High-Scoring Rochester Zebras Run Past Triton Trojans
July 28, 2016 at 4:25 p.m.
BOURBON - The question of the night after Rochester's boys basketball team beat Triton 86-69 was not how Rochester won, but rather, how is Rochester 4-7?
If ever a team ran a clinic on converting turnovers into points, usually on layups, it was Rochester on Tuesday.
The Zebras play the game at a frenetic pace, five whirling dervishes who seem to be able to be everywhere at once on the court. Offensively, they shoot the ball well - they hit 31 of 59 field goals (53 percent) against Triton. Triton committed 24 turnovers, most of them forced by a Rochester defense that pressed and trapped all over the court. Several times the Trojans lost the ball near halfcourt as they were trying to advance the ball to their basket.
"We always want to fast break," Rochester coach David Burkett said. "We feel we don't have the height to match up with teams, so can take advantage that way."
By comparison, the Zebras lost the ball only 10 times.
"(Rochester) is the best 3-8 team in the state that I've seen," Triton coach Joe Bennett said. "Offensively, they are dangerous. They shoot the ball well and handle the ball well. When they play unselfish like they did against us tonight, they are very difficult to defend."
Forgive Bennett for the mistake on the record, but you understand his point. He, like others, wonders how the Zebras are under .500.
Triton entered the game 5-4, and the Trojans had the luxury of playing on their home floor. Still, then 3-7 Rochester stormed ahead 22-12 after one quarter and led by at least four the rest of the way. The Zebras usually led by seven or nine until late in the fourth quarter, when their defense forced a slew of turnovers they converted into points.
Rochester junior guard Deric Beck, who came in averaging 16 points per game, turned in 24 points on 10-of-20 shooting, seven steals, seven assists and six rebounds. Junior forward Blake Newton, who leads the Zebras with 22 points per game, hit 4 of 6 three-pointers and finished with 22. Senior center Kyle Schnitz added 15.
Triton senior guard Matt Savill scored 21 to lead Triton. Forwards Brandon Zeider and Jim Read added 15 each.
The Trojans were missing starting point guard Austin Unterbrink, who was sitting at the end of the bench in dress shirt, pants and tie. He missed this game and will miss Friday's game against New Prairie for violating team policy.
Even without Unterbrink, the Trojans kept themselves in a position to win the game. Savill's three-pointer at the start of the fourth quarter cut Rochester's lead to 64-59.
But Triton's defense could never get key defensive stops when it needed them. The Zebras owned the fourth quarter, outscoring Triton 22-13 to win by 17, their biggest lead of the game.
Triton committed nine turnovers in the fourth quarter, and the Zebras hit 10 of 16 field goals because they converted many of the turnovers into uncontested points. In the final 5:09, Rochester outscored Triton 14-4 to turn a 72-65 lead into the 86-69 win. The Zebras' defense plucked the ball away from Triton several times near halfcourt.
Asked if mental lapses or fatigue led to the breakdown, Bennett went with choice C.
"I think we gave a good effort," Bennett said. "We weren't too tired. We played hard. We just had poor ball-handling at times. There were certain times we were unable to handle the ball, and that led to layups for them."
Just how are the Zebras 4-7? You tell Burkett they don't look 4-7. He tells you about their schedule.
"We played Plymouth in back-to-back games, once in a tournament, Southwood and Manchester," he said. "Those are teams we felt we just couldn't run against and be successful."
The Zebras were running Tuesday against Triton. And they were successful by a count of 86-69.
ROCHESTER 86
TRITON 69
Rochester (4-7) 22 21 21 22 - 86
Triton (5-5) 12 22 22 13 -Ê69
Rochester FG FT A S R Pts.
Beck (G) 10-20 2-4 7 7 6 24
Newton (F) 8-17 2-2 0 0 5 22
Schnitz (C) 6-8 3-4 5 4 3 15
Patterson (G) 1-5 3-5 2 3 5 5
Clark (F) 0-1 4-4 1 4 1 4
Bowers 3-4 4-4 0 0 0 10
Zink 2-3 0-0 0 1 2 4
Barts 1-1 0-1 2 1 1 2
Totals 31-59 18-24 17 20 23 86
Triton FG FT A S R Pts.
Savill (G) 8-15 2-2 3 0 4 21
Zeider (F) 5-6 5-6 2 0 3 15
Read (F) 5-12 5-8 0 0 7 15
Stutzman (F) 3-7 4-6 1 1 2 11
Heckaman (G) 1-4 0-0 1 0 3 2
McIntyre 0-0 2-2 0 1 2 2
Klingerman 1-3 0-0 0 0 2 2
Hayes 0-0 1-2 0 0 1 1
Salyer 0-0 0-0 0 0 2 0
Totals 23-47 19-26 7 1 25 69
Three-point goals - Rochester 6-14 (Newton 4-6, Beck 2-6, Schnitz 0-1, Bowers 0-1), Triton 4-9 (Savill 3-5, Stutzman 1-3, Heckaman 0-1). Turnovers - Rochester 10, Triton 24. Fouled out - Newton, Zink. Total fouls - Rochester 22, Triton 18.
Officials -ÊEd Christoffel, Ken Weaver.
JV: TRITON 44, ROCHESTER 41
Triton (6-4) scoring -ÊJoey Potter 12, Bryan Bell 12, Tyson Blackford 8, Jake Burnett 8, Kent Roberts 2, Branden Clauss 2.
Rochester (4-7) scoring -ÊNick Brown 8, Scott Jana 8, Mitch Anderson 7, B.J. Swank 4, Shane Reasoner 4, Justin Tannany 4, Tony Vanduyne 2, Kyle Surface 2, Bill Newton 2. [[In-content Ad]]
BOURBON - The question of the night after Rochester's boys basketball team beat Triton 86-69 was not how Rochester won, but rather, how is Rochester 4-7?
