Triton Set To Open Season
July 28, 2016 at 4:25 p.m.
By Anthony [email protected]
Gone from last year's Triton Lady Trojans are the graduated Amanda Miller, Savannah Stutzman and Brittany Wallace, along with senior Aubrey Boardman.[[In-content Ad]]Boardman was Triton's leading scorer with 7.1 points a game last year, but a shoulder injury will keep her on the bench this year.
With Boardman out, senior Allison Thacker returns as the team's leading scorer with 6.8 average a year ago.
"We have a lot of experience back, but we also lost a lot of experience," Triton coach Adam Heckaman said.
Along with Thacker's experience, Triton also returns junior Megan Howdeshell and sophomore Shana Anderson, who saw a lot of time on the court.
"We do have a lot of experience, but not a lot of starting experience," Heckaman said.
Howdeshell has seen significant minutes since her freshman season and averaged 4.6 points and 3.9 rebounds a game last year.
Anderson came on midway through her freshman campaign and may be the most talented player on the team.
"She's had a tough time being consistent," Heckaman said about Anderson. "We need her to be more of a scorer. Last year, she'd lead us in scoring one game, then she wouldn't look for her shot the next. We're pushing her into being our scorer."
As a freshman, Anderson averaged 5.4 points on 35.9 percent shooting from the field. She also averaged 2.1 rebounds and 1.6 steals a contest.
If Anderson or Thacker isn't scoring, Heckaman may not get too concerned after seeing his girls play well together during the summer.
"We dress nine and I think we're nine deep," he said. "If we run the ball the way we want to, I'm confident I can put fresh legs in. We're one or two deep at each position, so we can rotate girls in and out."
Other girls filling in will be senior Hannah Downing, senior Emily Duff, senior Lindsey Ganshorn, junior Sydney Gochenour, senior Aundrea Sellers and senior Sarah Stichter.
After averaging just 39.1 points a year ago, Heckaman is looking to increase that point total with a more uptempo game plan.
"We're looking to push it a lot more," he said. "We want to get up-and-down and get open shots."
In order to get those easy points, the defense will need to step up.
"We've been working on the 1-3-1 zone we used last year, as well as our man-to-man," Heckaman said. "We plan to match up with other teams as much as we can in order to get out and get on the fast break as often as possible."
If the defense can lead to easier points, the Lady Trojans may be able to fare better than their 2-5 record in the Northern State Conference in 2009-10.
"We have a tough schedule, having added Warsaw," Heckaman said. "The conference is also going to be tough. Our goal will be to finish in the top three. We'd also like to get into the championship game of the bi-county tournament. We also have Whitko, Manchester and Plymouth on the schedule. We're going to look to be competitive in all our games, and if we hit a tough patch, we need to stay positive."
Gone from last year's Triton Lady Trojans are the graduated Amanda Miller, Savannah Stutzman and Brittany Wallace, along with senior Aubrey Boardman.[[In-content Ad]]Boardman was Triton's leading scorer with 7.1 points a game last year, but a shoulder injury will keep her on the bench this year.
With Boardman out, senior Allison Thacker returns as the team's leading scorer with 6.8 average a year ago.
"We have a lot of experience back, but we also lost a lot of experience," Triton coach Adam Heckaman said.
Along with Thacker's experience, Triton also returns junior Megan Howdeshell and sophomore Shana Anderson, who saw a lot of time on the court.
"We do have a lot of experience, but not a lot of starting experience," Heckaman said.
Howdeshell has seen significant minutes since her freshman season and averaged 4.6 points and 3.9 rebounds a game last year.
Anderson came on midway through her freshman campaign and may be the most talented player on the team.
"She's had a tough time being consistent," Heckaman said about Anderson. "We need her to be more of a scorer. Last year, she'd lead us in scoring one game, then she wouldn't look for her shot the next. We're pushing her into being our scorer."
As a freshman, Anderson averaged 5.4 points on 35.9 percent shooting from the field. She also averaged 2.1 rebounds and 1.6 steals a contest.
If Anderson or Thacker isn't scoring, Heckaman may not get too concerned after seeing his girls play well together during the summer.
"We dress nine and I think we're nine deep," he said. "If we run the ball the way we want to, I'm confident I can put fresh legs in. We're one or two deep at each position, so we can rotate girls in and out."
Other girls filling in will be senior Hannah Downing, senior Emily Duff, senior Lindsey Ganshorn, junior Sydney Gochenour, senior Aundrea Sellers and senior Sarah Stichter.
After averaging just 39.1 points a year ago, Heckaman is looking to increase that point total with a more uptempo game plan.
"We're looking to push it a lot more," he said. "We want to get up-and-down and get open shots."
In order to get those easy points, the defense will need to step up.
"We've been working on the 1-3-1 zone we used last year, as well as our man-to-man," Heckaman said. "We plan to match up with other teams as much as we can in order to get out and get on the fast break as often as possible."
If the defense can lead to easier points, the Lady Trojans may be able to fare better than their 2-5 record in the Northern State Conference in 2009-10.
"We have a tough schedule, having added Warsaw," Heckaman said. "The conference is also going to be tough. Our goal will be to finish in the top three. We'd also like to get into the championship game of the bi-county tournament. We also have Whitko, Manchester and Plymouth on the schedule. We're going to look to be competitive in all our games, and if we hit a tough patch, we need to stay positive."
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