BOURBON – It may have been a “pink” game for breast cancer awareness but the true color was the black and blue of defense in a Plymouth win over Triton in girls basketball action 36-35.
An uncharacteristically poor night shooting by both teams coupled with an equally uncharacteristically poor night at the line by the Lady Pilgrims kept the scoring low and played directly into the game plan of Adam Heckaman and his Lady Trojans.
“Plymouth is one of the best defensive teams in the state and at the end of the year they will be right there as one of the best defensive averages in the state but I pointed out to our girls ‘look what you did to them,’” said Heckaman. “We held them down and we wanted the game to be a low scoring possession by possession game and that’s what we did. We gave ourselves a chance at the end.”
The whistle blew early and often as both teams struggled with multiple players in foul trouble for much of the night. Both teams committed 22 fouls and had a pair of key players leave the floor with five personals in the closing moments.
“Adam does such a good job with his team and his kids were ready to play and they were prepared,” said Plymouth coach Dave Duncan. “I don’t think we’ve adjusted to the way they call fouls here this year yet but we’ll pick that upbefore too long. We are used to being a more physical team but we were able to hang on for a win there.”
Triton stayed close in the game with 11-17 from the line while Plymouth was struggling with a 6-19 night. It almost cost the Lady Pilgrims.
“We had some opportunites to gap the game a little bit and missed some free throws but you have to give Triton all the credit they are one good team and they are going to do some damage in the tournament,” said Duncan. “We try to get 50 (practice free throw attempts) a night maybe the kids were a little tired and the concentration down a little down the stretch.
The Plymouth got a big lift down the stretch from opposite ends of the experience spectrum – senior Hunter Stevens and freshman Alli Andrews. Stevens had several big plays down the stretch and Andrews hit a big three and made two big defensive plays in the closing seconds as Triton had a chance to win with possession of the ball twice in the closing 10 seconds trailing by one.
“She did a nice job,” said Duncan of his senior. “We try to exploit that short corner and Triton did a really good job taking away the dive with our kid down there. We put Hunter down there and she made a rip and hit Alli Andrews in the corner for a big three down the stretch. (Andrews) did a great job getting her hands on deflections. She’s going to be a nice player.”
“We had some great looks in the first half and they just didn’t fall early on,” said Heckaman. “We got some things going in the third quarter and fourth quarter we spread them out a little more and got some things going in the paint. Tonight the ball bounced their way.”
Plymouth is 3-0 on the young season, Triton is now 2-1.
Score by Quarters
Plymouth 7 18 29 36
Triton 7 13 20 35
Plymouth (36) – Hunter Stevens 4 1-2 9, Allie Andrews 1 0-0 3, Kaydon Fosler 1 0-4 3, Haley Harrell 1 1-4 3, Allie Wright 1 0-0 2, Shannon Stephenson 1 2-4 4, Nicole Horvath 5 2-5 12. Totals 16 6-19 36.
Triton (35) – Nichole Sechrist 1 0-1 2, Hannah Jennings 0 0-0 0, Krystal Sellers 1 0-2 3, Becca Kennedy 4 3-4 12, Kylie Mason 3 3-4 11, Jaela Meister 0 2-3 2, Lauren Hostrawser 1 3-4 5, Hayla May 0 -0 0. Totals 14 11-17 35.
3pt FG – Plymouth 2-8 (Fosler, Andrews), Triton 4-19 (Kennedy, Mason 2).
Rebounds – Plymouth 29 (Harrell 6), Triton 28 (Hostrawser, Kennedy 7).
Assists – Plymouth 9 (Harrell 4), Triton 5 (Sellers 2).
Steals – Plymouth 7 (Fosler 3), Triton 6 (Mason 4).
Turnovers – Plymouth 17, Triton 17.
Fouls (Fouled Out) – Plymouth 22 (Stephenson, Horvath), Triton 22 (Jennings, Mason).
