Argos Road Woes End At Triton
July 28, 2016 at 4:25 p.m.
BOURBON -ÊSo pleased was Triton basketball coach Kevin O'Rourke after Wednesday's practice, he told his players it was "definitely" the best practice of the season, maybe even the best in his three years as coach there.
Then Friday's home game with Argos arrived, and all that hard work in practice went ker-flooey. Argos dominated from the opening minute until the closing minute to win 63-47.
Argos entered the game with a woeful 2-5 road record, and coach Chuck Evans explained earlier this week how the Dragons can't shoot diddley on the road.
But the miserable Argos road offense cruised against Triton, hitting 24 of 44 field goals, including 7 of 12 three-pointers. The Dragons led by nine after one quarter, 12 after the second quarter, 17 after the third quarter and 16 when the game ended.
The Argos-Triton rivalry brought out the best in his team, Evans said.
"One reason we haven't been shooting well on the road is we haven't had that mental focus right from the beginning," Evans said. "Because of the closeness of these communities, and this being Triton, this is almost like our back yard.
"We hit some big shots at big times. When they made runs, we hit shots."
The Chris Kessler-Eric Stults combination did most of the damage for Argos. Stults, who came in averaging 25 points per game, hit 13 of 17 field goals and scored 29. Kessler, a point guard, set a personal record with 16 assists, most of them on Stults' baskets. Only one week earlier he had set a record with 15 assists.
"Eric moved real well, came off great screens," Evans said. "He was cutting and moving, and Chris Kessler did a tremendous job getting him the basketball."
Argos hit 8 of 11 shots to take an 18-9 lead after the first quarter. When the first half ended, the Dragons had hit 13 of 22 field goals, including 5 of 9 three-pointers, to lead 33-21.
Argos screens got players like Stults open throughout the evening.
"What do you do?" O'Rourke said. "You get screened, you fight through it or call a switch. You'd think we'd never worked on it. That's the frustrating part. We did breakdown drill after breakdown drill addressing that problem. The kids worked their butts off in practice; they fought through screens or called a switch.
"Thursday it got worse. As the game approaches, it's like we get nervous: 'Uh-oh, now we have to perform in front of the fans.' The minute the game starts, we become so passive."
The telling stat of the game? Argos made 24 field goals. Of those 24, 22 were assisted.
The Dragons picked apart Triton's defense.
The win marked the second time Argos beat Triton this season. The Dragons took care of the Trojans 57-42 in December's Culver Tournament.
Andy Westafer, Triton's lone starter to score in double figures, finished with 12 points. Nick Treber and Schuyler Stutzman added 10 each off the bench.
Argos improved to 8-6, while Triton dropped to 4-10.
"Mistakes are part of this basketball game," O'Rourke said. "I have no qualms with kids who make mistakes. But to play passively, that's frustrating. That's what we did. Did they shoot the ball well? Yeah. But most of those were open shots." [[In-content Ad]]
BOURBON -ÊSo pleased was Triton basketball coach Kevin O'Rourke after Wednesday's practice, he told his players it was "definitely" the best practice of the season, maybe even the best in his three years as coach there.
Then Friday's home game with Argos arrived, and all that hard work in practice went ker-flooey. Argos dominated from the opening minute until the closing minute to win 63-47.
Argos entered the game with a woeful 2-5 road record, and coach Chuck Evans explained earlier this week how the Dragons can't shoot diddley on the road.
But the miserable Argos road offense cruised against Triton, hitting 24 of 44 field goals, including 7 of 12 three-pointers. The Dragons led by nine after one quarter, 12 after the second quarter, 17 after the third quarter and 16 when the game ended.
The Argos-Triton rivalry brought out the best in his team, Evans said.
"One reason we haven't been shooting well on the road is we haven't had that mental focus right from the beginning," Evans said. "Because of the closeness of these communities, and this being Triton, this is almost like our back yard.
"We hit some big shots at big times. When they made runs, we hit shots."
The Chris Kessler-Eric Stults combination did most of the damage for Argos. Stults, who came in averaging 25 points per game, hit 13 of 17 field goals and scored 29. Kessler, a point guard, set a personal record with 16 assists, most of them on Stults' baskets. Only one week earlier he had set a record with 15 assists.
"Eric moved real well, came off great screens," Evans said. "He was cutting and moving, and Chris Kessler did a tremendous job getting him the basketball."
Argos hit 8 of 11 shots to take an 18-9 lead after the first quarter. When the first half ended, the Dragons had hit 13 of 22 field goals, including 5 of 9 three-pointers, to lead 33-21.
Argos screens got players like Stults open throughout the evening.
"What do you do?" O'Rourke said. "You get screened, you fight through it or call a switch. You'd think we'd never worked on it. That's the frustrating part. We did breakdown drill after breakdown drill addressing that problem. The kids worked their butts off in practice; they fought through screens or called a switch.
"Thursday it got worse. As the game approaches, it's like we get nervous: 'Uh-oh, now we have to perform in front of the fans.' The minute the game starts, we become so passive."
The telling stat of the game? Argos made 24 field goals. Of those 24, 22 were assisted.
The Dragons picked apart Triton's defense.
The win marked the second time Argos beat Triton this season. The Dragons took care of the Trojans 57-42 in December's Culver Tournament.
Andy Westafer, Triton's lone starter to score in double figures, finished with 12 points. Nick Treber and Schuyler Stutzman added 10 each off the bench.
Argos improved to 8-6, while Triton dropped to 4-10.
"Mistakes are part of this basketball game," O'Rourke said. "I have no qualms with kids who make mistakes. But to play passively, that's frustrating. That's what we did. Did they shoot the ball well? Yeah. But most of those were open shots." [[In-content Ad]]