Plymouth Tops Triton Trojans
July 28, 2016 at 4:25 p.m.
By Anthony [email protected]
"We know it's just one game, but what a tough first game to prepare for, (against) Triton, who's had so much success," Bales, who came to Plymouth after a five-year stint at North Judson, said. "Coach (Jason) Groves does such a good job of preparing them. We felt like we needed to come in here and make a statement, especially on the defensive end."
In their season opener, the Pilgrims came out with intense defense, which held the Trojans (1-1) without a field goal until junior Drew Mosson hit a three-pointer as time expired in the first quarter.
"We kind of folded a little bit and weren't aggressive," Groves said. "They took us out of a lot of things. We couldn't execute a simple set. Things we had been doing for years, we couldn't do those things. One, they took us out of it, but another thing is our inexperience. That's not an excuse. I told our guys, 'We're young and inexperienced, but you're varsity basketball players now. Step up and make plays.'."
The Triton offense sputtered the entire first half, hitting 2 of 15 shots, but the Trojans did benefit from Plymouth's foul trouble, scoring 12 of their 17 first-half points from the charity stripe.
And even while holding Plymouth to just two points over the last 5:30 of the first half, Triton still went into the locker room down 27-17.
While Triton hit 13 percent of its first-half shots, Plymouth converted 41 percent, thanks in large part to 6-foot-9 sophomore Mack Mercer, who made 5 of 6 for 11 points.
By the end of the night, Mercer had made 9 of 12 for 20 points, while also posting 13 rebounds, three assists, two steals and two blocked shots.
"He's only a sophomore, so I know he's still learning the game," Bales said about Mercer. "When he wants to play, he can play. When he wants a rebound, he can get a rebound. He helped our offense patrolling the paint and he helped our defense in the paint."
Things began to turn around for Triton in the third quarter, as the Trojans crept to within 33-28 following a back-door slam dunk by junior Clay Yeo at the 3:44 mark, but the good times were short-lived.
Just after the dunk, Plymouth senior Ryan McNeil shook off the fact that he had missed his first six three-pointers, and swished one to stabilize his team.
"The thing I liked about him tonight was, he was missing shots early on, but he was continuing to play the game," Bales said about McNeil, who went on to make his three shots, two of which were three-pointers to net 13 points. "He continued to rebound and didn't really force anything. He was letting the game come to him. For him to step up in a key stretch as a senior was key for us."
Triton sophomore Cody Shively did hit a field goal following the McNeil trey, but Plymouth proceeded to go on 18-3 run to put the game away by the midway part of the final quarter.
"I thought we were stagnant on offense," Groves said. "We weren't moving, we weren't reversing the ball. In the second half, we got it inside and good things were happening for the first couple possessions, but then we got away from that."
Yeo and sophomore Tanner Shepherd each scored 15 points for the Trojans, but the rest of the team combined to score just 13 points on 4-of-15 shooting.
"Clay and Tanner are athletic and are going to get theirs, but we need other guys to step up too," Groves said. "That's more of a team thing and not necessarily individuals just trying to do more. It's just working together and getting good shots."
Although the Trojans entered the season at No. 1 after losing in the 1A state championship game last year, only Yeo saw significant time on that team.
"I didn't have a good feeling about this game just because of the way our practices have been going," Groves said. "I don't know if it's entitlement or just kids that aren't used to the varsity level yet. Practices haven't been where they need to be, in terms of intensity and effort and challenging each other. Our kids need to learn that. That took us a little while last year to learn that, so maybe this will be a teaching moment for them today."
Along with his team lacking experience, Groves' team also had to deal with Plymouth team that looked much improved under Bales.
At North Judson, Bales had a 17-26 record his first two seasons, but coached the Bluejays to a 57-15 mark over the next three, which included a sectional title last season and a regional crown during the 2008-09 season.
"They have a lot of skilled players," Groves said about Plymouth, which has an overall 46-6 series lead on Triton. "They get Mercer inside, and you have to pay attention to him, then McNeil can shoot and (point guard David Lee) is quick and athletic and did a good job. They have a lot of good guys. They could have a good year. They're a good team, so I was impressed."
Triton plays another Northern Lakes Conference opponent when the NorthWood Panthers come to town Friday night.
"It's going to be a battle," Groves said. "Just like Plymouth, they're going to play hard and get after you. I think the scouting report is out. They're going to get after us, so we're going to need to take care of the ball and execute."
