Triton’s girls tennis team pose during the championship round of the Northern State Conference finals Saturday at Bremen. Triton won the team title with 46 points, edging out Bremen. Winning titles were Kaelyn Mason at one singles and the one doubles team of Kolbie Mason and Kylie Mason. Kylie was not present in the group shot or the team ceremony as she headed back to Bourbon to prep for Warsaw’s prom. (Photo provided by Kelley Ross)

BREMEN – Triton put one of its arch nemesis behind them, at least for a weekend. Avenging its only team loss of the season, Triton fended off Bremen as well as the rest of the Northern State Conference to claim the final NSC girls tennis tournament title Saturday at the DeSantis Tennis Courts.

The Trojans used titles from Kaelyn Mason at one singles and the Mason sister duo of Kylie and Kolbie at one doubles to propel the team to 46 team points, six clear of Bremen’s 40 points. Coach Al Peckham’s club had all five of its courts in the winner’s bracket and four playing for titles on a great Saturday for the Trojan tennis program.

Mason at one singles overcame a slow start to defeat Bremen’s Alexa Harshbarger 6-1, 6-4 in the semi-finals of what was a key match not just for Mason to reach the finals, but for Triton in the team standings. Mason, who received a first-round bye as the top seed, then cruised to a 6-0, 6-3 win over Brittany Fletcher of Knox for the title.

In equally impressive championship form was Kaelyn’s twin sister, Kylie, and baby sister Kolbie, just a freshman. The one doubles combo proved superior in a convincing 6-1, 6-1 victory in the morning session against Knox’s Kourtney Wagner and Shelby Faverty. The finals were not a cinch for the sisters, as LaVille’s McKenzie Leed and Katie Simmons came to play. Triton grabbed the first set, 6-2, but LaVille fought back, 6-3, forcing a third and deciding set. Both teams fought it out, but the sister act pulled through at 6-4 to claim the title.

Shayla May nearly made it three titles for Triton, going three sets in the final of the two singles championship against top seed Andrea Strehler of Bremen. May lost the first set, 6-2, but came back with a 6-4 second set, taking matters to the deciding third. Strehler picked up the title in exciting fashion, 6-4, breaking serve to claim a late game.

Triton’s two doubles tandem of Quinn Downing and Emma Ross had a whale of a semi-final match with Jimtown’s Erin Scott and Katie Beron. Down 5-4 in the first set, Triton rallied to tie the match at six, breaking Jimtown’s serve and taking the tiebreaker in five. Downing and Ross would settle in for a 6-2 win in the second set, reaching the final against Bremen’s top-seed, Shaelyn Atkins and Liz Lawmaster. Bremen’s duo would hold court for the championship 6-2, 6-2.

Three singles freshman Hannah Wanemacher rallied to claim third place after pitching a shutout in her final match of the day, love-love, against Courtney Whitaker of Knox. Wanemacher had reached the semi’s with a win Thursday night, but fell to Bremen’s Kylie Philips two and four. In an upset in the finals, Jimtown’s Carla Murillo won an exciting duel over Philips 6-4, 7-5.

Triton, which is 11-1 in dual matches this season, wound up sharing the conference title with Bremen after the Trojans went 6-1 in the NSC and Bremen finished 7-0. The team’s will go in the record books as co-champions of the final NSC season as the conference is disbanding after this spring. Bremen are dashing for the Northern Indiana Conference with John Glenn, New Prairie and Jimtown.

Triton will finish up its regular season Monday at Peru in a final tune-up for the Bremen Sectional, which begins Wednesday. The state draw for the tennis sectional is Monday evening. Five teams make up the Bremen Sectional, including the host and defending champion Lions, Triton, Plymouth, LaVille and John Glenn.