Norah Berkenstock
HOPE — It was a good first quarter for the Hauser girls basketball team, but Triton Central eventually got on a roll the final three quarters.
The Class 2A No. 9 Tigers took command of the game after the opening quarter, and thus handed the Jets a 61-38 loss in the third-place game of the Hauser Holiday Classic.
The two teams met previously on Dec. 21, with Triton Central winning 53-21. Even though it was a better outing for Hauser, Thursday’s contest produced the same result.
“Our girls really wanted to come out and make sure that they had a good mindset to start the game and start fast, so we were able to start fast,” Hauser coach Kyle Shipp said. “We had a couple of goals we wanted to achieve, and we achieved those. We’ve got to build upon that and turn it into a 32-minute basketball game instead of a 16-minute game.”
The Jets (4-14) led 14-9 after the first quarter. The Tigers (12-3) went on a 14-2 run to start the second quarter to lead 23-16.
Hauser got it to within 25-19 at halftime, but Triton Central went on a 13-2 to start the third quarter to eventually put the game away.
“The second game (a loss to Seeger on Wednesday), we came out of the third quarter a little sluggish. Tonight, in the third quarter, we came out a little sluggish,” Shipp said. “That’s what we talked about after the game was, we’ve got to get some mojo somehow in the second half.”
Norah Berkenstock led Hauser with 10 points. Haven Hartwell scored eight, and Bella Kipls and Braelyn Williams each added seven.
It was the final game of 2023 for the Jets. They will look to add a few more wins in 2024 before the postseason in about a month.
“We have a nice mixture of practice time and games to get us ready for the tournament coming up,” Shipp said. “Our focus moving forward is getting ready for the tournament. We get better every day and improve our skills and continue to gel as a team and build for that tournament.”
Triton Central 61, Hauser 38
Triton Central;9;16;20;16;—;61
Hauser;14;5;6;13;—;38
Triton Central (12-3): Felling 6 4-4 18, King 4 2-2 11, Harris 1 3-7 6, Spall 1 0-0 2, Bailey 5 2-2 12, Collier 2 0-0 6, Burbrink 1 1-1 3, Cloe 1 0-0 3. Totals: 21 12-16 61.
Hauser (4-14): Norah Berkenstock 4 1-1 10, Bella Kilps 3 1-3 7, Braelyn Williams 2 1-2 7, Kennedy Konradi 1 0-2 2, Abby Manley 1 1-2 4, Haven Hartwell 4 0-0 8. Totals: 15 4-10 38.
3-point goals: Triton Central 7 (Felling 2, Collier 2, Harris, King, Cloe); Hauser 4 (Williams 2, Manley, Berkenstock).
