Tristan Ennis scores for Triton on Friday night.
(Dunn Area Sports Photo/John Lucas)
Triton split Tri-County Six 3-A Conference varsity basketball games with visiting Southern Lee on Friday night. Triton won the girls game and Southern Lee won the boys game.
Triton’s girls won a 55-8 rout over Southern Lee to stay unbeaten on the season.
“We had a lot of turnovers again,” said Triton girls coach Wendy Simmons. “So that’s one thing we definitely need to work on. But overall, I’m very pleased with the way that we played. I felt like a couple of times on defense we could have played a little bit more tempo. Offensively, we took some bad shots at times but overall looked for the open person and did a good job moving the ball around.”
Sophomore Abby Hood had 13 points, nine rebounds, four assists and four steals for the Triton girls. Freshman A’Shari Watlington had 12 points and six steals for the Lady Hawks (4-0, 2-0 TCSC).
Tristan Ennis had nine points and five rebounds. Anastasia McDonald had nine points, five assists and seven steals. Kaila Cooney had eight points and six assists. Aubree Bass and Carleigh Hemby had two points and four rebounds apiece.
“That’s always good to see (spread out scoring),” Simmons said. “They look for each other and are not very selfish at all. I felt like they moved the ball and did very well with that as a team.”
Junior Dasha Battle had three points and seniors Reagan Davidson and Landry Overton had two points apiece for the Cavaliers (0-3, 0-2).
Triton dominated all four quarters, outscoring Southern Lee 17-3 in the first quarter, 15-0 in the second quarter, 14-3 in the third quarter and 9-2 in the fourth quarter.
Southern Lee pulled away in the fourth quarter to take a 47-32 win over Triton in the boys game.
“Pretty disappointing effort,” said Triton boys coach T.J. Morrison. “I would even say in the first three quarters. I thought there was an opportunity for some guys to step up and for some guys to get some minutes and make some plays and shine a little bit that maybe don’t normally get the opportunity and we did not take advantage of the opportunity.
“We’re going to regret losing that game. I think we had an opportunity to step forward and we didn’t. If I’m not mistaken, rough estimate was about 1-out-of-16 at the three-point line. So, we didn’t attack the zone and didn’t get the looks we wanted. We took some bad shots. You can’t win going 1-for-16 at the three-point line and zero points in the fourth quarter, that’s unbelievable and embarrassing.”
Sophomore Will Heard had 12 points to lead the Hawks (1-3, 1-1).
Hayden Pope had eight points and four rebounds. Xavion Richardson had four points and four rebounds. Nate McKoy had two points, eight rebounds and four blocks. Jamari Amerson and Sabine Wheeler had two points apiece. Jalen Evans and Amir Jenkins had one points apiece.
Triton was without senior guard Dalen Thompson, the team’s leading scorer and rebounder, and senior forward Harris Pope.
“Opportunity without Dalen here, Dalen’s sick, and without Harris here,” Morrison said. “There were some minutes to be had and we didn’t take advantage. I definitely don’t want Dalen to be out. We needed Dalen, because I love him and he’s a great player, but I was a little bit excited for the adversity, because I thought this was a great challenge and these guys would step up and face it.
“Sometimes I tell them, ‘I welcome adversity. If it’s too smooth, it’s too easy and you get complacent.’ I want to be challenged. I want them to be pushed. But I want them to rise above it and we definitely didn’t do that tonight.”
Seniors Quashawn Williams and Randall Upchurch had 13 points apiece to lead the Cavaliers (3-2, 2-0).
The first three quarters were closely contested, with Southern Lee leading 12-11 at the end of the first quarter, 26-22 at halftime and 38-32 at the end of the third quarter.
In the fourth quarter, Southern Lee slowed the pace down on offense, limiting Triton’s possessions. When Triton did have the ball, the Hawks’ shooting went ice cold in the fourth, as Southern Lee outscored Triton 9-0 in the fourth.
Triton travels to conference and Harnett County rival Western Harnett on Tuesday before hosting nonconference rival South Johnston on Wednesday.
Anastasia McDonald scores for the Lady Hawks.
(Dunn Area Sports Photo/John Lucas)
Abby Hood gets two of her 13 points against Southern Lee.
(Dunn Area Sports Photo/John Lucas)
Kaila Cooney tallies for Triton in a conference win Friday night.
(Dunn Area Sports Photo/John Lucas)
Carleigh Hemby gets the final hoop for the Lady Hawks.
(Dunn Area Sports Photo/John Lucas)
Jamari Amerson scores for the Triton boys.
(Dunn Area Sports Photo/John Lucas)
Xavion Richardson of the Hawks gets a basket.
(Dunn Area Sports Photo/John Lucas)
Will Heard of the Hawks goes in for a hoop against Southern Lee.
(Dunn Area Sports Photo/John Lucas)
Hayden Pope scores for Triton at home on Friday night.
(Dunn Area Sports Photo/John Lucas)
Sabine Wheeler finishes at the offensive end for Triton.
(Dunn Area Sports Photo/John Lucas)
