Groves Ready For First Full-Year Stint At Triton
July 28, 2016 at 4:25 p.m.
BOURBON - Tumultuous may be the best way to describe Triton's boys basketball season in 2004-2005.
Late in the season former head coach Mike McBride resigned under a haze of controversy. Players and parents accused McBride of misconduct, while McBride contended the issue came down to playing time, or lack thereof, for certain players.
Thrown into the middle was assistant Jason Groves, who was named interim head coach.
Groves, sans the interim from his title, and the Trojans ended the season with a record of 4-17 after a first-round sectional loss to rival Argos, 54-50.
Triton now pins its hope for a return to past glory on a new coach and some fresh-faced players.
"I'm excited," said Groves. "This is something I've always wanted to do. And this is a good group of kids to work with."
Six letter winners return to the Trojans with Troy McIntyre, Jake Everett and A.J. Harrison all sophomores.
Everett and McIntyre provide some size for the Trojans' frontcourt, with the duo measuring in at 6-foot-5 and 6-4, respectively.
The duo combined for more than 11 points and nearly seven rebounds per game.
Seniors Anthony Faucett, Chad Kauffman, Travis Cooper, Lane Davis and Douglas Hochstetler look to provide a steady hand and some veteran leadership.
Kauffman returns as Triton's leading scorer after averaging 6.8 points per game last year.
Gone from last year's squad are Cory McClarnon and Brandon Garey. McClarnon, a Times-Union all-area selection, led the Trojans with 14.4 points per game, while Garey was the leading rebounder at 4.6 per contest.
With the loss of a proven scorer like McClarnon, Groves knows his team will have to concentrate on defense.
"The best way to become better quicker is to play smart, intelligent defense," said Groves.
Triton allowed opponents to score 60.7 points per game while the Trojans averaged just 45.5 points per game.
"On offense, if we have numbers, we'll run," said Groves of his offensive plans. "We're just going to run a fundamental motion-offense."
The Trojans hope to avoid such debacles as last year's 93-28 loss at Plymouth or a 55-24 loss to Glenn.
While both Plymouth and John Glenn are bigger schools and quite talented last year, Triton hopes to be more competitive no matter whom the opponent is.
As far as conference play goes, Triton looks to make some waves in the Northern State Conference.
The Trojans managed just one win over Culver in NSC play. This year the prohibitive conference favorites are John Glenn and Bremen.
John Glenn returns several players from a team that made a semistate run last year and Bremen is also loaded with experience.
Groves also said he expects Jimtown to compete despite the loss of players like Derrick DeShone.
On the whole, Groves said his team didn't set tangible goals such as winning conference or sectional.
"We've set some goals to where we're going to play hard every game," said Groves. [[In-content Ad]]
BOURBON - Tumultuous may be the best way to describe Triton's boys basketball season in 2004-2005.
Late in the season former head coach Mike McBride resigned under a haze of controversy. Players and parents accused McBride of misconduct, while McBride contended the issue came down to playing time, or lack thereof, for certain players.
Thrown into the middle was assistant Jason Groves, who was named interim head coach.
Groves, sans the interim from his title, and the Trojans ended the season with a record of 4-17 after a first-round sectional loss to rival Argos, 54-50.
Triton now pins its hope for a return to past glory on a new coach and some fresh-faced players.
"I'm excited," said Groves. "This is something I've always wanted to do. And this is a good group of kids to work with."
Six letter winners return to the Trojans with Troy McIntyre, Jake Everett and A.J. Harrison all sophomores.
Everett and McIntyre provide some size for the Trojans' frontcourt, with the duo measuring in at 6-foot-5 and 6-4, respectively.
The duo combined for more than 11 points and nearly seven rebounds per game.
Seniors Anthony Faucett, Chad Kauffman, Travis Cooper, Lane Davis and Douglas Hochstetler look to provide a steady hand and some veteran leadership.
Kauffman returns as Triton's leading scorer after averaging 6.8 points per game last year.
Gone from last year's squad are Cory McClarnon and Brandon Garey. McClarnon, a Times-Union all-area selection, led the Trojans with 14.4 points per game, while Garey was the leading rebounder at 4.6 per contest.
With the loss of a proven scorer like McClarnon, Groves knows his team will have to concentrate on defense.
"The best way to become better quicker is to play smart, intelligent defense," said Groves.
Triton allowed opponents to score 60.7 points per game while the Trojans averaged just 45.5 points per game.
"On offense, if we have numbers, we'll run," said Groves of his offensive plans. "We're just going to run a fundamental motion-offense."
The Trojans hope to avoid such debacles as last year's 93-28 loss at Plymouth or a 55-24 loss to Glenn.
While both Plymouth and John Glenn are bigger schools and quite talented last year, Triton hopes to be more competitive no matter whom the opponent is.
As far as conference play goes, Triton looks to make some waves in the Northern State Conference.
The Trojans managed just one win over Culver in NSC play. This year the prohibitive conference favorites are John Glenn and Bremen.
John Glenn returns several players from a team that made a semistate run last year and Bremen is also loaded with experience.
Groves also said he expects Jimtown to compete despite the loss of players like Derrick DeShone.
On the whole, Groves said his team didn't set tangible goals such as winning conference or sectional.
"We've set some goals to where we're going to play hard every game," said Groves. [[In-content Ad]]