BOURBON - Despite losing a tight 55-53 overtime game to John Glenn on Friday night, the Triton boys basketball team learned something that night. The Trojans learned how to win the close games. Armed with that new knowledge, they put it to the test Saturday and came away with a 54-47 win over Culver Military.

Derek Ganshorn stepped up for short-handed Triton on Saturday with 19 points on five three-pointers. Without Andy Westafer, who is suspended for three more games, the Trojans lost a key player, but it didn't affect them in large part because of Ganshorn's play.

"All the kids work hard, but if there's one kid who has really come to practice every night and competed and worked hard in the games and given it everything he's had, Derek would lead the list," head coach Kevin O'Rourke said. "This is great for him, and it couldn't happen to a better person. Those threes that he hit, we needed every one of them."

Triton looked to have the game in control with a 34-25 advantage with 3:46 to play in the third period. However, Culver Military scored the final seven points of the quarter on a three-pointer and a pair of two-point baskets to cut the lead to 34-32 heading into the fourth.

Will Mishler hit a jumper to start the final quarter for CMA to tie the game for the first time since the second period. But Austin Unterbrink scored four of his 16 points in the next three minutes and Ganshorn made his fourth three-pointer of the game as the Trojans went up 41-36.

With Triton leading 41-38 just 30 seconds later, Ganshorn made his fifth and final long bomb of the game to double the lead. From that point, it came down to a free throw contest and Triton made 6 of 8 down the stretch for the win.

"The first game of the year against NorthWood was a close game at the end and we let it slip away," O'Rourke said. "We showed our lack of experience. (Friday) night was a close game at the end and the ball didn't go our way. Tonight, same situation and we took advantage of the situation and won the game. I definitely see a progression."

Another player that stepped up for the Trojans in a big way was Kyle Gould. Although he took just two shots and didn't score, Gould had five assists and seven rebounds to lead Triton in both stats and also had two big offensive rebounds in the fourth quarter to keep the ball in the hands of the Trojans.

"Those were just absolutely huge rebounds," O'Rourke said. "That secured the game for us. Kyle is an exceptionally smart basketball player; he understands the game really well. Everybody looks at points, but coaches look at your total game. He's very capable of scoring points, but you don't have to score points to be a good basketball player. There's a lot of other areas of this game that go unnoticed, but they didn't go unnoticed tonight in my eyes."

Triton (3-5, 1-1) will host Bethany Christian on Friday. [[In-content Ad]]