Joelle Ziegler, left, and Triad’s Alea Ferguson battle for possession of the basketball during Saturday afternoon’s game. The Lady Cardinals beat FHS, 58-41.
(Journal-Tribune photo by Tim Miller)
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Triad High School girls basketball coach Jeff Merklin saw something from his team during the second half of last Monday’s game against Shekinah Christian.
Even though the Lady Cardinals lost that contest, 56-52, the second-year head coach found a reason to remain upbeat.
“I think we really started to mesh together as a team during the second half the other night,” he said.
That trait continued Saturday afternoon when Triad (1-1) went on the road and beat Ohio Heritage Conference rival Fairbanks, 58-41.
The Lady Cardinals (who will host Riverside this evening) were the recipients of a balanced scoring attack.
Emma Vanninen, an exchange student from Finland, led Triad with 19 points. Veteran Alea Ferguson tossed in 15 and freshman Cati LeVan finished with 10.
Both teams were slow getting into their offense as errant shots and turnovers were the norm for the first several minutes.
“We turned the ball over too many times,” said FHS boss Brock Oakes.
Still, the Lady Panthers (0-2) took a 7-3 lead, thanks in part to Audrey Brackenridge’s three-pointer with slightly more than three minutes left in the opening quarter.
Triad battled back, getting charity tosses from Levan and a bucket by Audrey Lightle to take an 8-7 edge.
After several exchanges in possession, Zoe Walls buried a shot that sent Fairbanks into the second period with a 9-8 lead.
Levan converted a midcourt steal into a lay-up that returned a 10-9 margin to the visitors.
From that point on, the Lady Panthers (who will travel to Bishop Ready on Tuesday) never again held the upper hand.
Vanninen, who was impressive with her low post game, stepped out from beyond the arc to launch the first of her trio of trifectas.
Ferguson drove the lane for a bucket and Kristin Bailey was fouled on a long three-ball that swished through the net.
Her free throw capped a four-point play and upped Triad’s margin to 19-11.
The Lady Cardinals took their first double-digit lead at 22-12 when Ferguson drilled a three-pointer with 3:06 left until the half.
Buckets from Bella Rowland and Emily Wilson, plus free throws by Joelle Ziegler, cut FHS’ halftime deficit to 27-20.
Vanninen tickled the twine for two additional trifectas as Triad’s lead grew to 36-22 about three minutes into the third quarter.
The Lady Panthers had trouble with the Cardinals’ balanced scoring attack and also had difficulties putting the ball in the basket themselves.
Three-pointers by Ferguson and Levan sent Triad into the fourth quarter with a 45-27 margin.
The lead grew to 20 on Vanninen’s stickback.
To their credit, the Lady Panthers refused to wave the white flag.
Brackenridge knocked down two consecutive three-pointers.
Wilson’s three-ball cut the gap to 50-38, but the Lady Panthers simply ran out of steam down the stretch.
Each team played without one of its top scorers.
Senior Logan Stidham is sidelined until the middle of January for FHS, while Triad senior Tori Thomas is listed as day-to-day with an ankle injury.
“We’ve still got four or five perimeter people who know what they are doing,” said Merklin.
Despite the setback, Oakes was pleased with his team’s defense after last week’s 78-17 loss to Pleasant.
“I felt our ball pressure was better,” he said. “However, we shot ourselves in the foot with those turnovers and by giving Triad too many second-chance (scoring) opportunities.”
Triad
Vanninen 6-4-19, Ferguson 5-3-15, C. Levan 3-2-10, Cauley 1-4-6, Lightle 2-0-4, Bailey 1-1-4, Hasting 0-0-0, Plank 0-0-0, Perry 0-0-0, F. Levan 0-0-0. Totals 18-14-58.
Three-point goals: Vanninen 3, Ferguson 2, C. Levan 2, Bailey 1.
Fairbanks
Wilson 4-1-10, Brackenridge 3-0-9, Ziegler 3-3-9, Walls 2-0-5, Olson 2-0-4, Rowland 1-0-2, Writesel 1-0-2, Wanamaker 0-0-0, Pickelsimer 0-0-0. Totals 16-4-41.
Three-point goals: Brackenridge 3, Wilson 1, Walls 1.