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BOURBON - Last year had everything to do with this year.
Triton coach Mark Heeter didn't deny it.
Neither did junior center Betsy Salyer, nor Kouts coach Susan Sanders, for that matter.
Triton's girls basketball team lost to Kouts at last year's Knox A Regional. It was not so much the loss as the way the loss happened, a buzzer-beater tip-in that was not a true shot but a rebound that got bumped up in the air and through the basket.
With memories of Kouts 53, Triton 51 burning in their brains, Triton's players got a regional rematch Wednesday night. This time they hosted the regional, and this time they made sure no flukey tip-in did them in, playing at such a hectic pace you would have thought the first team to 10 won. Triton (17-7) went up 42-19 at halftime and won its Class A regional 71-42 over Kouts (14-9). The teams were essentially the same as a year ago, as each returned four starters, including the top scorers.
Sanders knew before the game started her Fillies had entered a snakepit.
"When (Heeter) and I talked at halfcourt before the game, he said it was Triton's turn," Sanders said. "There was no doubt in Triton's mind they were ready to win this game. They were aggressive right off the bat."
The regional title is the first in Triton's girls basketball history. Triton, which hosts the Saturday Class A semistate, sends a basketball team to the semistate for the first time since 1965, when the boys team advanced that far. Triton, which will host every Class A postseason level except the state finals, improved to 12-1 on its home floor.
"The way we lost that game last year, a tip-in at the buzzer. ... This is a game we earmarked on our calendar," Heeter said. "We proved we are a good team, a team to contend with."
After the game, the red-headed Salyer clutched her piece of the net as if it were a
talisman.
"The whole basketball season, we were all getting ready for this moment," she said. "When we heard we were playing Kouts, we were so happy. We were ready for revenge."
Kouts was the ball on the tee, and the Trojans were the batters. Swing away they did, making 20 field goals and grabbing 25 rebounds - by halftime.
The 5-foot-10 Salyer led Triton with 18 points and 15 rebounds. Freshman guard Ashli Senff added 17 points, seven rebounds, five steals and three assists. Senior forward Missy Nifong had 15 points and six rebounds, and junior forward Rachel Speicher had 12 points and eight rebounds. Junior guard Brandie Ganshorn dished off the assists, finishing with six.
"Kouts couldn't focus on stopping one player, because we had four scoring at will, and the fifth player kept getting them the ball," Heeter said.
Junior guard Erica Martin, Kouts' top scorer at 19.2 points per game, led Kouts with 17 points. Center Jennifer Bielinski, Kouts' lone senior starter and the girl who tipped the ball in a year ago, added 10 points.
Led by Salyer, Triton dominated inside. The Trojans outrebounded Kouts 46-28, including 25-12 in the first half. Triton finished with 22 offensive rebounds, many of which resulted in putbacks, while Kouts had but 12 offensive rebounds.
"We certainly didn't play as well as we're capable of playing," Sanders said. "We were outsized in every position, which we knew coming in. We weren't very aggressive in the post and didn't do a good job rebounding."
Said Heeter: "We hoped we would dominate them on the boards. We thought one big key to winning this game would be keeping them to one shot and out each time down the floor."
The game was played at a racehorse pace as the two teams combined for 126 field goals in 32 minutes. After a 20 of 40 first half, Triton finished 31 of 68 (46 percent) from the field, while Kouts was 19 of 58 (33 percent).
"We usually score about 62 points per game, so to score 42 in one half was unbelievable," Nifong said. "Our shooting was excellent. I thought Kouts would put up a better fight."
The Trojans built their 23-point first-half lead by scoring in one of two ways, after offensive rebounds or after Kouts' turnovers.
Triton's full-court press flustered Kouts, which threw the ball away 12 times in the first half and 22 times overall in a regional championship. At one point a harried Kouts player threw the ball right to Nifong, and shortly after that, another airmailed a pass that landed in Heeter's arms in the coaching box. The athletic Senff, who Sanders hailed as the difference-maker, forced many of the turnovers near halfcourt.
"Senff is a really nice player for a freshman," Sanders said. "She adds a new dimension to their team with her quickness on defense and her outside shooting. Because of her shooting, we couldn't double-team the post as much as we did last year."
With the game tied 6-6, Triton rattled off a 25-9 run to go up 31-15 with 3:32 left in the first half. Salyer, who ended the half with 16 points and 10 rebounds, scored 10 during the stretch. After outscoring Kouts 19-11 in the first quarter, Triton outscored the Fillies 23-8 in the second quarter.
"Their press hurt us, and that surprised me, because a press has not hurt us all year," Sanders said.
Triton hosts the Class A semistate at 10 a.m. Saturday. Triton plays 15-8 Clinton Prairie, the Class A defending state champion that beat Tri-Country 61-53 last night.
TRITON 71, KOUTS 42
Kouts (14-9) 11 8 14 9 - 42
Triton (17-7) 19 23 10 19 - 71
Triton FG FT A S R Pts.
Salyer (C) 9-18 0-0 2 2 15 18
Senff (G) 6-12 3-6 3 5 7 17
Nifong (F) 6-11 0-0 2 3 6 15
Speicher (F) 6-11 0-0 1 1 8 12
Ganshorn (G) 3-5 0-0 6 1 2 6
Bates 1-3 0-0 0 0 1 2
A. Feldman 0-1 1-2 0 3 2 1
Salisbury 0-4 0-0 0 0 2 0
Kreiter 0-0 0-0 0 0 0 0
Miller 0-0 0-0 0 0 1 0
C. Feldman 0-2 0-0 0 0 1 0
McIntyre 0-1 0-0 0 0 1 0
Totals 31-68 4-8 14 15 46 71
Kouts FG FT A S R Pts.
E. Martin (G) 8-17 0-0 2 3 4 17
Bielinski (C) 5-15 0-0 0 0 5 10
Pendowski (F) 3-11 0-0 6 2 3 6
Amor (G) 2-6 1-1 5 1 3 6
J. Howard (F) 0-5 0-0 1 1 10 0
D. Howard 1-2 0-0 0 0 1 2
Hefner 0-2 1-2 1 2 2 1
Brown 0-0 0-0 0 1 0 0
G. Martin 0-0 0-0 0 0 0 0
Long 0-0 0-0 0 0 0 0
Totals 19-58 2-3 15 10 28 42
Three-point goals -ÊTriton 3-6 (Nifong 3-4, Senff 0-1, Ganshorn 0-1), Kouts 2-13 (E. Martin 1-4, Amor 1-2, J. Howard 0-4, Pendowski 0-2, D. Howard 0-1). Turnovers -ÊTriton 18, Kouts 22. Fouled out - J. Howard. Total fouls - Triton 11, Kouts 8.