PLYMOUTH 60, TRITON 43
P 12 15 17 16 — 60
T 6 11 16 10 — 43
Plymouth — Ryan McNeil 5-11 0-1 13, David Lee 5-8 0-0 11, Mack Mercer 9-12 2-2 20, Kyser McCrammer 0-1 0-0 0, John Ruff 1-3 1-3 3, Gabe Vervynckt 0-0 0-0 0, Joe Knapp 1-1 0-0 2, Connor Flynn 0-0 0-0 0, Ike Kastner 0-4 0-0 0, Kyle Kaser 3-5 0-0 6, Tom Felke 2-4 0-0 5, Kayden Skirvin 0-0 0-0 0. Totals 26-49 3-6 60.
Triton — Clay Yeo 5-12 5-8 15, Zak Shively 1-5 2-2 5, Tanner Shepherd 2-7 9-13 15, Cody Shively 1-2 0-0 2, Drew Mosson 2-8 0-0 6, Darren Harrell 0-0 0-0 0, Nick Nordmann 0-0 0-0 0, Jackson Downing 0-0 0-0 0, Bryson Mosier 0-0 0-0 0, Seth Glingle 0-0 0-0 0, Seth Flenar 0-0 0-0 0, Dillon Meadway 0-0 0-0 0. Totals 11-34 16-23 43.
Three-point goals — Plymouth 5-16 (McNeil 3, Lee, Felke), Triton 5-15 (Shepherd 2, Mosson 2, Z. Shively); Turnovers — Plymouth 18, Triton 22; Team Fouls (fouled out) — Plymouth 22 (Ruff), Triton 13; Rebounds — Plymouth 29 (Mercer 13), Triton 22 (Shepherd 7); Assists — Plymouth 12 (Ruff 4), Triton 8 (Z. Shivley 3); Steals — Plymouth 13 (McNeil 2, Lee 2, Mercer 2), Triton 11 (Shepherd 5); Blocks — Plymouth 2 (Mercer 2), Triton 5 (Yeo 4); Records — Plymouth 1-0, Triton 1-1.
JV — Triton 36, Plymouth 25
Triton JV Scoring — Dillon Meadway 10, Flenar 10, Bryce Wanemacher 8, Harrell 3, Trenton Cooper 2, Skyler Reichert 2, Joey Corder 1[[In-content Ad]]
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"We know it's just one game, but what a tough first game to prepare for, (against) Triton, who's had so much success," Bales, who came to Plymouth after a five-year stint at North Judson, said. "Coach (Jason) Groves does such a good job of preparing them. We felt like we needed to come in here and make a statement, especially on the defensive end."
In their season opener, the Pilgrims came out with intense defense, which held the Trojans (1-1) without a field goal until junior Drew Mosson hit a three-pointer as time expired in the first quarter.
"We kind of folded a little bit and weren't aggressive," Groves said. "They took us out of a lot of things. We couldn't execute a simple set. Things we had been doing for years, we couldn't do those things. One, they took us out of it, but another thing is our inexperience. That's not an excuse. I told our guys, 'We're young and inexperienced, but you're varsity basketball players now. Step up and make plays.'."
The Triton offense sputtered the entire first half, hitting 2 of 15 shots, but the Trojans did benefit from Plymouth's foul trouble, scoring 12 of their 17 first-half points from the charity stripe.
And even while holding Plymouth to just two points over the last 5:30 of the first half, Triton still went into the locker room down 27-17.
While Triton hit 13 percent of its first-half shots, Plymouth converted 41 percent, thanks in large part to 6-foot-9 sophomore Mack Mercer, who made 5 of 6 for 11 points.
By the end of the night, Mercer had made 9 of 12 for 20 points, while also posting 13 rebounds, three assists, two steals and two blocked shots.
"He's only a sophomore, so I know he's still learning the game," Bales said about Mercer. "When he wants to play, he can play. When he wants a rebound, he can get a rebound. He helped our offense patrolling the paint and he helped our defense in the paint."
Things began to turn around for Triton in the third quarter, as the Trojans crept to within 33-28 following a back-door slam dunk by junior Clay Yeo at the 3:44 mark, but the good times were short-lived.
Just after the dunk, Plymouth senior Ryan McNeil shook off the fact that he had missed his first six three-pointers, and swished one to stabilize his team.
"The thing I liked about him tonight was, he was missing shots early on, but he was continuing to play the game," Bales said about McNeil, who went on to make his three shots, two of which were three-pointers to net 13 points. "He continued to rebound and didn't really force anything. He was letting the game come to him. For him to step up in a key stretch as a senior was key for us."
