Triton’s bench celebrates with Cole Shively (20) after Shively’s big three in the third quarter of Triton’s 49-35 win over Tippecanoe Valley. InkFreeNews photos by Nick Goralczyk

By Nick Goralczyk
InkFreeNews

BOURBON – Don’t let the final score be misleading, Friday night’s hoops game between Tippecanoe Valley and Triton was competitive, physical and fun. A game highlighted by big momentum swings eventually went in favor of the home squad as the Trojans snapped a three-game losing streak to their backyard rivals with a 49-35 win at The Trench.

“We had a good start, we just needed to be a little more consistent in the middle,” explained Triton head coach Jason Groves. “Sometimes when we don’t hit shots, it takes us out of everything. Defensively we didn’t play very hard at times, I felt, but once we started hitting shots our guys got excited and in the second half, when we hit shots, our defense is what picked us up.”

Groves’ team jumped out to a 10-2 lead in the first quarter. The quick start forced Valley’s Chad Patrick to take a timeout and calm his team down. That 60-second breather was exactly what the Vikings needed as they would go on a 10-0 run to end the first quarter with the lead, thanks to a buzzer-beating three from Paul Leasure.

Valley kept the momentum going in the second period thanks to stout defense and careful shot selection. The Vikings blocked three shots in the frame and outscored the Trojans 9-5 to lead 21-15 at the break. The game was going exactly the way Valley wanted it to, but the script would change in the second half.

After hitting three shots from beyond the arc in the first half, Valley went 0-7 in the second. A 4-5 free throw performance in the first two periods collapsed into a 3-13 effort in the final 16 minutes. Perhaps most damaging was the 12 second half turnovers from the Vikings that set up a potent transition offense for the Trojans.

Nolan Cumberland (12) blocks a shot in the second quarter of Friday’s game at Triton. The Vikings blocked eight shots in the contest.

Triton, after spending much of the game struggling to hit anything, went on an 11-0 run in the third quarter to take a 25-24 lead with just 1:44 to play in the period. Triton never gave the lead back and would outscore Valley 18-5 in what proved to be a critical third quarter.

“We shot bad tonight,” Patrick said. “We were 3-15 from three, we got out rebounded and we had 11 turnovers in the second half. In the first half we were even with (Triton) on the boards and we had six turnovers, and they weren’t bad turnovers.

“What I really thought got us is when (Triton) went on its little run, we got outhustled four or five times and that hurt us. The dilemma we have right now is the guys that we have to play to play good defense struggle to score and the guys we need to score struggle to play defense. We’re getting better, we’re improving. We were in position to win this game.”

Valley kept the deficit hovering around five points but could never get over that hump to put the pressure back on Triton. The Trojans went an 11-2 run to end the game and secure the victory.

Triton’s was far from flashy in its win. Instead the Trojans banded together for a strong team victory. Eight players scored in the victory for Triton with Ashton Oviedo and Tyson Yates leading the way, each with nine points. Both players also tallied four assists as piece.

The surge in the second half could not have happened, however, if it were not for Cole Shively and Keegan Westafer. The two came off the bench to score eight and six points respectively, all in the final two quarters. Shively also pulled down five boards. John Gardner led the team with seven rebounds and added six points.

Valley found itself with a balanced offensive approach as well as six players scored in the contest. Valley’s Dawson Perkins led all players with 10 points, nine rebounds and an eye-popping six blocks.

With just a few games left in the season and the sectional draw coming up on Sunday, Patrick knows his team is close to unlocking its full potential.

“We have to continue to play defense like we did at times tonight,” stated Valley’s head coach. “We just can’t have the lulls. We’ll knock down shots, we’ll figure that part out. We have to play defense, keep the turnovers down and at least stay even in rebounding. Those three things are going to be key for us. Tonight, we did them in the first half, the second half we didn’t.”

As for Groves and the Trojans? They get a little taste of sectional life as they turn right around for a game at Argos Saturday night.

“You’ve just got to be ready to go each and every night,” Groves explained when asked of his team’s late-season back-to-back. “With a hard-fought game tonight, you have to be mentally focused. Sometimes it’s hard to be mentally focused two nights in a row, our guys have to do that. Physically too, our bench has to be ready.

“It’s a great opportunity and it will prepare us for the sectional. You have to win these kind of games to win the sectional. It will be good for us.”

Triton moves to 14-4 and is scheduled for a 7:15 p.m. tip at Argos (14-4) against a Dragons team that squeaked out a 60-55 win over North Judson (4-11) Friday night. Coincidentally Valley (6-14) will travel to North Judson on Tuesday. That game is slated for a 7:30 p.m. tip.

Triton won a tightly contested JV contest by a final score of 28-19. Connor Large led the Trojans with 13 points while Landon Walters led Valley with six points.