02-28-2001
BOURBON –ĘWhen the No. 1 Triton girls basketball team hits the court at Conseco Fieldhouse for the state finals against No. 2 White River Valley (22-5) Saturday morning, the 22-3 Trojans will probably be considered the favorites.
After all, they have been ranked No. 1 (Class A) all year.
Just one senior graduated off last year’s team that beat Rising Sun 57-54 in overtime in the state finals.
And they have the luxury of experience on their side.
However, if you ask Triton coach Mark Heeter about being the favorite, he will tell you things are not always as they seem.
“I guess we have a slight advantage because we have been there before,” said Heeter. “But sometimes being the favorite is a disadvantage. I like the underdog role because there is no pressure. Last year White River Valley was ranked No. 1 all year, and they were undefeated.
“You could flip a coin to decide who was No. 1 this year. Had we not won state, we probably would not have been ranked No. 1.
“If Amber had not thrown in that shot at the last second at the state finals, our opponent would have probably been ranked No. 1. We have just had the good fortune to hold it all year round.”
Not only do the Trojans hold the advantage of experience, they also hold another important advantage –Ęrebounding.
Triton averages 36 rebounds per game, while the Wolverines pull down just 25.
“We are not the best rebounding team,” said White River Valley coach Joe Pigg. “We have really been concentrating on that area. Rebounding is just flat-out effort. We have been doing rebounding drills, but it’s just a lot of heart and effort.
“We have been doing a better job of rebounding the past few games. We outrebounded New Washington in the semistate, and we are improving.”
“I know White River Valley is averaging about 25, 26 rebounds a game,” said Heeter. “If we can exploit that, it will certainly pay off for us. Rebounding helped us win the semistate. We want to rebound on both ends of the floor and turn that into points. Anything we can convert to points will help us.”
Heeter also cites some other strengths he hopes will lead the Trojans to their second consecutive state championship.
“We have experience, big- game experience,” he said. “We have enough big-game experience that I think we have a slight edge. We also have overall good team speed. White River Valley is fast, too, so it should be quite a track meet Saturday.”
Although this is White River Valley’s first trip to the state finals, the Wolverines sport a team made up of mostly seniors.
“We have seven seniors who have played together for a long time,” said Pigg. “They know each other, and they know our game. That’s a big plus, and it makes my job much easier. I don’t think I could find a better group if I tried.”
The Class A state finals game tips off at 10:30 a.m. Saturday at Conseco Fieldhouse in Indianapolis. The venue is different from last year when the state finals were held at Butler’s Hinkle Fieldhouse.
“Conseco is bigger than Hinkle Fieldhouse,” said Heeter. “And I think they take the Pacers floor off and put in a high school floor. Last year at Hinkle, the lines on the floor were whited-out and repainted on, and it was a bit confusing. Hopefully it won’t be like that this year.
“But at Conseco, we won’t have the sunlight coming through the windows. And at Hinkle, we have a one-game home-court advantage.”
The Trojans will leave for Indianapolis at 1:30 p.m. Thursday after a 1 p.m. pep session. They will practice at Conseco at 7:15 p.m. Thursday.
STATE FINALS CLASS A PREVIEW
No. 1 TRITON GIRLS BASKETBALL STATS
Name FG FG% 3-PT 3-PT% FT FT% PTS PPG R RPG A APG S SPG
Senff 163-312 52.2 25-79 31.6 70-100 70 421 16.8 113 4.5 88 3.5 82 3.3
Salyer 136-265 51.3 0-2 0.0 30-54 56 302 12.1 288 11.5 40 1.6 28 1.1
A. Feldman 79-157 50.3 3-10 30.0 48-81 59 209 8.4 129 5.2 42 1.7 39 1.6
Speicher 77-184 41.8 1-7 14.2 36-67 54 191 8.3 111 4.8 40 1.6 37 1.5
Ganshorn 52-136 38.2 16-50 32.0 5-14 36 125 5.0 56 2.2 101 4.0 34 1.4
Westafer 35-95 36.8 6-23 26.1 14-22 64 90 3.6 56 2.2 20 0.8 16 0.6
