Trotters trounce Bobcats

With their coach watching over them like a hawk, Plains used the fast break to sprint to a 76-25 win over Superior and ran off with their third-straight victory.

When the game started Saturday in Plains, Trotter coach Walt Hermiston wasn't in his normal position on the Trotters' bench, after getting two technical fouls the night before in a 78-60 victory over Troy, Hermiston had to watch the game from his perch on the mezzanine.

"I got a pretty good perspective on what we did good and what we still need to work on," Hermiston said of his view from above. One thing Hermiston liked seeing was the Trotters newly-found fast break. "Our running game looked good," Hermiston said. "Our running game has some possibilities. We just have to fine tune some things."

Hermiston said they started implementing the running game about a week ago and it has really helped their offense. "We kind of turned it up a notch or two and it helped us offensively," Hermiston said. "We're starting to be aggressive, offensively aggressive, and that's kind of what we were lacking at the first part of the year."

Hermiston said that they used to hang back and be tentative on offense. "We were only scoring like 35 points a game and that's just not going to get it done," he said. Plains, who only scored 37 points in their first victory against Superior, has averaged 71 points a game during their three-game winning streak.

The Trotters running game was fueled by their opportunistic defense. Plains had over 60 steals or deflections.

The Trotters started running right out of the gate, scoring eight of their 15 points in the first quarter off of the fast break. Sophomore Heather Earhart was the beneficiary of Plains' accelerated offense, scoring four of her seven points in the game on two first-quarter layups.

Heading into the second quarter with a 15-4 lead, the Trotters didn't slow down, scoring the first six points of the quarter on breakaways. After a Superior time-out at 6:36 with the score 21-4, Plains outscored the Bobcats 20-to-nine to go into halftime with a 41-13 lead.

When the Trotters weren't running, they were pounding the ball inside. The Trotters' 5-foot, 10-inch, senior Bethany Catalanello and five-foot, 11-inch junior Emma Ehret combined for 29 points in the game. Catalanello scored 10 of her 15 points in the lopsided second quarter and also pulled down nine rebounds in the game. Ehret had a strong third quarter for Plains, which helped them go into the final quarter with a insurmountable 59-21 lead. Ehret had eight of her 14 points in the quarter.

"Both of our post players are coming along," said Plains' assistant coach, Richard Griffin, who was subbing as head coach for Hermiston. "We're bigger than a lot of teams in the conference, so we should be able to use that to our advantage," Hermiston said about Plains' dominance from inside the paint.

The rout of Superior was a team effort, with four Trotters scoring in double digits. Ashton Vulles had 13 points and Brittany Mount finished with 10. After the game, Hermiston said he told his players how impressed he was with their team effort. "Everybody was looking for everybody. It was very unselfish and I was very pleased with that," said Hermiston.

The Trotters 78-60 victory over Troy Friday in Plains was also a team effort. Plains had five players finish in double digits. Earhart led the way with 24 points. She was followed by Ehret, who finished with 15 points. Vulles put in 14 points, Mount finished with 11 and Catalanello had 10.

With the two victories, Plains improved to 6-8 on the year. The Trotters take on Bigfork at home Friday and then travel to Eureka Saturday.