Balanced Trojans Beat County Foe
July 28, 2016 at 4:25 p.m.
By Anthony [email protected]
Entering the season without Marshall County’s all-time leading scorer, questions about the Triton Trojans (2-0) were bound to be asked, but they were answered with a 59-44 home win over the Class 4A Plymouth Pilgrims (1-1).
Snapping a two-game losing streak to the Pilgrims, but still trailing the all-time series 47-7, the Trojans began the game making five of their first six three-point attempts and jumped out to a 16-4 lead.
Triton ended the first quarter making 5 of 8 treys, and finished the game 10 of 17.
Senior Darren Harrell was the most lethal of the Triton shooters, making all four three-point attempts he put up, finishing with 13 points and putting his name in opposing team’s scouting reports.
“Darren’s a senior and it’s great to see him step up big in a game like this,” Triton coach Jason Groves said. “Unfortunately, he got sick last year and didn’t play at the end of the season, but started the first part of the season.”
Triton junior point guard Joey Corder was also perfect from behind the three-point arc, going 3 for 3, finishing with nine points.
The points were nice, but his demeanor was pivotal in the game.
After picking up his third foul early in the third quarter, Corder went to the bench, and during that time, Plymouth went on a 17-1 run in four minutes, cutting a 35-16 Triton lead to 36-33 with 2:42 left in the quarter.
Once he re-entered the game, he hit a three-pointer and really seemed to refocus the Trojans.
“The one thing I did take from their first game (a 74-30 win over Oregon-Davis) was that he’s a key part to their team,” Plymouth coach Ryan Bales said of the 6-foot-4 Corder. “An energy player. He’s the guy that, even though they were winning by a large margin, he was the one clapping his hands and doing little things to make sure they stayed focused. I think that’s what he did tonight. He was a calming influence for them, but also made the hustle plays and energy plays.”
Along with his point total, Corder also had five rebounds, two assists, a steal and a blocked shot, but like Bales, Groves felt his leadership was most important.
“He’s long, athletic and is always in motion – showing emotion,” Groves said. “He talks and communicates, which is what we need out there. We need someone who’s going to take charge. A lot of these kids are real quiet kids, and Joey’s not. Joey’s always talking. He does that for us. That’s his role on the team.”
Plymouth did cut the lead to 39-35 following bucket by senior Mack Mercer with 7:41 left in the game, but Harrell answered with a three-pointer, which was a dagger to the Pilgrims’ comeback bid.
“It’s great to see a senior step up and hit a 3 in the clutch,” Groves said.
Triton senior Dillon Meadway also came up big in the final quarter, scoring seven of his 12 points in the final six minutes, including a three-pointer with 2:31 remaining that extended the lead to 49-40.
The three-pointer was uncharacteristic of Meadway, who matched his three-point total from a year ago with the bucket.
“It wasn’t a surprise that he could hit it,” Groves said. “We told him, “If Mercer is guarding you, we can’t let him sag in the middle, so you’re going to have to step and shoot that 3.’ I don’t know if I necessarily wanted it at that point or situation, but that’s how Dillon is. He’s just a great kid. A happy-go-lucky kid. It was nice to see him knock that down.”
Meadway needed to have the threat of knocking down a jumper to keep the 6-foot-9 Bellmont University-bound Mercer away from the rim.
Along with his defense, Mercer can also control the offense of a game, but he struggled to against the smaller Trojans.
Hovering over the Triton defenders, Mercer only took 10 shots, making six, scoring 15 points to go with six rebounds, two steals, an assist and a block.
With Triton focusing so much on Mercer, Bales was disappointed with how the rest of the team responded, even though starting senior Tom Felke didn’t play due to a suspension.
“They came out in a box-and-one (defense) and really denying (Mercer),” Bales said. “Their game plan was really to take him away. That’s just an opportunity where there’s four other guys out there (and they need to step up).
“Mack does a lot of things for us, and we obviously want to look for him, but he has to be a little more timely with some of his play – being dependable and making some clutch plays when teams are making a run at us,” he added. “We also need, one, two, three other guys to step up as well.”
Like Mercer being Plymouth’s ‘top’ guy, senior Tanner Shepherd has been anointed Triton’s guy and he fared well, posting team-highs in points (17), rebounds (6), assists (3) and steals (2).
“He played a real solid game,” Groves said. “Played well defensively, at times on Mercer. It was real quiet, and you really didn’t notice it, but you look at the stats and say, ‘Wow, Tanner did that.’ That’s nice to see. That’s what we need.”
In all, Triton had four players net at least nine points and the team made 58.1 percent of its field goals, which came after shooting 60 percent against Oregon-Davis.
“It felt like one of those nights where every shot they took was going to go in,” Bales said. “Even the shots they missed looked good. They were playing at a very high level.”
The Trojans were at a high level for 28 of the 32 minutes against Plymouth, but that may just be the way the team plays this season.
“That’s the team we are,” Groves said. “I think we’re going to play in spurts. We shoot the ball extremely well. That’s one thing I’ve seen throughout the summer and throughout this preseason. We’re going to play in streaks. When we’re hitting, we’re going to look good. When we’re not hitting, we may struggle at times.”
