BOURBON — No matter the success of their regular season, the Triton Lady Trojans will always play in one of the tougher Class 1A sectionals in the state. This year is no different. At Oregon-Davis High School, Class 1A Sectional 51 features No. 2 Oregon-Davis, No. 9 Triton, as well as South Central (Union Mills), Culver and Argos, all of which have flirted with top 10 rankings this season. “Honestly, top to bottom, I think our sectional is the best 1A sectional in the state,” Triton coach Adam Heckaman said. “When you go into the Sagarin ratings, you have five teams in the top (21) at our sectional. You have to be ready to play each night. It doesn’t really matter who you’re playing. It’s going to be a tough game, because everyone knows it’s one-and-done.” In the Sagarin rankings, which bases its results on strength of schedule, opponent’s records and other such things, O-D is ranked second in 1A, followed by Triton in sixth, Culver in 16th, Argos in 17th and South Central in 21st. For Triton, it received a first-round bye and will face the winner of Tuesday night’s game between South Central and Culver. In the regular season, Triton dominated both potential semifinal teams, downing South Central 69-36 in Union Mills on Nov. 16 and defeating Culver at home 52-37 on Jan. 11. However, Heckaman doesn’t believe either team will look the same in the postseason. “Either of those teams are going to give us a good game,” he said. “It’ll be a challenge. That’s the thing with our sectional – there’s not a lot of easy games out there. Whoever we play Friday night is going to bring their best game.” Because the South Central game was three months ago, Heckaman believes the Lady Satellites will be much different and February. “Earlier in the year, I don’t think their kids were ready for all the pressure we put on them, but they’ve come a long way,” he said. “They deal with pressure a lot better now than they did at that time.” As for the earlier game against Culver, their top player, junior Kayla Shaffer was in foul trouble in the earlier meeting. Once she went to the bench, Triton embarked on a 19-2 run, that proved to be the difference in a 52-37 victory. “They lose Shaffer there in the second quarter, and that’s when we put a gap on them,” Heckaman said. “That gap stayed until the end of the game, so it was pretty even after that. If she stays out of foul trouble, they’re a completely different team.” Regardless of who they play in the semifinals, the shadow of the hosting O-D Lady Bobcats looms large. The defending sectional champions, O-D is back to its dominant self, and defeated Triton 65-55 on Jan. 2 in Bourbon then dismantled the Lady Trojans 80-36 in the championship game of the TCU Bi-County Tournament at LaVille on Jan. 19. Following that blowout loss, Heckaman saw his girls affected by it and would actually trade his first-round bye for a first-round game with the state contenders. “This year, I probably would have preferred playing O-D right away,” Heckaman said. “I know that doesn’t sound like what most people would say, but I think our girls still have a bitter taste after the Bi-County loss. For us, our focus would probably have been at its best if we would have played them first.” Instead of playing O-D first, Triton coaches will first have to scout Tuesday’s game, then determine how to attack either South Central or Culver during Friday’s 6:30 p.m. semifinal. And while the coaches are focusing on that game, Heckaman’s trying to get his girls to do the same, which he doesn’t believe will be a problem. “I really do think these kids take it one game at a time,” he said. “They know the importance of each game. That’s something we talked about all year with conference games and other important games throughout the year.” Getting through the season with a 16-5 record and a Northern State Conference championship, the Lady Trojans have been led by their ‘Big 3’ of senior Shana Anderson, junior Taylor Hatfield and sophomore Kylie Mason. Anderson has been the squad’s top all-around performer, averaging 14.3 points, 6.0 rebounds and 3.4 steals per game, while Hatfield uses her speed to create havoc in the lane, averaging 14.1 points and Mason uses her outside shooting to keep teams honest, hitting 39.7 percent of her three-point attempts, averaging 13.9 points. The three are also joined by senior Breanna Lemler, junior Mallorie Jennings and sophomore Krystal Sellers in a frantic defense that’s forcing 22 turnovers per game. And for a team without a true post player, that defense is essential. “For us, we haven’t varied our style of play all year long,” Heckaman said. “We’ve got to be able to put some pressure on teams and try to cause turnovers. We don’t have a lot of size, so we won’t be going into the paint a whole lot. We also have to be able to step up and knock down shots. “If we can play good defense and knock down shots, I think we have a shot at it,” he added. “We’ve got to make sure we focus on every game, individually and not focus on anything ahead of us. I think that will be our biggest obstacle. Just making sure we’re focused on Friday night before we’re focused on anything else.”
