Triton Boys Have High Hopes For Season
July 28, 2016 at 4:25 p.m.
By Anthony [email protected]
Despite the graduation of point guard Zak Shively, who averaged 6.8 points and team-high 4.9 assists a game, the cupboard is far from bare at Triton, led by Valparaiso University-bound Clay Yeo.
“He's ready to go for his senior year,” Triton head coach Jason Groves said. “He has a lot to accomplish here. He's accomplished a lot already, but he wants to advance in the tournament and have some success there. This is his senior year and that's always special for the kids.”
Yeo’s already the program’s all-time leading scorer with 1,335 points and has already signed to play at Division I Valpo.
On top of the individual achievements, Yeo’s been a part of three sectional championship squads, as well as a regional championship team and made a state finals appearance as a sophomore.
While Zak Shively is gone from the team that fell in double overtime to Fort Wayne Canterbury in last year’s regional championship, Yeo will be joined by three other returning starters, including juniors Tanner Shepherd and Cody Shively and senior Seth Glingle.
A year ago, Shepherd was the team’s second-leading scorer with 11.2 points a game to go with 2.1 steals, while Cody Shively averaged 4.0 points and 3.9 rebounds and Glingle finished with 3.3 points and 3.4 boards.
All four returners feature height and athleticism, although Glingle is more of a low-post player.
With the athleticism, Groves hopes to put some pressure on opposing teams.
“This year, I think we're going to get out and pressure the ball a little bit more early in the season,” he said. “I felt, last year, we needed to protect the basket a little bit more and kind of pack it in and ease some guys into it. Last year, we only had one returning starter, which was Clay.”
Senior Bryson Mosier would be Triton’s fifth starter, but a sprained ankle may not allow him to play in the season opener Wednesday at Oregon-Davis.
If Mosier can’t go, or even when he does, Groves will turn to some guys that are looking to get used to varsity play.
“Darren Harrell is a junior off the (junior varsity) and shoots the ball extremely well,” Groves said. “He had a really good summer and has been playing really well this preseason. We have several other guys, such as junior Seth Flenar, who played JV and dressed a little varsity at the end of last year. We have two sophomores with Joey Corder and Skyler Reichert, who are fairly athletic kids and can shoot the ball. We like what we see out of them as well. We have some capable players who are ready to step up. It's just a matter of who is it that's going to be consistent.”
Other players who will fill out the varsity roster are senior Trenton Cooper, juniors Bryce Wanemacher and Dillon Meadway, as well as senior Drew Mosson, although his status for the season is unclear.
“It's his back, so we're not exactly sure,” Groves said about having Mosson this season. “We'll see. He hasn't done anything all summer. He's got a long way to go.”
What Groves does know is he has perhaps the best player on the court every game, outside of maybe the Dec. 8 game at Mishawaka Marian, who’s led by Notre Dame-bound guard Demetrius Jackson, a friend of Yeo’s.
After committing to Valpo prior to the start of last season, Yeo had surgery on his knee, which slowed him a bit, but not much as he scored 675 points, averaging 26.7 a game to go with 8.4 rebounds, 2.2 assists and 1.9 steals a game.
This season, Groves is seeing a player much closer to 100 percent.
“One thing I've noticed is, he's got the spring back in his step,” Groves said about the 6-foot-6 Yeo. “Last year, I thought it took him a while to get going. He really has that spring back in his step and some of that explosiveness.”
And with that explosiveness, Yeo will be playing a lot of point guard for the Trojans.
“We tried to experiment with some things in the summer, but it didn't work out,” Groves said about looking at other players to run the point. “A majority of the time it's going to be him, but we're going to try to use a committee too.
“We want the ball in his hands,” Groves added. “He's our best player. That's kind of why I ultimately made the decision. We want the ball to in his hands most of the time.”
The ball may be in his hands, but hopefully all the team’s success won’t be.
