Young Triton Lady Trojans Make Progress
January 30, 2017 at 5:24 p.m.
By Mark [email protected]
Of the 11 non-conference games before the first of the year, Triton won just two against a schedule featuring eight teams with winning records. One of the oldest adages in sports is if you want to get better, play someone better than you.
“We learned a lot from the first half of the season. We played a lot of tough teams early on that helped us learn more about ourselves as a team,”?Lady Trojan head coach Adam Heckaman said. “I think playing those teams has taught us how to be a better defensive team and a more patient offensive team, and that has helped us finish the season stronger.”
Triton finished the HNAC season with a 6-2 record, and played North Judson in the final game of the season with the conference title on the line. After scoring 41 or fewer points in 12 of its 13 games to start the season, The Lady Trojans averaged better than 50 points in HNAC play, including a crucial one-point overtime loss at LaVille Nov. 30.
“Our goal each year is to compete for a conference championship. Our girls have stayed focused on that goal this year despite our early loss to LaVille,” said Heckaman. “Knowing we still had a chance to win helped them stay focused and helped them to work harder to try to achieve that.”
The blending of the two halves has left Triton in a better position to compete than when practice started last fall. Junior Hannah Wanemacher leads the Lady Trojans at around 13 points a game, with classmates Nicole Sechrist and Charlotte Morris combining to add another 10 points a contest.
Whytnie Miller was promoted from the junior varsity and averages around five points a game, and freshman Courtney Jennings adds four points a game. The offense is orchestrated by senior Quinn Downing, who helps the team apply the lessons learned in preparation for this week’s 1A Culver Community Sectional.
“We saw in some games that we were able to compete with some great teams if we played solid defense and were patient on offense. Those lessons have helped us down the stretch in understanding what it will take for us to be competitive with some of the best teams around and that has helped us to execute better on the offensive end,” said Heckaman. “Hopefully we can continue to build off of those lessons and continue our season a little longer.”
Make no mistake, those lessons will come in handy at the sectional. Triton drew No. 4 Argos in the second game of Wednesday’s doubleheader, tipping off about 8 p.m. The Lady Dragons beat Triton twice this season, 47-24 on Nov. 8 (the second game of Triton’s season) and 37-29 two weeks ago in the Bi-County Tournament.
“Argos is the best team in our sectional and more than likely you are going to have to beat them to win it,” Heckaman said. “They made it to state last year and have a great deal of experience back from that team.
“While its not ideal I'm O.K. with playing them right away. I think we saw some things that we can do against them when we played them in Bi-County and we know what we have to do defensively.
“In order for us to finish a game against them we will have to handle the ball better than we did last time and we will have to continue to work defensively at knowing where their scorers are. If we can keep track of them and handle their pressure then I think we will give ourselves a good shot.”
With a win Triton, would advance to play the winner of the North Miami/Culver Community game in the second semifinal Friday, tipping off about 8 p.m. The title game will be at 7:30 p.m. Saturday.
Of the 11 non-conference games before the first of the year, Triton won just two against a schedule featuring eight teams with winning records. One of the oldest adages in sports is if you want to get better, play someone better than you.
“We learned a lot from the first half of the season. We played a lot of tough teams early on that helped us learn more about ourselves as a team,”?Lady Trojan head coach Adam Heckaman said. “I think playing those teams has taught us how to be a better defensive team and a more patient offensive team, and that has helped us finish the season stronger.”
Triton finished the HNAC season with a 6-2 record, and played North Judson in the final game of the season with the conference title on the line. After scoring 41 or fewer points in 12 of its 13 games to start the season, The Lady Trojans averaged better than 50 points in HNAC play, including a crucial one-point overtime loss at LaVille Nov. 30.
“Our goal each year is to compete for a conference championship. Our girls have stayed focused on that goal this year despite our early loss to LaVille,” said Heckaman. “Knowing we still had a chance to win helped them stay focused and helped them to work harder to try to achieve that.”
The blending of the two halves has left Triton in a better position to compete than when practice started last fall. Junior Hannah Wanemacher leads the Lady Trojans at around 13 points a game, with classmates Nicole Sechrist and Charlotte Morris combining to add another 10 points a contest.
Whytnie Miller was promoted from the junior varsity and averages around five points a game, and freshman Courtney Jennings adds four points a game. The offense is orchestrated by senior Quinn Downing, who helps the team apply the lessons learned in preparation for this week’s 1A Culver Community Sectional.
“We saw in some games that we were able to compete with some great teams if we played solid defense and were patient on offense. Those lessons have helped us down the stretch in understanding what it will take for us to be competitive with some of the best teams around and that has helped us to execute better on the offensive end,” said Heckaman. “Hopefully we can continue to build off of those lessons and continue our season a little longer.”
Make no mistake, those lessons will come in handy at the sectional. Triton drew No. 4 Argos in the second game of Wednesday’s doubleheader, tipping off about 8 p.m. The Lady Dragons beat Triton twice this season, 47-24 on Nov. 8 (the second game of Triton’s season) and 37-29 two weeks ago in the Bi-County Tournament.
“Argos is the best team in our sectional and more than likely you are going to have to beat them to win it,” Heckaman said. “They made it to state last year and have a great deal of experience back from that team.
“While its not ideal I'm O.K. with playing them right away. I think we saw some things that we can do against them when we played them in Bi-County and we know what we have to do defensively.
“In order for us to finish a game against them we will have to handle the ball better than we did last time and we will have to continue to work defensively at knowing where their scorers are. If we can keep track of them and handle their pressure then I think we will give ourselves a good shot.”
With a win Triton, would advance to play the winner of the North Miami/Culver Community game in the second semifinal Friday, tipping off about 8 p.m. The title game will be at 7:30 p.m. Saturday.
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