Haden Deaton hoists a shot against Rio Grande Wednesday night. Photo by Grant Cook

Triton Girls 38, LaVille 29

Triton played its first game in almost a month, but did the job defensively to get past LaVille in a road win Wednesday night.

Triton, which played its only game of the season Nov. 4 in a seven-point loss to John Glenn, used a 17-2 run in building a 29-14 lead and let time play the enemy the rest of the way. Triton (1-1) allowed just two LaVille points in the second quarter.

Abbey Viers and Lexia Hostrawser combined for 20 points, 12 rebounds and four blocks for the Trojans. Taren Yates added seven points and five rebounds and Emma Hepler chipped in six points and five assists.

Lucy Sherk led the Lancers with 15 points and eight boards.

Grace Men 78, Rip Grande 64

Grace’s men’s basketball team handled Rio Grande on Wednesday, winning 78-64 in a balanced team effort.

The Lancers had four players who scored in double figures, led by Haden Deaton’s 20-point, 6-board and 5-assist performance.

Grace got off to a fast start. The Lancers poured in 11 points before four minutes had expired, forcing the Red Storm (4-3) to burn an early timeout.

The break seemed to steady the Red Storm, who slowly chipped away at Grace’s lead. Rio went on a 13-2 run to snag the lead at 21-20.

That proved to be Rio’s only lead of the game, however.

Grace responded by scoring the next 13 points unanswered. Matt Jennings scored five points during the run, and Jake Wadding added four more.

The Lancers (5-2) maintained their cushion into halftime, ending the period on a 6-0 spurt to claim a 44-29 lead at halftime.

Deaton, who scored 13 points in the half, ended the first half by muscling in an and-1. Wadding also scored 11 points in the half without missing a shot (5 for 5 field goals).

The Lancers shot 62 percent for the half, thanks in large part to scoring 26 points in the paint. Grace did commit 10 first-half turnovers.

The Red Storm were muted to shoot 36 percent from the floor and 20 percent from beyond the arc.

Cade Gibbs gave Grace a spark with three quick points to start the second half, including a steal and fastbreak layup.

Rio did its best to rally in the second half, but each time Grace was composed and provided an answer.

The Red Storm made their hardest push midway into the second half. Rio made a 15-3 run to cut Grace’s lead down 54-48 with under 12 minutes remaining.

But just as Grace did in the first half, the Lancers handled the pressure. Deaton scored four straight points, helping Grace quickly reestablish a double-digit cushion.

The Lancers eventually pulled ahead by 18 and coasted during the final few minutes of regulation.

For the game Grace shot 57 percent from the floor compared to 41 percent for Rio. The Lancers shot 60 percent from the 3-point line (9 of 15) and 60 percent from the foul line (9 of 15).

The Lancers held a dominant plus-15 advantage in rebounds, making amends for 17 turnovers the team committed.

Wadding finished with 13 points and five boards, and Cade Gibbs had 11 points and five rebounds.

Jakob Gibbs scored all 12 of his points in the second half, shooting 4 of 5 overall and 2 of 2 on 3-pointers.

Frankie Davidson had 5 points, 8 boards, 2 assists, 1 block and 1 steal, Myles Johnson scored six, and Jennings finished with seven points and three dimes.

Next up, the Lancers will travel to archrival Bethel on Saturday for a 1 p.m. tipoff.

St. Francis Women 65, Grace 59

In a back-and-forth Crossroads League matchup, Grace’s women’s basketball team came up short 65-59 at St. Francis on Wednesday.

The Lady Lancers erased a double-digit lead in the second half, but the Cougars made a charge late to secure the league victory.

The game started slowly for Grace’s offense. The Lady Lancers (2-2, 0-2 CL) did not make a field goal for the first few minutes until Kiersten Poor made a steal and scored a layup.

The Cougars (7-2, 1-0 CL) were also sluggish, struggling to handle Grace’s defensive pressure.

Kyannah Stull helped spark Grace’s attack, converting a crafty layup and then burying a deep triple as Grace led 10-4.

Grace did not score for the final few minutes but still led 10-8 at the end of the first quarter.

The Cougars quickly reasserted themselves to start the second quarter. USF tallied six quick points to grab a 14-10 lead.

Grace eventually knotted the score at 23-23 after a layup from Maddie Ryman. But USF ended the half on an 11-5 spurt to lead 34-28 at halftime.

Stull scored 11 points with a trio of 3-pointers in the first half, helping keep Grace in striking distance.

For the half, Grace shot 40 percent from the floor compared to 56 percent for USF.

The Cougars scored the first four points of the second half to open up a 10-point lead. But Grace was just getting warmed up.

Kamryn Hostetler jumpstarted the Lady Lancers, burying a pair of quick 3-pointers to eat into the Cougars’ lead.

Grace’s defense gave the Cougars fits in the third quarter. After a backcourt steal, Hostetler made an open layup to put Grace ahead 41-40.

Ryman and Kate Rulli kept momentum on Grace’s side with back-to-back scores; the Lady Lancers went on top by five to force a USF timeout.

After the timeout, the Cougars nailed a 3-pointer which ended a 17-2 onslaught from Grace.

Grace maintained the lead and entered the fourth quarter ahead 49-47.

The Lady Lancers found their scoring from beyond the arc to start the final quarter. Ryman buried a deep 3-pointer as the shot clock expired, and Kaylie Warble also hit a corner triple (the second of her career).

The teams continued to battle close as the clock wound down. With four minutes to play, Hostetler drained a trey from the top of the key to lift Grace to a five-point lead at 59-54.

But the Lady Lancers went cold down the stretch. Grace was unable to score again over the final 3:47 despite getting quality shots.

USF scored seven unanswered points to regain the lead with 40 seconds remaining.

Grace came up short on a potential game-tying jumper, and the Cougars made two free throws to ice the win with 17 seconds to play. USF added two more foul shots in the dying seconds, helping the Cougars end the contest on an 11-0 run.

“This was a big improvement from our last game. We have to keep getting better, but I’m not disappointed in our team at all tonight,” said Grace head coach Dan Davis. “We came to win and came to fight, and we got beat by a really good team. We are in the early moments of our season, so I’m excited to see how we grow.”

Stull and Hostetler tied for scoring honors with 15 points. Hostetler added five assists and six steals, and Stull had 4 boards, 3 assists and 2 steals.

Ryman scored 12 points with three steals, and Warble tallied seven points and five boards.

Kenzie McMahon tallied 5 points, 4 rebounds and 3 steals, and Kaylee Patton had two assists off the bench.

The Lady Lancers will remain on the road Saturday for a matchup at Goshen on Saturday at 3 p.m.