“We have some good pieces, that's for sure,” Groves said. “We want to get as far as we can and have a great season. We have some good young kids that are going to do good for the varsity. We have some sophomores trying to work themselves into the varsity lineup. We have a pretty good juniors, with six in that class. We also have some freshmen on the JV. We have some good young kids we're excited about. We talked to our seniors about laying the foundation for these guys and showing them what kind of work ethic and attitude you have to come in with day-in and day-out at practice.”
And the bench will be tested early after the game at Oregon-Davis.
Playing five of its first six games on the road, the O-D game is followed by a trips to Plymouth (Nov. 27) and NorthWood (Nov. 30), before a home game against North Miami (Dec. 4).
After the home game, the Trojans are right back on the road, travelling to Mishawaka Marian (Dec. 8) and Bethany Christian (Dec. 11).
“I'm glad we have some experience with those four guys, as returning starters, but the other guys are going to be thrown into the fire right away,” Groves said. “I've kind of been on them a lot in practice, because they need to be ready to go right from the get-go. We don't have the luxury of some cupcake games early. They're going to have to be ready to go and know what it takes to compete at the varsity level.”
And after the early road games, Triton gets into its Northern State Conference schedule.
The Trojans have won four of the last five NSC crowns, splitting the title with LaVille last year and John Glenn in 2010.
“It's going to be a tough conference this year,” Groves, who has a 139-39 record in seven years at Triton, said. “I think some of the teams will be better than people realize. I know everybody tries to knock us off, as us and LaVille were co-champs last year. It's going to be tough. It's always tough to defend a title. Hopefully, we can be focused and do that and not look past anybody. With our conference, each team is really well prepared. They're well coached. It's going to take a consistent effort from us.”
And with two players already sidelined for the team’s scrimmage against Peru Wednesday night, Groves is hoping that doesn’t become a trend.
“We've just got to keep away from the injury bug that's been hitting us,” he said. “We have four guys that have a lot of experience and have been through a lot. They kind of know what we expect and go about business on a daily basis. We're comfortable with those guys. Hopefully, we can have some younger kids step up and compliment them.”[[In-content Ad]]
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Despite the graduation of point guard Zak Shively, who averaged 6.8 points and team-high 4.9 assists a game, the cupboard is far from bare at Triton, led by Valparaiso University-bound Clay Yeo.
“He's ready to go for his senior year,” Triton head coach Jason Groves said. “He has a lot to accomplish here. He's accomplished a lot already, but he wants to advance in the tournament and have some success there. This is his senior year and that's always special for the kids.”
Yeo’s already the program’s all-time leading scorer with 1,335 points and has already signed to play at Division I Valpo.
On top of the individual achievements, Yeo’s been a part of three sectional championship squads, as well as a regional championship team and made a state finals appearance as a sophomore.
While Zak Shively is gone from the team that fell in double overtime to Fort Wayne Canterbury in last year’s regional championship, Yeo will be joined by three other returning starters, including juniors Tanner Shepherd and Cody Shively and senior Seth Glingle.
A year ago, Shepherd was the team’s second-leading scorer with 11.2 points a game to go with 2.1 steals, while Cody Shively averaged 4.0 points and 3.9 rebounds and Glingle finished with 3.3 points and 3.4 boards.
All four returners feature height and athleticism, although Glingle is more of a low-post player.
With the athleticism, Groves hopes to put some pressure on opposing teams.
“This year, I think we're going to get out and pressure the ball a little bit more early in the season,” he said. “I felt, last year, we needed to protect the basket a little bit more and kind of pack it in and ease some guys into it. Last year, we only had one returning starter, which was Clay.”
Senior Bryson Mosier would be Triton’s fifth starter, but a sprained ankle may not allow him to play in the season opener Wednesday at Oregon-Davis.
If Mosier can’t go, or even when he does, Groves will turn to some guys that are looking to get used to varsity play.
