Triton’s Tyson Yates flies to the bucket for a layup against Lakeland Christian Tuesday night. InkFreeNews photos by Mike Deak

By Mike Deak
InkFreeNews

WINONA LAKE – There wasn’t a terrible amount of expectation from either Triton or Lakeland Christian Tuesday night. Both teams had just one game under their respective waistbands. Both teams were just happy to be on the court. And both teams were still working to figure out what they had.

Turns out both teams have a lot of spunk.

Triton’s athleticism and quick hands would eventually lead to a 65-47 boys basketball win in what was an interesting chess match between the two sides.

The Trojans, comprised of a roster that’s mostly built of guards, every player standing within three inches of one another, and none over 6-1, played as such. Quick hands on the perimeter, lots of three-point looks and struggles to cover the interior were all items of interest for coach Jason Groves. LCA, on the other hand, had more of a traditional lineup under first-year coach Jake Ritchie, with its guards complimenting a pair of interior options and an alpha over the ball creating matchup problems all evening.

And away they went.

LCA opened with a 7-2 lead, only for Triton to settle in and scorch the nets in a 17-2 run. LCA would find the gumption to claw back to six down at 22-16, but Triton again would mount a big run, scoring 13 of the halves’ last 15 points for a 35-18 lead.

“We made a nice statement in the first three minutes of the game, getting those seven points really quick, but they made the adjustments and we didn’t,” said Ritchie. “I think we caught them a little off guard, but they came back and notched up their intensity level a little bit and it shook up our guys. That hole we dug was a little too much to get out of.”

LCA’s Landon Gause shoots a three-pointer over Triton’s Hunter McIntyre Tuesday night.

The lopsided march would continue through the third, where the Trojans held a 15-point lead going into the fourth. The spunk of LCA would begin to emerge, where a pair of and-one’s from Landon Gause and Cameron Shepherd cut the lead to 12. Seth Martin continued to agitate the Trojans, and coaxed another turnover, which allowed Shepherd to bomb another three-pointer, cutting the lead to nine at 52-43.

But that would be as much as LCA could do to keep pace. Ashton Oviedo hit six free throws in the fourth quarter and capped another huge night with 30 points, piggybacking the 28 he scored in the season opener last week against NorthWood. John Gardner scored all seven of his points in the fourth quarter and Tyson Yates finished with 13 points.

“I like the guard play but we’ve got to be able to score inside,” Groves said. “Tonight was another example where we’ve got to get the ball inside a little bit. John did a nice job. I thought he battled and he got some big buckets when we needed it. Hopefully Keegan (Westafer) can get there as well. I think that’s Keegan’s more natural spot inside, we’re kind of working on it but we’re not there yet.”

One of Groves’ bigger worries coming into the season was guarding the interior, and that held to a degree Tuesday as Gause tallied 15 points. Shepherd also had 15 points, but Martin was limited to one field goal and nine points. Triton hounded Martin into nearly a dozen turnovers, which flipped two sides of the coin on what the stars can do to take over games.

“I love having somebody like Seth who isn’t afraid of the moment,” Ritchie said. “He’s trying to win a game. But it’s not just him, we have to trust in each other in our abilities, not just stand around and watch Seth or anyone else just do all the work. Even us coaches, we have to do a better job at getting our guys in better positions. I’ll take the blame on some of the turnovers, I should have called a couple timeouts to slow the game down a little. But I like the mentality of our kids in going after it.”

Optioned Groves, “We’ve got Ashton and Tyson with a lot of experience and really that’s about it. Really, the kids are learning and this is a good learning experience for them, and it’s nice to get it in a win.”

Triton (1-1) is scheduled to visit Pioneer in a Hoosier North Athletic Conference opener Friday while LCA (1-1) will jump into Hoosier Plains Conference action Thursday in hosting Bethany Christian.