FULTON - A week after upseting No. 5 Oregon-Davis, the Triton girls basketball team quickly found out that wouldn't happen against No. 3 Fort Wayne Canterbury in the regional semifinal Saturday at Caston High School.
Qualifying for the regional by downing Oregon-Davis 62-48 in the Class 1A Sectional 50 championship on Feb. 12, the Triton Lady Trojans (13-10) ran into a buzzsaw in their first game of the regional, losing 71-36 to the Fort Wayne Canterbury Lady Cavaliers. Canterbury went on to win the regional by downing Bowman Academy 69-49 Saturday night.Against Triton, a quick 13-0 lead and 26-8 advantage after one quarter, showed why the Lady Cavs have won three-straight Class 1A state championships.
"We've got some kids who have been in this setting before and we knew none of the other three teams (here) had that sort of experience," Canterbury coach Scott Kreiger said, referring to Triton, Bowman Academy and West Central. "We talked about how everyone was going to be a little tentative early, but if we can come out and turn them over defensively, we felt like we could control the game from that point."
The Lady Cavs certainly did that, forcing 20 first-half turnovers by the Lady Trojans, who had just 11 points in that time period.
"The second half of the season, we really became a team that attacked out of the half-court, defensively," Kreiger said. "We tried to figure out what this team did well and this is what we landed on. They've embraced it and done a really good job."
And Triton coach Adam Heckaman had to admit Canterbury was on a different level Saturday.
"They're similiar to Oregon-Davis, but do it a little bit better," he said. "The big thing there is their size. They have a lot more size up front than we normally see. They just bring it, and they bring it for the whole game. It's tough pressure."
Heckaman may have known the scheme Canterbury was going to run, but according to Kreiger, knowledge isn't as good as experience.
"You can watch film, you can prepare and you can talk to other coaches, but until you get out there and really feel the full effects of what we try to do defensively, it's hard to prepare for," he said.
With the defense putting the pressure on the Lady Trojans, Canterbury's offense was right in step, hitting 17 of 27 first-half shots, 5 of 8 from behind the three-point arc.
"We really are streaky," Kreiger said. "We're not a consistently good three-point shooting team, but we're a dangerous three-point shooting team, because we have kids that can hit it. Triton was willing to give us those looks. They wanted to pack (the defense) and not let us attack the basket, so the three-point shot was there."
Kreiger's top scorer against Triton was sophomore Bailey Farley, who scored 19 points on 7-of-13 shooting to go with six rebounds and five steals.
Canterbury freshman Kindell Fincher had the best all-around afternoon game, hitting 5 of 8 shots for 16 points, while also nabbing 10 rebounds, posting four steals and dishing out two assists.
"There's a reason they're the three-time defending state champion and ranked where they are," Heckaman said.
For Triton, it was junior Megan Howdeshell who didn't look intimidated by the Lady Cavs, as she finished with a team-high 12 points and 10 rebounds.
Howdeshell's production was nice, but against a team like Canterbury, Triton needed production out of more girls than one.
"We've had different girls step up all year in different games," Heckaman said. "We probably needed three or four girls to step up and have career games against that team. That's how good they are."
Triton did get 10 points from senior Emily Duff, who played her last prep game along with Hannah Downing, Lindsay Ganshorn, Sarah Stichter, Allison Thacker and Aundrea Sellers.
Losing six seniors from a team that won the program's first sectional title since 2004 will be tough, but Heckaman is hopeful the class bestowed some good lessons on the younger players.
"I think this was a great season," he said. "This group really set the tone and showed the underclassmen what it takes to be a team. You give up the glory for yourself to help the team. That's what they did all season."
CANTERBURY 71, TRITON 36
C 26 19 17 9 - 71
T 8 3 13 12 - 36
Canterbury - Rebecca Pedro 2-6 0-0 4, Madeline Troxel 5-7 2-5 12, Kindell Fincher 5-8 3-4 16, Bailey Farley 7-13 2-4 19, Madison Moyle 4-4 0-0 9, Jordan Fisher 1-4 0-0 2, Rachel Hoagburg 0-2 0-0 0, Emma Hyndman 1-4 0-2 2, Georgia Lea WIlliams 1-3 0-0 2, Carly Johnson 0-0 0-0 0, Katie Haines 2-3 0-0 5, Julia Hyndman 0-0 0-0 0. Totals 28-54 7-15 71.