Triton sophomore Cody Shively did hit a field goal following the McNeil trey, but Plymouth proceeded to go on 18-3 run to put the game away by the midway part of the final quarter.
"I thought we were stagnant on offense," Groves said. "We weren't moving, we weren't reversing the ball. In the second half, we got it inside and good things were happening for the first couple possessions, but then we got away from that."
Yeo and sophomore Tanner Shepherd each scored 15 points for the Trojans, but the rest of the team combined to score just 13 points on 4-of-15 shooting.
"Clay and Tanner are athletic and are going to get theirs, but we need other guys to step up too," Groves said. "That's more of a team thing and not necessarily individuals just trying to do more. It's just working together and getting good shots."
Although the Trojans entered the season at No. 1 after losing in the 1A state championship game last year, only Yeo saw significant time on that team.
"I didn't have a good feeling about this game just because of the way our practices have been going," Groves said. "I don't know if it's entitlement or just kids that aren't used to the varsity level yet. Practices haven't been where they need to be, in terms of intensity and effort and challenging each other. Our kids need to learn that. That took us a little while last year to learn that, so maybe this will be a teaching moment for them today."
Along with his team lacking experience, Groves' team also had to deal with Plymouth team that looked much improved under Bales.
At North Judson, Bales had a 17-26 record his first two seasons, but coached the Bluejays to a 57-15 mark over the next three, which included a sectional title last season and a regional crown during the 2008-09 season.
"They have a lot of skilled players," Groves said about Plymouth, which has an overall 46-6 series lead on Triton. "They get Mercer inside, and you have to pay attention to him, then McNeil can shoot and (point guard David Lee) is quick and athletic and did a good job. They have a lot of good guys. They could have a good year. They're a good team, so I was impressed."
Triton plays another Northern Lakes Conference opponent when the NorthWood Panthers come to town Friday night.
"It's going to be a battle," Groves said. "Just like Plymouth, they're going to play hard and get after you. I think the scouting report is out. They're going to get after us, so we're going to need to take care of the ball and execute."
PLYMOUTH 60, TRITON 43
P 12 15 17 16 — 60
T 6 11 16 10 — 43
Plymouth — Ryan McNeil 5-11 0-1 13, David Lee 5-8 0-0 11, Mack Mercer 9-12 2-2 20, Kyser McCrammer 0-1 0-0 0, John Ruff 1-3 1-3 3, Gabe Vervynckt 0-0 0-0 0, Joe Knapp 1-1 0-0 2, Connor Flynn 0-0 0-0 0, Ike Kastner 0-4 0-0 0, Kyle Kaser 3-5 0-0 6, Tom Felke 2-4 0-0 5, Kayden Skirvin 0-0 0-0 0. Totals 26-49 3-6 60.
Triton — Clay Yeo 5-12 5-8 15, Zak Shively 1-5 2-2 5, Tanner Shepherd 2-7 9-13 15, Cody Shively 1-2 0-0 2, Drew Mosson 2-8 0-0 6, Darren Harrell 0-0 0-0 0, Nick Nordmann 0-0 0-0 0, Jackson Downing 0-0 0-0 0, Bryson Mosier 0-0 0-0 0, Seth Glingle 0-0 0-0 0, Seth Flenar 0-0 0-0 0, Dillon Meadway 0-0 0-0 0. Totals 11-34 16-23 43.
Three-point goals — Plymouth 5-16 (McNeil 3, Lee, Felke), Triton 5-15 (Shepherd 2, Mosson 2, Z. Shively); Turnovers — Plymouth 18, Triton 22; Team Fouls (fouled out) — Plymouth 22 (Ruff), Triton 13; Rebounds — Plymouth 29 (Mercer 13), Triton 22 (Shepherd 7); Assists — Plymouth 12 (Ruff 4), Triton 8 (Z. Shivley 3); Steals — Plymouth 13 (McNeil 2, Lee 2, Mercer 2), Triton 11 (Shepherd 5); Blocks — Plymouth 2 (Mercer 2), Triton 5 (Yeo 4); Records — Plymouth 1-0, Triton 1-1.
JV — Triton 36, Plymouth 25
Triton JV Scoring — Dillon Meadway 10, Flenar 10, Bryce Wanemacher 8, Harrell 3, Trenton Cooper 2, Skyler Reichert 2, Joey Corder 1[[In-content Ad]]
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