BOURBON - The Triton Lady Trojans appeared to have put the LaVille Lady Lancers away, but let them creep back into it before officially putting them away Friday at home in Northern State Conference play.
Leading 20-18 late in the third quarter, the Trojans outscored the Lancers 11-0 in a 1:14 time frame, giving them enough of a cushion to take the 46-38 win."That took them out of their game," Triton coach Adam Heckaman said about his team building a 31-18 lead to begin the fourth quarter. "They like to pound the ball down low, but when they were playing from behind, they had to force the issue a little bit more from the outside. That was a big run for us."
Ironically on senior night, it was freshman Shana Anderson that stole the show.
The freshman actually ignited the critical run with a steal that led to a three-pointer by junior Allison Thacker. Following a Lancers miss, Anderson then connected on a three-pointer of her own, before nabbing a rebound, which later became another Thacker trey.
On the night, Anderson scored a team-high 15 points, as well as posting a team-high four steals.
"With Shana, we aren't quite sure what we're going to get offensively," Heckaman said. "We know what she's capable of. Some nights she doesn't look to score, and other nights she does. When she does, she's capable of putting some big numbers for us."
Despite the run, Triton still let LaVille get within 31-29 following an 11-0 run capped by two free throws by Lancers senior Cori Lindke with 4:17 to play.
Just as LaVille had gotten back into it, Triton went on a 6-0 run to put enough space between the conference rivals.
"This was a big win for us," Heckaman said. "The girls did a good job of executing what we talked about. We wanted to bring our post players out, because we felt their post girls weren't as quick. We did a good job of that."
When LaVille was able to play in the post, Lindke was the focal point, scoring a game-high 19 points and hauling in seven rebounds.
To keep Lindke out of the post, Triton's Brittany Wallace patrolled the outside, scoring 11 points on 5-for-9 shooting.
"We beat a great team in LaVille," Heckaman said. "They finish at 14-7, somewhere in the middle or top of the conference. They really put it to some of the teams we lost to. After the game, we told the girls, 'We're a very capable team.'"
The regular season is now over for the Trojans, as they prepare to face the fifth-ranked Oregon-Davis Lady Bobcats in the first round of the Class 1A, Sectional 50 at Oregon-Davis High School Tuesday at 8 p.m.
"It's going to give the girls some confidence going into next week," Heckaman said about the win. "Obviously, we play a tough team in O-D. That's going to be a tough out, but that's the team you have to beat if you're going to win the sectional. We're going to start off with them and see what we can do."
