconds to give the Trojans the win.

"We've learned that we have to come into every game and respect every opponent," Heeter said. "We don't dwell on it that it was a poor game. We'll take the win and move on."

LaVille falls to 6-4 overall and 2-1 in the Northern State Conference. Triton (7-2, 4-1) will host Manchester on Thursday at 6 p.m. The Squires received honorable mention in the latest girls basketball coaches poll with a 11-1 record. [[In-content Ad]]