But even when they weren’t hitting, Groves liked how the team responded.
“When Plymouth cut it to three, our kids didn’t hang their heads and didn’t stop playing aggressively,” he said. “I told them, ‘You guys have to stay aggressive. That’s who we are. You keep attacking and keep doing what we do.’ They did that and it was nice to see that the kids made some mistakes, but came through in the end.”
The Trojans host another Northern Lakes Conference team Friday when the NorthWood Panthers visit Bourbon for their season opener.
TRITON 59, PLYMOUTH 44
P 6 10 17 11 – 44
T 18 13 8 20 – 59
Triton – Joey Corder 3-5 0-2 9, Darren Harrell 4-4 1-3 13, Jordan Anderson 0-4 1-2 1, Tanner Shepherd 4-7 8-10 17, Dillon Meadway 5-7 1-4 12, Bryce Wanemacher 0-0 0-0 0, Masen Yeo 0-0 0-0 0, Austin Sellers 1-1 0-0 2, Skyler Reichert 1-3 2-2 5, Spencer Glingle 0-0 0-0 0. Totals 18-31 13-23 59.
Plymouth – Cam Eveland 0-4 0-0 0, Nick Felke 4-9 0-0 10, Mack Mercer 6-10 2-4 15, Trent Briles 0-5 4-5 4, Tyler England 2-5 4-4 8, Matt Flynn 1-4 0-0 2, Jack Barron 1-5 0-0 2, Nick Bayley 0-0 0-0 0, Josh Anders 1-5 1-2 3, Scott Carmichael 0-0 0-0 0. Totals 15-47 11-15 44.
Three-pointers – Triton 10-17 (Harrell 4, Corder 3, Shepherd, Meadway, Reichert), Plymouth 3-18 (Felke 2, Mercer); Team Fouls (fouled out) – Triton 15 (Meadway), Plymouth 22 (Felke); Turnovers – Triton 16, Plymouth 9; Rebounds – Triton 30 (Shepherd 6), Plymouth 26 (Mercer 6); Assists – Triton 12 (Shepherd 3), Plymouth 7 (Eveland 3); Steals – Triton 5 (Shepherd 2, Meadway 2), Plymouth 7 (Flynn 2, Mercer 2); Blocks – Triton 2, Plymouth 3.
Records: Triton 2-0, Plymouth 1-1
JV – Plymouth 39, Triton 28
Triton JV – Landon Kaufman 9, Yeo 8, Blake Johnson 6, Jarrett Kreft 2, Glingle 2, Nate Flenar 1[[In-content Ad]]
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Entering the season without Marshall County’s all-time leading scorer, questions about the Triton Trojans (2-0) were bound to be asked, but they were answered with a 59-44 home win over the Class 4A Plymouth Pilgrims (1-1).
Snapping a two-game losing streak to the Pilgrims, but still trailing the all-time series 47-7, the Trojans began the game making five of their first six three-point attempts and jumped out to a 16-4 lead.
Triton ended the first quarter making 5 of 8 treys, and finished the game 10 of 17.
Senior Darren Harrell was the most lethal of the Triton shooters, making all four three-point attempts he put up, finishing with 13 points and putting his name in opposing team’s scouting reports.
“Darren’s a senior and it’s great to see him step up big in a game like this,” Triton coach Jason Groves said. “Unfortunately, he got sick last year and didn’t play at the end of the season, but started the first part of the season.”
Triton junior point guard Joey Corder was also perfect from behind the three-point arc, going 3 for 3, finishing with nine points.
The points were nice, but his demeanor was pivotal in the game.
After picking up his third foul early in the third quarter, Corder went to the bench, and during that time, Plymouth went on a 17-1 run in four minutes, cutting a 35-16 Triton lead to 36-33 with 2:42 left in the quarter.
Once he re-entered the game, he hit a three-pointer and really seemed to refocus the Trojans.
“The one thing I did take from their first game (a 74-30 win over Oregon-Davis) was that he’s a key part to their team,” Plymouth coach Ryan Bales said of the 6-foot-4 Corder. “An energy player. He’s the guy that, even though they were winning by a large margin, he was the one clapping his hands and doing little things to make sure they stayed focused. I think that’s what he did tonight. He was a calming influence for them, but also made the hustle plays and energy plays.”
Along with his point total, Corder also had five rebounds, two assists, a steal and a blocked shot, but like Bales, Groves felt his leadership was most important.
“He’s long, athletic and is always in motion – showing emotion,” Groves said. “He talks and communicates, which is what we need out there. We need someone who’s going to take charge. A lot of these kids are real quiet kids, and Joey’s not. Joey’s always talking. He does that for us. That’s his role on the team.”
Plymouth did cut the lead to 39-35 following bucket by senior Mack Mercer with 7:41 left in the game, but Harrell answered with a three-pointer, which was a dagger to the Pilgrims’ comeback bid.
“It’s great to see a senior step up and hit a 3 in the clutch,” Groves said.
Triton senior Dillon Meadway also came up big in the final quarter, scoring seven of his 12 points in the final six minutes, including a three-pointer with 2:31 remaining that extended the lead to 49-40.
