BOURBON - Triton basketball coach Kevin O'Rourke, still stinging from a 57-55 last-second Friday loss to Bethany Christian, kicked open the gray metal door to his office.

Then O'Rourke did what he always does after gut-wrenching losses at home. He grabbed his remote control, sat down in his chair, turned on the TV and VCR and watched the game tape.

With five seconds left, Triton point guard Austin Unterbrink delivered two clutch free throws to knot the game at 55-55. Big, yes, but bigger than normal: Unterbrink is just a sophomore, and the sophomore hit both even after Bethany coach Jim Buller tried to shake him by calling a full time-out.

But O'Rourke watched what happened in the five seconds after the free throws. The Bruins got the ball down the length of the court to point guard Marcos Garber - a wide-open Garber. He caught the ball behind the three-point line with three seconds to go, drove toward the basket and hit a running shot several feet away to win the game.

Of Bethany's five players on the floor, O'Rourke was worried about only three. The Trojans wouldn't even pretend they were interested in guarding the other two. The three players they were concerned with were Ryan Stiffney, Brad Schrock and Garber - Bethany's go-to guys. They were the ones - the only ones - who could beat Triton.

Yet Garber got open on a defensive lapse. Triton was playing a 2-2-1 defense, yet three players ended up near halfcourt guarding one guy who was bringing the ball up the floor. Only two were supposed to be in that area. Thus Garber got open at the three-point arc.

"I'm tired of losing games because we're out of position," O'Rourke said. "We can't keep our head about us.

"Austin hit two big free throws at the end. I'm proud of him. But we didn't execute on the last possession, and I'll leave it at that."

While O'Rourke replayed the last five seconds of the game on the TV, he also replayed the second quarter in his mind.

Ultimately, the quarter put the Trojans the position they were in at the end of the game.

Triton's Matt Savill hit four three-pointers to help Triton jump ahead 22-17 after one quarter. The Trojans executed almost flawlessly on the offensive end, making 9 of 12 shots.

But all that hard work went to waste because of the second quarter. Triton committed six turnovers then; Bethany Christian committed zero. Bethany Christian outscored Triton 14-7 in the quarter.

Two turnovers came late in the quarter, when Bethany's Chris Nachtigall had back-to-back steals. Nachtigall turned the first into an easy layup, while Schrock turned the next one into a three-pointer. What was a 27-24 Triton lead with 3:54 to go before the half turned into a 29-27 Bethany Christian lead with 2:42 left. The Bruins led 31-29 at the half.

"The second quarter was the most disappointing quarter," O'Rourke said. "We came out ready to play, did a real nice job at the beginning of the game.

"I knew we had to play well tonight. Shoot, (Bethany) was 7-3 coming in. They beat Argos soundly, from start to finish. I'm just disappointed in the second quarter. We were playing well, then we went into a shell, and five out of seven possessions we turned the basketball over. We let them back in it. We might as well shoot it and miss rather than turn it over six times."

Stiffney led Bethany with 22 points. Garber finished with nine, while Schrock had eight.

Savill, who scored 12 the first quarter, led Triton with 21.

Triton dropped to 3-6 overall. Some coaches talk about the things they learn after losses; not O'Rourke. After a last-second home loss to Wawasee last year, O'Rourke popped in the video tape, watched the ending over and over, then announced: "The only thing I learn from a loss is that I hate losing."

So losses like this, when a kid hits an off-balance shot that rolls around the rim and falls in to win a game because of a defensive breakdown, leads O'Rourke to kick doors. As local coaches go, he's as intense as they come.

"I can say I'm proud of the kids all I want, that I'm proud of their work ethic, that they're great kids ... I've said it all along," O'Rourke said. "I believe it after tonight. But at some point, we have to start winning some games and quit being such nice kids and start playing some basketball out on the floor."

Triton hosts Jimtown tonight. [[In-content Ad]]