Triton’s Taylor Hatfield heads to the hoops during action versus NorthWood Tuesday night in Bourbon. The junior guard netted 19 points in a 59-51 loss to the Class 3-A No. 3 Panthers.

BOURBON – The Triton girls basketball team didn’t back down an inch from a tall and talented NorthWood squad Tuesday night.

In the end, however, giving away too many inches made a big difference in the outcome.

The Panthers proved that size does matter in rebounding their way past the host Trojans 59-51 in a clash of two state ranked foes.

NorthWood, ranked No. 3 in Class 3-A, used the performances of its premier post punch of Savannah Bley and Morgan Olson to deck Class 1-A No. 6 Triton in a well-played early-season showdown.

Bley, a 6-1 senior, tallied 26 points on 11-of-14 shooting and snared 13 rebounds, while 5-11 junior Olson had 21 points to go with 17 caroms.

NorthWood, now 3-0, outrebounded the Trojans 42-29, including 21-14 on the offensive glass. The unbeaten Panthers produced a huge, difference-making 25-2 edge in second-chance points in the win. Triton’s tallest player checked in at 5-9.

Triton got great play from guards Taylor Hatfield and Kylie Mason as each scored 19 points for the Trojans, who drop to 3-2. The Trojans also got a big game from Mallorie Jennings, who had eight points and a team-high nine rebounds.

Triton stayed right it in the whole way despite being without leading scorer Shana Anderson. The senior guard, who was averaging 16.5 points-per-game, missed the contest for a violation of team rules, according to Triton coach Adam Heckaman. He did not want to specify how long Anderson, who was Triton’s top scorer last season and scored a game-high 24 points in a 69-36 win at South Central on Friday night, would be sidelined.

The Trojans hurt their chances for the upset with a tough night from the free throw line. The hosts hit just 15-of-26 from the stripe and missed four tosses in the game’s final minute.

“I thought everyone did a great job for us tonight,” said Triton coach Adam Heckaman. “We played a good game. We just came up a little short.

“We have girls who will step up. They are not going to back away from anyone. They know they can compete. We just played one of the best 3-A teams in the state and our kids did a great job. The girls adjusted really well without Shana.

“We did what we needed to do. We used being smaller to our advantage and drove to the basket and got to the free throw line. It’s an eight-point game and we miss 11 free throws and gave up a lot of second-chance points. But, NorthWood is big and strong inside.”

Mallorie Jennings of Triton makes her way past NorthWood’s Maddie Schwartz Tuesday night during a clash of ranked teams in Bourbon.

Triton’s lone lead came at 1-0.  The Panthers took the lead for good, appropriately enough on a three-point play on a rebound basket and free throw by Olson 66 seconds into the contest. Bley, who will play at Taylor University next year, scored 10 in the opening period as NorthWood led 17-11.

Mason kept the hosts in the game in the opening half. The active guard shook free to score 13 points, hitting four treys in the first half. The Trojans, who trailed 30-16 with 3:10 to play, closed the half with an 8-1 run to pull within 31-24 at intermission. Bley netted 19 and Olson nine in the opening half for NorthWood.

The Trojans stayed close in the final half thanks to Hatfield. With NorthWood’s Taylor Fielstra clamping down on Mason, Hatfield scored eight in the third period. The Panthers led 46-37 after the third stanza. Triton could get no closer than seven in the final frame, drawing within 46-39 with 7:46 to play on a pair of free throws by Hatfield. Olson scored six points in the final quarter to seal the win for the Panthers.

“Kylie did a great job hitting threes in the first half and then adjusting in the second half and not forcing it,” Heckaman said. “Taylor did a great job driving to the basket and Mallorie Jennings did a phenomenal job tonight against their bigger players.”

Veteran NorthWood coach Steve Neff, who now owns 615 career wins and a state championship in his 36th season in charge of the Black Swish, was glad to see his team in a close game after opening the season with a pair of lopsided wins.

“This was a great game for us,” said Neff. “After two blowouts (79-28 over Bremen and 71-26 over New Prairie), we needed a game like this to see what we need to work on and we did see some things.

“It was good to get a win and also see things we can do better. It seemed like our feet were glued to the floor on defense. I’m not sure why we played such poor defense. We need to tweak a couple of things.

“Bley and Olson were tough early on especially. That’s good production from them, but there’s things they can do better too. It won’t show up in the box score, but Taylor Fielstra had a nice game for us. She played tough defense on No. 22 (Mason) in the second half for us. Triton is a nice team. They make it tough for you to try and play zone against them.”

Standout sophomore Jordyn Frantz, a Division I college prospect for the Panthers, struggled. The talented guard scored 10 points on just 3-of-15 shooting.

The Panthers have eight returning letter winners from last year’s 22-4 team, including top scorer Olson (who averaged 15.7 ppg. last season).

Haley Roe netted 15 points as NorthWood won the junior varsity contest 48-21. Jaela Meister and Becca Kennedy each had six points to pace Triton.

NorthWood (3-0) hosts Class 4-A power Penn Nov. 27. Triton (3-2) plays at Bethany Christian Nov. 26.

Kylie Mason of Triton looks for room to operate Tuesday night versus NorthWood. The smooth sophomore popped in 19 points for the Trojans.