Triton players take the floor during a game at the Trojan Trench. A broken water pipe in the locker room has caused significant damage to the Trench, and the Bourbon gym floor will need replaced. (File photo by Mike Deak)

BOURBON — It’s taken more than 40 years for Plymouth High School to get an opportunity to repay a favor by Triton back in the 1970s, but once officials at the Marshall County rival got the opportunity to do so, they didn’t hesitate.

A broken water pipe in a locker room discovered at Triton High School back on Jan. 8 was found to have caused serious damage to the hardwood floor at the Trojan Trench, and with no chance of getting that damage repaired by season’s end, athletic director Mason McIntyre and other THS administrators had to scramble to find replacement venues for the remaining home events on the school’s winter athletic calendar. The biggest need was for the boys basketball team, which has a full five home games remaining on the schedule. Luckily for McIntyre and company, the search for a home away from home didn’t take too long.

Plymouth quickly agreed to take on the Trojans’ remaining home contests at The Rock. As it turns out, Triton did the Pilgrims a similar solid in the years between 1973 and 1976, when they needed a place to play while their new high school was still undergoing construction, so it didn’t take long for PHS administrators to agree to lend the Trojans an assist in their time of need. And, as luck would have it, the two schools’ schedules weren’t overly hard to reconcile, either.

“Fortunately, we looked at our schedule, and we have away games on four of the five dates that they selected so there is not a conflict with us as far as facility, per se,” explained PHS Athletic Director Roy Benge. “We were happy to do that. I go back to 40-plus years ago before our gym was built, Triton took us on as a home team over at their place for a couple of years while our facility was under construction here. Not a whole lot of people remember those days, but unfortunately at my age I do, and that was the year before I got here. They helped us out. They also helped us in tennis this last year. As an area school it’s kind of a no-brainer.”

“One of the things that we have to think about is revenue. Athletic departments are funded solely on gate receipts — that’s how we pay for everything — so we knew that we needed to try to keep those games in some kind of a home situation if at all possible,” said McIntyre. “Plymouth actually was the first place that we looked. We just got on John Harrell’s website, and we pulled up their schedule and saw right away that four out of their last five were doable. When that time came, we’re like, OK, this can be a new home for us.

“It was definitely a relief to get to that point where you knew that, hey, things are going to work out and they’re figured out.”

New Triton Schools Superintendent Jeremy Riffle received a rude welcome in his first day on the job with the news that a broken water pipe had been found at the high school early on the morning of Jan. 8. Water on the floor had been discovered in the locker room by a group of players, and they notified the high school’s maintenance director. He contacted Riffle, who in turn gave McIntrye the bad news, and they waited to find out the extent of the damage as maintenance crews worked to clean up the standing water over the next few hours.

At first, they hoped they’d gotten to the leak in time, but after the boards at the THS gymnasium started to buckle and cup at the seams, it became clear that the floor was unplayable and would need significant repairs.

“It has definitely been rough,” stated THS boys basketball coach Jason Groves. “I found out about the gym that Monday at school but really didn’t think it would be too big of a deal once it dried. Well, I was wrong! I think we all realize how serious this was the next day when the floor started to buckle.  At that point, we were all pretty devastated. I told the kids that night at practice that, most likely, we are done practicing and playing in The Trench. Obviously, they were upset, but they are kids, so it didn’t phase them too much.”

Once the damage to the floor became apparent, the scramble was on to adjust practice and game schedules for the various Triton high school and youth winter sports programs that use the gym. At first, McIntyre had to focus on short term solutions but was soon able to work out larger chunks of scheduling. Eventually, the AD was able to sort through the remainder of the winter sports season.

“I came up with the motto right away that I’ll know more tomorrow. People asked me about practice schedules the first couple days, and I would say ‘I’ll know more tomorrow.’ It just kind of became the theme there because we were just dealing with the unknown,” said McIntyre, who says he’s learned more than he ever cared to know about gym floors over the past several weeks.