Bell 20-48 41.7 1-1 100 14-25 56 55 2.5 36 1.6 8 0.3 14 0.6
Salisbury 10-34 29.4 0-0 -- 9-21 43 29 1.2 37 1.5 10 0.4 10 0.4
Miller 19-40 47.5 0-0 -- 6-15 40 44 1.8 37 1.5 5 0.2 0 0
Triton 609-1323 46.0 52-173 30.1 241-423 57.0 1511 60.4 900 36.0 373 14.3 271 10.4
Opponents 364-1187 30.7 57-229 24.9 255-435 58.6 1040 41.6 661 26.4 202 7.8 204 7.8
No. 2 WHITE RIVER VALLEY GIRLS BASKETBALL STATS
Name FG FG% 3-PT 3-PT% FT FT% PTS PPG R RPG A APG S SPG
Beach 105-235 44.7 12-33 36.4 73-89 82 294 14.0 126 6.0 12 0.6 23 1.1
Herrington 106-251 42.2 0-0 -- 82-107 77 294 10.9 127 4.7 5 0.2 24 0.9
A. Arthur 83-228 36.4 50-126 39.7 54-66 82 268 10.3 47 1.8 49 4.9 50 1.9
Ap. Williams 59-179 33.0 8-27 29.6 86-133 65 219 8.1 70 2.6 95 3.5 68 2.5
Halt 71-180 39.4 5-9 55.6 27-42 64 173 6.4 78 2.9 51 1.9 38 1.4
Firestone 43-112 38.4 0-1 0.0 14-33 42 100 3.7 49 1.8 69 2.6 73 2.7
White 32-87 36.7 0-5 0.0 15-22 68 78 2.9 49 1.8 39 1.4 37 1.4
Am. Williams 26-82 31.7 1-4 25.0 16-25 64 70 2.9 60 2.5 10 0.4 14 0.6C. C. Arthur 16-43 37.2 3-7 42.8 9-15 0.6 46 2.0 23 1.0 17 0.7 8 0.3
Davis 10-25 40.0 0-0 -- 3-8 38 22 1.1 4 0.2 1 0.1 4 0.1
Totals 578-1504 38.0 79-212 37.0 402-582 69 1625 60.2 675 25.0 387 14.3 354 13.1
Opponents N/A
No. 1 TRITON (22-3)
Home team in caps
TRITON 69, North Judson 60
TRITON 62, Oregon-Davis 41
Triton 58, ARGOS 21
Triton 62, UNION MILLS 35
Triton 69, CULVER ACADEMY 24
Triton 74, BETHANY CHRISTIAN 33
TRITON 44, Knox 35
TRITON 64, Tippecanoe Valley 61, OT
TRITON 46, Bremen 35
Triton 61, NEW PRAIRIE 57, OT
TRITON 51, Glenn 36
TRITON 54, Culver Community 51
Plymouth 50, TRITON 43
MANCHESTER 57, Triton 55
Rochester 70, TRITON 59
TRITON 69, Jimtown 30
Triton 40, LAVILLE 31
Triton 58, FORT WAYNE CANTERBURY 30
Triton 73, CASTON 26
TRITON 68, Whitko 36
CULVER COMMUNITY SECTIONAL
Triton 55, Culver Community 26
Triton 72, Oregon-Davis 43
KOUTS REGIONAL
Triton 71, Kouts 47
TRITON SEMISTATE
Triton 75, Clinton Prairie 60
Triton 59, Adams Central 45
No. 2 WHITE RIVER VALLEY (22-5)
Home team in caps
WHITE RIVER VALLEY 65, Barr-Reeve 16
White River Valley 76, SHOALS 39
White RIver Valley 80, SHAKAMAK 28
WHITE RIVER VALLEY 57, Edgewood 44
White River Valley 72, CLAY CITY 29
WHITE RIVER VALLEY 45, Sullivan 41
White River Valley 76, LINTON-STOCKTON 33
WHITE RIVER VALLEY 56, Eminence 53
White RIver Valley 72, BLOOMFIELD 23
WHITE RIVER VALLEY 53, Vincennes Lincoln 50
Center Grove 61, WHITE RIVER VALLEY 33
Indianapolis Cathedral 61, WHITE RIVER VALLEY 50
WHITE RIVER VALLEY 94, Union (Dugger) 28
WHITE RIVER VALLEY 51, Mitchell 48
South Knox 65, WHITE RIVER VALLEY 54
WHITE RIVER VALLEY 71, North Daviess 45
OWEN VALLEY 69, White River Valley 44
WHITE RIVER VALLEY 66, Loogootee 47
White River Valley 51, Lafayette Central Catholic 23
White River Valley 76, MUNCIE BURRIS 28
EASTERN (BLOOMFIELD) 50, White River Valley 49
WHITE RIVER VALLEY 53, Washington Catholic 42
NORTH DAVIESS SECTIONAL
White RIver Valley 64, Shakamak 31
White River Valley 53, Clay City 30
NORTH VERMILLION REGIONAL
White River Valley 55, North Vermillion 48
LOOGOOTEE SEMISTATE
White River Valley 59, Morristown 38
White River Valley 56, New Washington 38
No. 1 TRITON (22-3)
No. Player Ht Pos Yr
4 Ashli Senff 5-7 G So
12 Tommi Kreiter 5-5 G Sr
13 Rachel Speicher 5-9 F Sr
20 Shelly Miller 5-9 C Sr
22 Amber Feldman 5-8 F Jr
24 Brandie Ganshorn 5-9 G Sr
32 Janell Salisbury 5-8 F Sr
34 Jennifer Bates 5-7 F Sr
40 Crystal Feldman 5-8 F Sr
45 Gina Westafer 5-7 F So
50 Betsy Salyer 5-11 C Sr
52 Tracey Bell 5-7 C Jr
CoachŃMark Heeter (161-77 Triton and overall)
Assistant CoachŃGayle Perry
No. 2 WHITE RIVER VALLEY (22-5)
No. Player Ht Pos Yr
10 April Williams 5-8 G Sr
11 Malea Firestone 5-7 G So
24 Ashlee Arthur 5-6 G Sr
25 Lesli White 5-7 G Sr
32 Carrie Arthur 5-6 G Jr
33 Holly Halt 5-5 G-F So
34 Amber Williams 5-10 F Fr
35 Kayla Summitt 5-9 G Fr
44 Rachel Beach 5-9 F Sr
50 Ophelia Davis 5-7 C Sr
52 Christy Herrington 6-0 C Sr
54 Leslie Floyd 6-0 C Sr
CoachŃJoe Pigg (63-13 WRV and overall)
Assistant CoachesŃBrian Hostetter, Alicia Turpen