The three-pointer was uncharacteristic of Meadway, who matched his three-point total from a year ago with the bucket.
“It wasn’t a surprise that he could hit it,” Groves said. “We told him, “If Mercer is guarding you, we can’t let him sag in the middle, so you’re going to have to step and shoot that 3.’ I don’t know if I necessarily wanted it at that point or situation, but that’s how Dillon is. He’s just a great kid. A happy-go-lucky kid. It was nice to see him knock that down.”
Meadway needed to have the threat of knocking down a jumper to keep the 6-foot-9 Bellmont University-bound Mercer away from the rim.
Along with his defense, Mercer can also control the offense of a game, but he struggled to against the smaller Trojans.
Hovering over the Triton defenders, Mercer only took 10 shots, making six, scoring 15 points to go with six rebounds, two steals, an assist and a block.
With Triton focusing so much on Mercer, Bales was disappointed with how the rest of the team responded, even though starting senior Tom Felke didn’t play due to a suspension.
“They came out in a box-and-one (defense) and really denying (Mercer),” Bales said. “Their game plan was really to take him away. That’s just an opportunity where there’s four other guys out there (and they need to step up).
“Mack does a lot of things for us, and we obviously want to look for him, but he has to be a little more timely with some of his play – being dependable and making some clutch plays when teams are making a run at us,” he added. “We also need, one, two, three other guys to step up as well.”
Like Mercer being Plymouth’s ‘top’ guy, senior Tanner Shepherd has been anointed Triton’s guy and he fared well, posting team-highs in points (17), rebounds (6), assists (3) and steals (2).
“He played a real solid game,” Groves said. “Played well defensively, at times on Mercer. It was real quiet, and you really didn’t notice it, but you look at the stats and say, ‘Wow, Tanner did that.’ That’s nice to see. That’s what we need.”
In all, Triton had four players net at least nine points and the team made 58.1 percent of its field goals, which came after shooting 60 percent against Oregon-Davis.
“It felt like one of those nights where every shot they took was going to go in,” Bales said. “Even the shots they missed looked good. They were playing at a very high level.”
The Trojans were at a high level for 28 of the 32 minutes against Plymouth, but that may just be the way the team plays this season.
“That’s the team we are,” Groves said. “I think we’re going to play in spurts. We shoot the ball extremely well. That’s one thing I’ve seen throughout the summer and throughout this preseason. We’re going to play in streaks. When we’re hitting, we’re going to look good. When we’re not hitting, we may struggle at times.”
But even when they weren’t hitting, Groves liked how the team responded.
“When Plymouth cut it to three, our kids didn’t hang their heads and didn’t stop playing aggressively,” he said. “I told them, ‘You guys have to stay aggressive. That’s who we are. You keep attacking and keep doing what we do.’ They did that and it was nice to see that the kids made some mistakes, but came through in the end.”
The Trojans host another Northern Lakes Conference team Friday when the NorthWood Panthers visit Bourbon for their season opener.
TRITON 59, PLYMOUTH 44
P 6 10 17 11 – 44
T 18 13 8 20 – 59
Triton – Joey Corder 3-5 0-2 9, Darren Harrell 4-4 1-3 13, Jordan Anderson 0-4 1-2 1, Tanner Shepherd 4-7 8-10 17, Dillon Meadway 5-7 1-4 12, Bryce Wanemacher 0-0 0-0 0, Masen Yeo 0-0 0-0 0, Austin Sellers 1-1 0-0 2, Skyler Reichert 1-3 2-2 5, Spencer Glingle 0-0 0-0 0. Totals 18-31 13-23 59.
Plymouth – Cam Eveland 0-4 0-0 0, Nick Felke 4-9 0-0 10, Mack Mercer 6-10 2-4 15, Trent Briles 0-5 4-5 4, Tyler England 2-5 4-4 8, Matt Flynn 1-4 0-0 2, Jack Barron 1-5 0-0 2, Nick Bayley 0-0 0-0 0, Josh Anders 1-5 1-2 3, Scott Carmichael 0-0 0-0 0. Totals 15-47 11-15 44.
Three-pointers – Triton 10-17 (Harrell 4, Corder 3, Shepherd, Meadway, Reichert), Plymouth 3-18 (Felke 2, Mercer); Team Fouls (fouled out) – Triton 15 (Meadway), Plymouth 22 (Felke); Turnovers – Triton 16, Plymouth 9; Rebounds – Triton 30 (Shepherd 6), Plymouth 26 (Mercer 6); Assists – Triton 12 (Shepherd 3), Plymouth 7 (Eveland 3); Steals – Triton 5 (Shepherd 2, Meadway 2), Plymouth 7 (Flynn 2, Mercer 2); Blocks – Triton 2, Plymouth 3.
Records: Triton 2-0, Plymouth 1-1
JV – Plymouth 39, Triton 28
Triton JV – Landon Kaufman 9, Yeo 8, Blake Johnson 6, Jarrett Kreft 2, Glingle 2, Nate Flenar 1[[In-content Ad]]
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