Trojans edge Sauk Valley in dramatic fashion

The Triton College women's basketball team set the tone for a nerve-wracking afternoon by pulling out the first of two home games that went down to the final buzzer in a 54-52 victory over Sauk Valley Community College on Saturday, January 20.
 
Star guard Trinity Barnes' two free throws with 3.8 seconds left accounted for the final score. Barnes then continued her crunch-time lesson in fundamentals by intercepting the inbounds pass in the lane and dribbling out the clock to thwart the visitor's last gasp at the Jordnt Athletic Complex.
 
The sweating-it-out pace must have taken over the Triton men's style two hours later as the Trojans dodged a Skyhawks' buzzer-beating three-point attempt that would have tied the game.
 
The men, however, did not have to claw from behind. Boosting their record to 12-6 with their fourth straight victory, the women rallied from a 15-point deficit in the second quarter before staging another minor comeback late in the game.
 
Both Barnes and Trojan "big" Jordyn Coleman shook off early blues to become productive in the second half.
 
Barnes was a bit under the weather; she missed all five of her first-half three-point attempts. Overall, the Trojans missed all nine trey attempts before intermission. Then Barnes sat out the entire third quarter. Meanwhile, Coleman played less than 10 minutes in the first half.
 
But the players encouraged one another in a halftime talk convened by head coach Drew Winston. He encouraged a stepped-up defensive effort.
 
"We felt we were one or two good defensive stops (from regaining momentum)," Winston said. "Once the defense got cracking, then the offense got free-flowing."
 
Triton fell behind Sauk Valley (8-8) 26-11 and 30-15 in the second quarter, suggesting a second straight loss to the Skyhawks was possible after a three-point defeat December 14 in Dixon. The Skyhawks Shelby Veltrop was hot with 14 points.
 
"Honestly, I was a little worried at first," said Coleman.
 
But the Trojans scored the final six in a row before halftime and continued putting on the pressure in the third quarter. Triton finally took the lead 39-38 with 2:30 to go on the third, outscoring the visitors 24-10 in the quarter despite Barnes' absence.
 
Sauk Valley, though, got hot in the fourth quarter, scoring 10 in a row to lead 50-47 with just under four minutes left. A three-point play by Aliana Brown and Sasha Chambliss' layup regained the lead for Triton before Sauk Valley tied it up 52-52, setting up Barnes for her clutch performance.
 
Winston felt Barnes' bench time in the third was crucial. "To have her fresh in the fourth was huge," he said.
 
The mandated defensive effort was necessary. Despite better offensive output in the second half, the Trojans shot just 31 percent for the afternoon. Brown led Triton with 14 points, while Barnes had 13.
 
Coleman upped her game after halftime, playing nearly 18 minutes the rest of the way. She led Triton with 10 rebounds and four assists. Lauryn Hunt complemented Coleman up front with five points and nine rebounds.
 
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(Story by tritonathletics.com contributor George Castle)