Triton Repeats Trip To State Finals
July 28, 2016 at 4:25 p.m.
BOURBON - Mark Heeter didn't mind at all that it rained Saturday while his top-ranked Triton girls basketball team hosted unranked Adams Central in the championship game of the semistate.
Afterall, it rained last year when Triton won the semistate en route to the school's first state championship in history.
With a 59-45 win over the Jets, Triton earned a return trip to Saturday's state finals at Conseco Fieldhouse in Indianapolis, where the Trojans will face No. 2 White River Valley.
After the 14-point win, Heeter was doused with, not water or Gatorade, but a bucket full of packing peanuts.
Triton (22-3), which rolled over its sectional and regional competition, came back from a five-point deficit after one quarter to top Clinton Prairie 75-60 in the morning game.
"It was tougher this time around," Heeter said, comparing last year's run with the current. "We had to work for this one, which is good. I don't want everything to come easy. We've got some work to do to get ready."
Adams Central (15-11) advanced by topping unranked Union City 57-40 in the other semifinal game.
Triton led just 11-10 after one quarter of play before building its first healthy lead of the game when sophomore Gina Westafer hit a field goal with 4:13 remaining in the half, giving the Trojans a 20-12 lead.
"We didn't hit the basket well," Jets coach Cary Blake said. "Credit their defense for that, they're well coached and they're a good team."
Despite hitting just 8 of 25 field goals in the first half, the Jets hung around. Down 21-12, Adams Central went on a 7-2 run on a pair of baskets from LeeAnne Gross and a three from Amber Loshe.
Triton led 24-21 at halftime.
Down by eight midway through the third, the Jets went on another mini run to challenge the Trojans, getting points from Natalie Young, Loshe and Gross. With 2:06 remaining in the third, Triton, a team that lost but one player from last year's state championship team, held just a four-point lead, 34-30.
"We lost four starters from last year," Blake said. "I never thought we'd be in this position. We wanted to keep it in the 50s."
Triton cleared up any doubt of a return trip to Indy by opening the final frame with a 10-2 run, giving the Trojans a 48-33 lead with 5:54 left to play.
When asked the asked the biggest difference in this game, Blake wanted to talk about Triton's rebounding. After a dominating performance on the boards in the moring game against Clinton Prairie, Triton came back and outrebounded the Jets 44-25.
"Their rebounding really hurt us," Blake said. "They had several putbacks when it was close that broke our back. They're a good basketball squad."
After scoring 22 points and pulling down 22 rebounds in the semifinal game, senior Betsy Salyer scored 12 points and pulled down 14 rebounds. Junior Amber Feldman added 14 points and 12 rebounds, while sophomore Ashli Senff scored a game-high 15 points.
"Amber had some huge rebounds," Heeter said. "If we wouldn't have had that we might have been in trouble."
Loshe led the Jets with 17 points, while Young added nine, Gross eight and Renee Biberstine seven.
Triton has dominated much of its competition this year. Its three losses came from 3A No. 6 Rochester (20-2), 2A Manchester (14-7) and 3A No. 7 Plymouth (22-5).
Plymouth will play in Saturday's state finals.
"That validates what we're doing around here," Heeter said. "We play teams like that so we can be prepared for situations like this. It makes me feel good what we're doing."
Triton, ranked No. 1 through the entire season, will play No. 2 White River Valley (20-5) at 10:30 a.m. Saturday.
NO. 1 TRITON 59
ADAMS CENTRAL 45
A. Central (15-11) 10 11 10 14 - 45
Triton (22-3) 11 13 14 21 - 59
Adams Central FG FT R S Pts.
Young (F) 3-9 3-6 5 0 9
Gross (C) 4-8 0-0 4 3 8
Loshe (G) 5-17 6-7 7 3 17
Workinger (F) 1-4 1-2 5 1 3
Biberstine (G) 3-12 0-1 3 3 7
Kaehr 0-4 1-2 0 0 1
Dick 0-0 0-0 1 0 0
Totals 16-55 11-18 25 10 45
Triton FG FT R S Pts.
Senff (G) 7-10 1-1 3 0 15
Speicher (F) 3-5 1-4 3 0 7
Feldman (F) 4-9 6-8 12 0 14
Ganshorn (G) 0-3 0-1 5 3 0
Salyer (C) 6-8 0-2 14 1 12
Westafer 3-5 0-0 3 1 6
Bell 2-6 0-0 3 1 6
Kreiter 0-0 0-0 0 0 0
Salisbury 0-0 1-2 2 0 1
Miller 0-1 0-0 0 0 0
Totals 25-47 9-18 44 6 59
Three-point goals - Adams Central 2-13 (Biberstine 1-3, Loshe 1-5, Young 0-3, Gross 0-1, Kaehr 0-1), Triton 0-2 (Feldman 0-1, Ganshorn 0-1). Turnovers - Adams Central 15, Triton 15. Fouls - Adams Central 19, Triton 17. Fouled out - none. [[In-content Ad]]
BOURBON - Mark Heeter didn't mind at all that it rained Saturday while his top-ranked Triton girls basketball team hosted unranked Adams Central in the championship game of the semistate.
