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Perhaps motivated by its last-second loss to Newburyport last Friday or the fact that it still needed that elusive 10th victory to qualify for the EMass. tournament, the Triton girls wasted no more time punching their ticket by routing Amesbury, 52-21.

With a state tournament berth on the line, it was Newburyport that was able to survive a battle of attrition over Triton, 37-35, ending the Vikings' four-game winning streak.

Things were not going according to plan for the Clippers in the first half, as Nicki Wurdeman and the Viking gang romped out to a 21-13 halftime lead.

While nothing about the Triton fourth-quarter comeback against North Andover last night was fast, it was certainly furious.

Down 10 points | 26-16 | heading into the last eight minutes of the game, the Vikings outscored the Scarlet Knights 20-4 in that final frame en route to a 36-30 victory.

IPSWICH | Ipswich High forward Amber Smith was eight points shy of 1,000 for her career heading into last night's game against Triton, but a personal milestone was hardly her priority.

"We've never won our own (Christmas) tourney," explained Smith. "There were more important things than (scoring 1,000)."

Erin McNamara led the Sachems (3-0) with 14 points. Ashley Viselli scored 10 for Pentucket. Emily Lane and Kirsten Daamen added eight each. Andrea Attenasio had six.

"We need to clean up a few details, but Triton is always a tough place to play," Pentucket coach John McNamara said. Brittany Caprio and Maxine Crossman led Triton (0-3) with seven points each. Lauren Mihalchick added six. Sarah Peterson scored four. Lauren Savage added three.

Two teams that really struggled in their opening games, Triton and Amesbury, locked up for an entertaining, high-scoring affair last night, as the Indians beat the Vikings, 65-58.

Amesbury, which was thumped by Pentucket Tuesday, 57-19, looked as if it might get blown away again early with Triton jumping on the Indians 9-0 to start the game.

Coach: Karen Christian (7th year)

**Last season: 6-14

**Key players: Nicki Wurdeman, sr.; Sarah Peterson, sr.; Lauren Savage, sr.; Brittany Caprio, jr.

**Newcomers: Lauren Mihalchik, so.; Paige Stokes, so.