If ever a team ran a clinic on converting turnovers into points, usually on layups, it was Rochester on Tuesday.
The Zebras play the game at a frenetic pace, five whirling dervishes who seem to be able to be everywhere at once on the court. Offensively, they shoot the ball well - they hit 31 of 59 field goals (53 percent) against Triton. Triton committed 24 turnovers, most of them forced by a Rochester defense that pressed and trapped all over the court. Several times the Trojans lost the ball near halfcourt as they were trying to advance the ball to their basket.
"We always want to fast break," Rochester coach David Burkett said. "We feel we don't have the height to match up with teams, so can take advantage that way."
By comparison, the Zebras lost the ball only 10 times.
"(Rochester) is the best 3-8 team in the state that I've seen," Triton coach Joe Bennett said. "Offensively, they are dangerous. They shoot the ball well and handle the ball well. When they play unselfish like they did against us tonight, they are very difficult to defend."
Forgive Bennett for the mistake on the record, but you understand his point. He, like others, wonders how the Zebras are under .500.
Triton entered the game 5-4, and the Trojans had the luxury of playing on their home floor. Still, then 3-7 Rochester stormed ahead 22-12 after one quarter and led by at least four the rest of the way. The Zebras usually led by seven or nine until late in the fourth quarter, when their defense forced a slew of turnovers they converted into points.
Rochester junior guard Deric Beck, who came in averaging 16 points per game, turned in 24 points on 10-of-20 shooting, seven steals, seven assists and six rebounds. Junior forward Blake Newton, who leads the Zebras with 22 points per game, hit 4 of 6 three-pointers and finished with 22. Senior center Kyle Schnitz added 15.
Triton senior guard Matt Savill scored 21 to lead Triton. Forwards Brandon Zeider and Jim Read added 15 each.
The Trojans were missing starting point guard Austin Unterbrink, who was sitting at the end of the bench in dress shirt, pants and tie. He missed this game and will miss Friday's game against New Prairie for violating team policy.
Even without Unterbrink, the Trojans kept themselves in a position to win the game. Savill's three-pointer at the start of the fourth quarter cut Rochester's lead to 64-59.
But Triton's defense could never get key defensive stops when it needed them. The Zebras owned the fourth quarter, outscoring Triton 22-13 to win by 17, their biggest lead of the game.
Triton committed nine turnovers in the fourth quarter, and the Zebras hit 10 of 16 field goals because they converted many of the turnovers into uncontested points. In the final 5:09, Rochester outscored Triton 14-4 to turn a 72-65 lead into the 86-69 win. The Zebras' defense plucked the ball away from Triton several times near halfcourt.
Asked if mental lapses or fatigue led to the breakdown, Bennett went with choice C.
"I think we gave a good effort," Bennett said. "We weren't too tired. We played hard. We just had poor ball-handling at times. There were certain times we were unable to handle the ball, and that led to layups for them."
Just how are the Zebras 4-7? You tell Burkett they don't look 4-7. He tells you about their schedule.
"We played Plymouth in back-to-back games, once in a tournament, Southwood and Manchester," he said. "Those are teams we felt we just couldn't run against and be successful."
The Zebras were running Tuesday against Triton. And they were successful by a count of 86-69.
ROCHESTER 86
TRITON 69
Rochester (4-7) 22 21 21 22 - 86
Triton (5-5) 12 22 22 13 -Ê69
Rochester FG FT A S R Pts.
Beck (G) 10-20 2-4 7 7 6 24
Newton (F) 8-17 2-2 0 0 5 22
Schnitz (C) 6-8 3-4 5 4 3 15
Patterson (G) 1-5 3-5 2 3 5 5
Clark (F) 0-1 4-4 1 4 1 4
Bowers 3-4 4-4 0 0 0 10
Zink 2-3 0-0 0 1 2 4
Barts 1-1 0-1 2 1 1 2
Totals 31-59 18-24 17 20 23 86
Triton FG FT A S R Pts.
Savill (G) 8-15 2-2 3 0 4 21
Zeider (F) 5-6 5-6 2 0 3 15
Read (F) 5-12 5-8 0 0 7 15
Stutzman (F) 3-7 4-6 1 1 2 11
Heckaman (G) 1-4 0-0 1 0 3 2
McIntyre 0-0 2-2 0 1 2 2
Klingerman 1-3 0-0 0 0 2 2
Hayes 0-0 1-2 0 0 1 1
Salyer 0-0 0-0 0 0 2 0
Totals 23-47 19-26 7 1 25 69
Three-point goals - Rochester 6-14 (Newton 4-6, Beck 2-6, Schnitz 0-1, Bowers 0-1), Triton 4-9 (Savill 3-5, Stutzman 1-3, Heckaman 0-1). Turnovers - Rochester 10, Triton 24. Fouled out - Newton, Zink. Total fouls - Rochester 22, Triton 18.
Officials -ÊEd Christoffel, Ken Weaver.
JV: TRITON 44, ROCHESTER 41
Triton (6-4) scoring -ÊJoey Potter 12, Bryan Bell 12, Tyson Blackford 8, Jake Burnett 8, Kent Roberts 2, Branden Clauss 2.
Rochester (4-7) scoring -ÊNick Brown 8, Scott Jana 8, Mitch Anderson 7, B.J. Swank 4, Shane Reasoner 4, Justin Tannany 4, Tony Vanduyne 2, Kyle Surface 2, Bill Newton 2. [[In-content Ad]]