Afterall, it rained last year when Triton won the semistate en route to the school's first state championship in history.
With a 59-45 win over the Jets, Triton earned a return trip to Saturday's state finals at Conseco Fieldhouse in Indianapolis, where the Trojans will face No. 2 White River Valley.
After the 14-point win, Heeter was doused with, not water or Gatorade, but a bucket full of packing peanuts.
Triton (22-3), which rolled over its sectional and regional competition, came back from a five-point deficit after one quarter to top Clinton Prairie 75-60 in the morning game.
"It was tougher this time around," Heeter said, comparing last year's run with the current. "We had to work for this one, which is good. I don't want everything to come easy. We've got some work to do to get ready."
Adams Central (15-11) advanced by topping unranked Union City 57-40 in the other semifinal game.
Triton led just 11-10 after one quarter of play before building its first healthy lead of the game when sophomore Gina Westafer hit a field goal with 4:13 remaining in the half, giving the Trojans a 20-12 lead.
"We didn't hit the basket well," Jets coach Cary Blake said. "Credit their defense for that, they're well coached and they're a good team."
Despite hitting just 8 of 25 field goals in the first half, the Jets hung around. Down 21-12, Adams Central went on a 7-2 run on a pair of baskets from LeeAnne Gross and a three from Amber Loshe.
Triton led 24-21 at halftime.
Down by eight midway through the third, the Jets went on another mini run to challenge the Trojans, getting points from Natalie Young, Loshe and Gross. With 2:06 remaining in the third, Triton, a team that lost but one player from last year's state championship team, held just a four-point lead, 34-30.
"We lost four starters from last year," Blake said. "I never thought we'd be in this position. We wanted to keep it in the 50s."
Triton cleared up any doubt of a return trip to Indy by opening the final frame with a 10-2 run, giving the Trojans a 48-33 lead with 5:54 left to play.
When asked the asked the biggest difference in this game, Blake wanted to talk about Triton's rebounding. After a dominating performance on the boards in the moring game against Clinton Prairie, Triton came back and outrebounded the Jets 44-25.
"Their rebounding really hurt us," Blake said. "They had several putbacks when it was close that broke our back. They're a good basketball squad."
After scoring 22 points and pulling down 22 rebounds in the semifinal game, senior Betsy Salyer scored 12 points and pulled down 14 rebounds. Junior Amber Feldman added 14 points and 12 rebounds, while sophomore Ashli Senff scored a game-high 15 points.
"Amber had some huge rebounds," Heeter said. "If we wouldn't have had that we might have been in trouble."
Loshe led the Jets with 17 points, while Young added nine, Gross eight and Renee Biberstine seven.
Triton has dominated much of its competition this year. Its three losses came from 3A No. 6 Rochester (20-2), 2A Manchester (14-7) and 3A No. 7 Plymouth (22-5).
Plymouth will play in Saturday's state finals.
"That validates what we're doing around here," Heeter said. "We play teams like that so we can be prepared for situations like this. It makes me feel good what we're doing."
Triton, ranked No. 1 through the entire season, will play No. 2 White River Valley (20-5) at 10:30 a.m. Saturday.
NO. 1 TRITON 59
ADAMS CENTRAL 45
A. Central (15-11) 10 11 10 14 - 45
Triton (22-3) 11 13 14 21 - 59
Adams Central FG FT R S Pts.
Young (F) 3-9 3-6 5 0 9
Gross (C) 4-8 0-0 4 3 8
Loshe (G) 5-17 6-7 7 3 17
Workinger (F) 1-4 1-2 5 1 3
Biberstine (G) 3-12 0-1 3 3 7
Kaehr 0-4 1-2 0 0 1
Dick 0-0 0-0 1 0 0
Totals 16-55 11-18 25 10 45
Triton FG FT R S Pts.
Senff (G) 7-10 1-1 3 0 15
Speicher (F) 3-5 1-4 3 0 7
Feldman (F) 4-9 6-8 12 0 14
Ganshorn (G) 0-3 0-1 5 3 0
Salyer (C) 6-8 0-2 14 1 12
Westafer 3-5 0-0 3 1 6
Bell 2-6 0-0 3 1 6
Kreiter 0-0 0-0 0 0 0
Salisbury 0-0 1-2 2 0 1
Miller 0-1 0-0 0 0 0
Totals 25-47 9-18 44 6 59
Three-point goals - Adams Central 2-13 (Biberstine 1-3, Loshe 1-5, Young 0-3, Gross 0-1, Kaehr 0-1), Triton 0-2 (Feldman 0-1, Ganshorn 0-1). Turnovers - Adams Central 15, Triton 15. Fouls - Adams Central 19, Triton 17. Fouled out - none. [[In-content Ad]]