Triton’s Whytnie Miller (14) sends a layup attempt toward an unforgiving rim Friday night. Her shot spun around and out, leaving the Trojans on the short end of an eventual 37-34, triple overtime loss to North Judson. (Photos by Mike Deak)

BOURBON – There were 44 minutes of high school girls basketball played Friday night in the Trojan Trench. The final two seconds of the game decided the outcome, a 37-34 North Judson win over Triton in the de facto championship game in the Hoosier North Athletic Conference.

A layup by Triton’s Whytnie Miller with two seconds to go in the third overtime touched all 18 inches of the cylinder of the rim and somehow was spit out. Miller, who drove to the basket with her team down 35-34, had an open look as North Judson’s defense sagged into the lane to defend the speedy freshman. As her shockingly uncontested floater was flipped at the rim, it spun around and somehow gravity didn’t pull it through.

Nicole Sechrist follows through on a made three in the second overtime.

Morgan Schumacher pulled down the begging carom and hit a pair of free throws with seven-tenths left, and a three-quarter court heave by Nicole Sechrist didn’t beget a fourth overtime, giving North Judson the outright conference crown.

It was a heartbreaking end for Triton, which was playing for a share of the HNAC title coming into the night with a 6-1 conference mark. Triton won the inaugural HNAC title last year at North Judson in a tight game, the Blue Jays in 2016 trying to hand the Trojans its first loss but came up short. North Judson finishes 8-0 in the conference and is now 18-4 on the season.

“It was in our scouting report. Revenge is sweet,” said an elated North Judson head coach Chris Newbauer. “Adam does such a great job and they play such a hard schedule. And it times up perfectly. He is such a class act and his girls are the same way. It’s fun. I looked at our girls with eight seconds left and said whatever happens girls, you played your tails off. This is fun. It’s nice to return the favor back to them and get championship number one this year. But, man, holy smokes, it’s awesome.”

Getting to the memorable finish was exhausting. The biggest lead in the fourth quarter was three points, held by the Blue Jays twice, the second of which was when Schumacher hit an up and under layup for a 26-23 lead. Sechrist hit a pair of shots to give Triton the lead back, but Schumacher made a free throw with 15 seconds left tying the game. Among the grind was the fifth foul called on Triton’s Hannah Wanemacher, who left the game with just six points, but took the offensive rhythm with her.

A dejected Quinn Downing walks off the Trench court for the final time after fouling out against North Judson.

“We had foul trouble big time and we had all kinds of people step up in places,” said a sweaty but upbeat Triton head coach Adam Heckaman. “Hannah and Quinn picked up fouls in the first half and we have Sara and Courtney out there maintaining a lead. When we lost them both for fouling out, we had to do it again. I mean, it’s a loss, but there were a lot of positives to take from this game.”

Only one shot was taken in the first overtime, that a 17-foot make by Triton’s Kaitlyn Bailey to pull the Trojans level at 29, counteracting two Casey Korniak free throws. In the second overtime, a Schumacher free throw made the score 32-29, setting up Sechrist to drill a three from the right corner with 18 seconds left, sending the game to a third overtime tied at 32.

Two Sechrist free throws in the third overtime had the Trojans up one, but a layup from Korniak, who stumbled her way through the lane and somehow kept her balance enough to flip the ball in, put the Jays up with 12.8 seconds to go.

Sechrist finished with 18 points, Korniak had 16 points.

“That kid has absolutely grown up since last year,” Newbauer said of Korniak. “Absolutely amazing and she played great. Her game hasn’t elevated, but mentally, there were a lot of things she needed to work on in the summer, taking over this team with Morgan, she is doing such a great job.”

Triton (8-14, 6-2 HNAC) will have a third crack at Argos in its sectional matchup on Wednesday at Culver, having lost to the Dragons twice already during the season. Argos won the week one matchup 47-24 and the Bi-County opener 37-29 two weeks ago. Is there any magic in Triton’s charm?

“We held a team to 37 points in three overtimes, that’s where we want to be defensively,” Heckaman said. “We had kids stepping up that don’t normally score points. We are heading in the right direction. We are ready to go into next week and see what we can do.”

Triton’s Kaitlyn Bailey reacts after making her only shot attempt of the game, which tied the game late in the first overtime.