Another OT, another sectional title for Lady Dragons
CULVER - Winning a sectional is hard. Repeating as the sectional champ is even harder. But argos’ high school girls basketball team did just that, coming through with its third win in four days to cap off a challenging week by taking the Class 1a Sectional 50 championship Saturday night.
“What a sectional,” said argos head coach Scott Jennings. “It doesn’t get much crazier than the three games we had. What a heck of a win for the girls and now two sectionals in a row for the program.”
The latest win was a 53-49 overtime victory over Triton at Culver High School’s John R. Nelson Gymnasium, where three days prior it took triple-overtime to defeat the hosts and the night before the Lady Dragons edged Westville by three points in the semifinals, a much closer game than many expected.
During the regular season, argos saw an early 14-point lead evaporate and the Lady Dragons eventually lost to Triton, 40-36, and the sectional final was eerily similar.
argos used three 3s - two from Samantha Redinger - and a 7-0 run late in the first quarter to lead 14-6. With Triton junior standout addyson Viers having to sit out almost six minutes covering the end of the first period and the start of the second due to foul trouble, and three more treys from Redinger, the Lady Dragons led by 14. When Viers returned for the last 4:44 of the second frame, she scored six straight points as the Lady Trojans were able to cut the lead to single digits by halftime, 27-18.
By the intermission, Redinger had scored 17 of her team-high 23 points.
“She can light it up,” Jennings said of the junior lefty. “When she gets on a roll, she’s just a pure shooter. There are games we need her to do that. She can be deadly. She is starting to move well without the ball too. She knows she is going to get some defense on her from here on out. Next year she’s really going to get it.”
Triton changed to a man-to-man defense in the second half and Jocelynn Faulkner did an outstanding job keeping Redinger under wraps the rest of the game. The Lady Trojans also scored the first five points of the third quarter to get within five, but argos answered with another late 7-0 flurry to lead by double-digits again before Sierra Hawley’s 3 at the buzzer made it 39-29 heading to the final period.
“It was a similar game to the last time we played them,” added Jennings. “They started out in their zone defense, then went to man to try and shut down Sam (Redinger) and Emma (Dunlap). When they went to man-to-man I knew we’d have our hands full, but we kept our composure, stayed in it, got some defensive stops, got Viers in foul trouble and that helped a bunch.”
While she was in though, Viers was a handful. She scored five points and Jenna Bules four as the Lady Trojans reeled off an 11-2 run to start the fourth quarter to get within one at 41-40. after an Ellie Bollenbacher layup and a foul shot by Baleigh Binkley, argos pushed the lead back up to four with 1:39 remaining in regulation before Kinsey atkins and Faulkner hit clutch shots to tie the score at 44 and less than 30 seconds to play. argos did get a last-second shot off, but it was highly contested and the game went to the extra session.
Triton took its first lead since 4-3 behind a threepoint play by Viers to open the OT and she added another bucket after a nice pass from atkins for a 49-45 lead. Unfortunately, those would be the last of Viers’ game-high 25 points, as well as the team’s final tallies, as she fouled out with 1:44 left in overtime. Redinger scored on a nice drive to the basket and Bollenbacher scored on a put-back to knot the score at 49, then Dunlap went 4-for-4 from the foul line in the double-bonus situation over the last 45 seconds to complete the scoring.
In the last 1:12 of OT, Triton missed four shots, two coming from close range.
“She’s a little under the weather right now, but she did what a senior needs to do,” Jennings said of the clutch free throws by Dunlap, who finished with 10 points. “Her leadership was key at the end. She did what we needed her to do for us.”
Binkley added nine points and Bollenbacher seven, all coming in the fourth quarter and overtime.
“I don’t mind it when she misses some shots because she’ll make up for it on the other end with rebounds or defensive stops,” Jennings said of the freshman Bollenbacher. “She’ll make mistakes now and then, but everyone does. She has come so far since the start of the season. She has amazed me.”
Binkley’s all-around strong floor game included seven rebounds and six assists. Bella Stults also grabbed seven boards for Argos.
Jenna Bules had a fantastic game for Triton, scoring 10 points and collecting 13 rebounds. Atkins had five assists and Faulkner four.
The loss ends the prep careers of Triton seniors Emily Bugg and Atkins.
• ARGOS 53, TRITON 49 (OT) Class 1A Sectional 50 Championship
At Culver
ARGOS: Samantha Redinger 9 0-0 23, Baleigh Binkley 3 3-5 9, Bella Stults 1 2-4 4, Emma Dunlap 2 4-4 10, Morgyn Barkus 0 0-0 0, Ellie Bollenbacher 3 1-4 7. TOTALS: 18 10-17 53.
TRITON: Sierra Hawley 2 0-0 5, Jocelynn Faulkner 3 0-0 6, Kinsey Atkins 1 0-0 2, Jenna Bules 5 0-0 10, Emily Bugg 0 0-0 0, Sydney King 1 0-0 2, Addyson Viers 10 3-3 24. TOTALS: 22 3-3 49. Score by quarters
Argos 14 27 39 44 53
Triton 8 18 29 44 49 3-pointers: Argos 7 (Redinger 5, Dunlap 2), Triton 2 (Hawley, Viers). Fouls (fouled out): Argos 12 (none), Triton 18 (Viers). Records: Argos 13-12, Triton 15-9 (final)