Triton Basketball: Trojans In Enviable Position
BOURBON – Triton seems to be putting the pieces into place at just the right time.
Winners of 13 of its last 14, including sweeping the Hoosier North Athletic Conference for its first outright conference championship since 2011, Triton has righted the Trojan Horse, winning its last nine games and sits at 17-5 overall.
With that charge, Triton defeated three teams within the sectional, twice beating Argos, picking up a conference win against Culver and beating South Bend Career Academy, which is new to the sectional. The Trojans lost to Oregon-Davis the first game of the season, marking the only loss in nine Class 1-A games for Triton.
Triton locked up its first HNAC title in just the second year of the conference’s existence with its 50-37 win Friday at Knox to go 8-0. Winamac and Pioneer shared the inaugural HNAC trophy in 2016.
The Trojans, host of the Class 1-A No. 51 sectional as well as the Class 1-A regional, drew the bye and play either Culver (11-10) or North Miami (8-14) in Friday’s semi-final. The Trojans defeated Culver by 16 during the season and did not face North Miami.
Triton has enjoyed its fair share of leadership this season. Seniors Zac Pitney and Grant Johnson have done the heavy lifting for the most part, Pitney at 15.8 points per game and Johnson at 13.2 ppg. The two also combine for over 12 rebounds per night and Pitney is dishing 2.5 assists per game. Johnson is a force on the inside with his 6-6 frame, using the ability to post up and work to the rack, or spot up and shoot from mid-range. Pitney is a slasher, able to create his own shot and can hit from deep as well, leading the team in three-pointers made.
Triton does have shooters that can take the load off its two stars, and guards Beau Hepler and Nathan Flenar fill that role. Hepler is an outside shooter and handles the ball on offense. Flenar is a sneaky player, who has scoring eruptions from time to time such as his 11 points in a win against West Central or a career-high 19 points at Argos, also a win.
Adam Stevens, Dylan Hensley and Drew Stichter have all played vital roles in the Trojan run this season.
Jason Groves is directing the Trojans in his 12th year on the bench.
“We can’t look at any matchup and think we have an advantage,” Groves said of the tourney draw. “You have to figure both Culver and North Miami will already have a game under their belts when they face us. Culver has been a pain in our side for years and North Miami has a lot of talent. Either one are formidable.
“One thing we’ve gotten better about this season is taking care of the ball,” Groves said. “We had to play better defense. We started playing some two-three defense, which I didn’t play a lot in recent years, but when you have a player like Grant in the middle, you help him. And we’ve found some success with that. Basketball isn’t a democracy, you can’t just roll the ball out and let whoever shoot and whoever guard whoever. You have to keep it in the hands of the guys who do things well. Our guys have bought into that as the year went on. They may not like it every day deep down, but I don’t see or hear it. That’s been our mantra every year, and has made our program very successful.”
Triton won the sectional last season, its 12th sectional title overall and first since 2013. The Trojans had no answers, however, for Eugene German and Gary 21st Century in the Triton Regional last year, which knocked Triton out of the tournament.
The sectional starts Tuesday with Culver and North Miami and resumes Wednesday with South Bend Career Academy (7-16) against Argos (14-8) followed by Oregon-Davis (17-6) against South Central (Union Mills) (8-14).