“We tried to take it a couple days at a time to begin with. After those first couple days we said ‘Well, let’s get the next week done.’ And eventually we got to the point where we were able to work through the rest of the winter.”

A view from the balcony during practice at the Trojan Trench, where repairs are needed.

Plymouth’s help with the Trojans’ boys basketball schedule has certainly helped ease McIntyre’s burden. The Triton Elementary gymnasium served as the venue for the girls basketball team’s final home game with Culver Community, but more seating capacity was needed for the rest of the Trojans’ home slate. PHS agreed to take on the full balance of that remaining schedule — five games over the next month, beginning with a Hoosier North Athletic Conference game versus North Judson-San Pierre next Monday evening and concluding with Triton’s conference-closer versus Knox on Feb. 23.

“We knew going forward some of our crowds were going to be too big to play at the elementary gym, so that’s when we looked at Plymouth High School, and it just so happened that four out of our last five dates, they were open,” said McIntyre. “We had to move one of those games — it was supposed to be this Saturday, the 27th. We moved it to Monday, and that fit with their schedule. Those guys have just been awesome to work with and have been very gracious to work with in allowing us to use that facility. It just worked out that way. It’s funny how things work sometimes.”

It was actually at Triton that PHS Hall of Fame boys basketball coach Jack Edison earned his first win against LaVille back in 1973, and it was there, many seasons later, that he celebrated his 500th head coaching win against the Trojans. Like the history between their two programs, Groves and current PHS head coach Ryan Bales go way back and are actually both Bethel basketball alums. Bales was one of the first to reach out to offer his help to Groves, and the 13th year Triton coach expressed his gratitude to his colleague for his own assistance.

“I have known Ryan since junior high, and we went to Bethel together. We did not play on the same team, though,” he stated. “One thing I know about Ryan is that he’s a kind-hearted, selfless guy. He actually texted me after he heard the news just to say sorry and to let him know if we needed anything. We have had one practice at Plymouth and plan on practicing there one more time before we play North Judson on Monday; I just don’t want to be a distraction to Ryan or his team in any way. We really do appreciate their kindness during this difficult time, though!”

But Plymouth wasn’t the only area rival to lend a hand, either.

Triton was originally scheduled to defend back-to-back HNAC wrestling titles at the conference tournament last weekend, but with the damage to the Trojan Trench and the limited seating available at the Triton Elementary gym, that was no longer possible. McIntyre emailed the rest of the Hoosier North ADs to let them know his school’s situation as soon as it became clear, and Culver volunteered to host the HNAC Wrestling Tournament instead.

“We considered doing it in our elementary gym, but the seating capacity over there we just didn’t feel like would be enough to handle that size of a crowd,” explained McIntyre. “Thankfully, Culver stepped up. We had to take one of our mats down there, so I drove one of our mats down there and hauled it down there in a van trailer and went back there and picked it up on Monday.

“I can’t say enough good things about all the people around us who have stepped up to help, and Culver is definitely in that mix being willing to host that with really about a week’s notice. And it’s a lot of work so I was thankful that those guys were willing to do that.”

Even though Triton’s winter season has been saved thanks to a little serendipity and some help from surrounding schools, the high school is still some ways from finding a permanent solution to the problem.

School officials continue to work through insurance, and — although they have been given every reason to expect the carrier will cover the cost of a new floor — until final approval is given on the reconstruction, the floor must be left in its current state in case insurance wants to conduct its own appraisal. Several flooring companies have already been contacted for quotes so the school board will be prepared to move as soon as possible, but even once they cast their votes, it will be another six to eight weeks from tearing out the old floorboards to making any sub level repairs necessary to installing the new floor. In the meantime, McIntyre feels grateful for the support he’s gotten from rival schools in addition to the support he’s received from those within Trojan athletics as well as the broader Triton community in general.

“The flexibility of all of our kids and parents has been tremendous,” he said. “For a lot of these kids’ parents, these schedules have become not ideal and so it’s caused them to change maybe things that they had planned. We definitely just appreciate everybody’s understanding and flexibility in this situation.”