“Darren Harrell is a junior off the (junior varsity) and shoots the ball extremely well,” Groves said. “He had a really good summer and has been playing really well this preseason. We have several other guys, such as junior Seth Flenar, who played JV and dressed a little varsity at the end of last year. We have two sophomores with Joey Corder and Skyler Reichert, who are fairly athletic kids and can shoot the ball. We like what we see out of them as well. We have some capable players who are ready to step up. It's just a matter of who is it that's going to be consistent.”
Other players who will fill out the varsity roster are senior Trenton Cooper, juniors Bryce Wanemacher and Dillon Meadway, as well as senior Drew Mosson, although his status for the season is unclear.
“It's his back, so we're not exactly sure,” Groves said about having Mosson this season. “We'll see. He hasn't done anything all summer. He's got a long way to go.”
What Groves does know is he has perhaps the best player on the court every game, outside of maybe the Dec. 8 game at Mishawaka Marian, who’s led by Notre Dame-bound guard Demetrius Jackson, a friend of Yeo’s.
After committing to Valpo prior to the start of last season, Yeo had surgery on his knee, which slowed him a bit, but not much as he scored 675 points, averaging 26.7 a game to go with 8.4 rebounds, 2.2 assists and 1.9 steals a game.
This season, Groves is seeing a player much closer to 100 percent.
“One thing I've noticed is, he's got the spring back in his step,” Groves said about the 6-foot-6 Yeo. “Last year, I thought it took him a while to get going. He really has that spring back in his step and some of that explosiveness.”
And with that explosiveness, Yeo will be playing a lot of point guard for the Trojans.
“We tried to experiment with some things in the summer, but it didn't work out,” Groves said about looking at other players to run the point. “A majority of the time it's going to be him, but we're going to try to use a committee too.
“We want the ball in his hands,” Groves added. “He's our best player. That's kind of why I ultimately made the decision. We want the ball to in his hands most of the time.”
The ball may be in his hands, but hopefully all the team’s success won’t be.
“We have some good pieces, that's for sure,” Groves said. “We want to get as far as we can and have a great season. We have some good young kids that are going to do good for the varsity. We have some sophomores trying to work themselves into the varsity lineup. We have a pretty good juniors, with six in that class. We also have some freshmen on the JV. We have some good young kids we're excited about. We talked to our seniors about laying the foundation for these guys and showing them what kind of work ethic and attitude you have to come in with day-in and day-out at practice.”
And the bench will be tested early after the game at Oregon-Davis.
Playing five of its first six games on the road, the O-D game is followed by a trips to Plymouth (Nov. 27) and NorthWood (Nov. 30), before a home game against North Miami (Dec. 4).
After the home game, the Trojans are right back on the road, travelling to Mishawaka Marian (Dec. 8) and Bethany Christian (Dec. 11).
“I'm glad we have some experience with those four guys, as returning starters, but the other guys are going to be thrown into the fire right away,” Groves said. “I've kind of been on them a lot in practice, because they need to be ready to go right from the get-go. We don't have the luxury of some cupcake games early. They're going to have to be ready to go and know what it takes to compete at the varsity level.”
And after the early road games, Triton gets into its Northern State Conference schedule.
The Trojans have won four of the last five NSC crowns, splitting the title with LaVille last year and John Glenn in 2010.
“It's going to be a tough conference this year,” Groves, who has a 139-39 record in seven years at Triton, said. “I think some of the teams will be better than people realize. I know everybody tries to knock us off, as us and LaVille were co-champs last year. It's going to be tough. It's always tough to defend a title. Hopefully, we can be focused and do that and not look past anybody. With our conference, each team is really well prepared. They're well coached. It's going to take a consistent effort from us.”
And with two players already sidelined for the team’s scrimmage against Peru Wednesday night, Groves is hoping that doesn’t become a trend.
“We've just got to keep away from the injury bug that's been hitting us,” he said. “We have four guys that have a lot of experience and have been through a lot. They kind of know what we expect and go about business on a daily basis. We're comfortable with those guys. Hopefully, we can have some younger kids step up and compliment them.”[[In-content Ad]]
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