Triton Earns Fourth Semistate Berth In Six Seasons
July 28, 2016 at 4:25 p.m.
Triton Earns Fourth Semistate Berth In Six Seasons
By Anthony [email protected]
Trailing 22-21 after two quick Pioneer buckets to open the second half, Yeo stole a pass and took it all the way to the other end of the court for a dunk that got him going in a big way.
Following that two-handed jam with 6:24 remaining in the third quarter, Yeo scored the next 15 points for the 10th-ranked Triton Trojans (19-5) against the fourth-ranked Pioneer Panthers (21-4).
His scoring spurt didn't end until junior Tanner Shepherd hit a pair of free throws to give the home team a 40-32 lead with 4:21 remaining in the game.
With Yeo netting 22-straight Triton points between the second and fourth quarters, the 6-foot-6 senior propelled his team into Saturday's 4 p.m. Lafayette Jefferson Semistate game against Lafayette Central Catholic with a 53-41 victory.
"We needed plays and I just made plays," Yeo said. "Credit my teammates for giving me the ball. They trust me and I gave myself confidence."
Yeo's confidence put Triton in its fourth semistate in the past six years, all of which have been under coach Jason Groves.
"I don't know what to say - he never ceases to amaze me," Groves said of Yeo. "He's a phenomenal talent. It's a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to be able to coach a kid like that. I'm blessed with that opportunity. I just thank God everyday for these kids and what they've done for me – especially Clay."
While Yeo was scoring 35 points on 13-of-17 shooting, the entire Trojans defense was holding Pioneer's offense 23 points below its season average.
"Our kids are good on defense, and it's not an accident," Groves said. "We work on that in practice. It's not necessarily a game plan. It's something we focus on each and every day in practice. Our kids know, if they don't play defense, they aren't going to play."
And Triton's top defender was junior Cody Shively.
Without even attempting a shot, Shively had a huge impact, holding Pioneer's 6-4 sophomore guard/forward Carter Skaggs to six points on 2-of-10 shooting, 16 points below his season average.
"Cody Shively did a remarkable job on Skaggs," Groves said. "Skaggs is a good player, and not only from 3, but he can get inside. Cody did a great job on him."
Skaggs is coached by his father Pat Skaggs, who was impressed with Triton's entire squad.
"Their post players probably don't get a lot of credit, because Yeo gets all the credit, but I thought their role players stepped up and did a lot of good things for them," he said.
And he wasn't leaving out Yeo, who also had five rebounds, three blocks and two steals in his final game at the Trojan Trench.
"He is so multi-dimensional," Skaggs said of Yeo, who'll be playing at Valparaiso University next year. "He's 6-6 and he may have been the quickest guy on the court. He has so many offensive skills. We sure didn't slow him down. He obviously proved that he's worthy of being an Indiana all-star. He was a handful."
Proving his talent with a Triton-best 1,950 career points, Yeo's just 50 points shy of becoming the state's 42nd player to score 2,000 points.
But even with all his stats, it took a team to win this year's sectional and regional.
And even though a coach always believes in his team, it wasn't until the beginning of February that Groves began to see a championship team at Triton.
"At the beginning of the year, I did not," Groves said when asked if he thought this squad would make it to the semistate. "I started to think that it could towards the end of the year. I don't tell too many people, but I told my wife that, 'This team is starting to get it.' They were starting to get it in practice. They practice hard. They come in each day and don't complain. I can't say that about every team and this team's doing that. I think they really started to get it down the stretch. Down the stretch, I began to think this was a pretty good basketball team and this could become a reality."
Following a loss to LaVille in the semifinals of the TCU Bi-County Tournament, the Trojans were at a crossroads at 8-5 and a week removed from having their 16-game win streak against Culver snapped.
Upset with the performance of his team in the Bi-County, Groves delivered a message.
"After the first loss to LaVille we talked to the guys about, 'Guys, this season can go one of two ways. We can come in and have practices like we've been having and lose three or four more games and our season will be done in the sectional or regional. Or you guys can come in and make the decision that you don't want your season to end.' Luckily, they chose the latter," Groves said.
Since that setback at LaVille, Triton's reeled off 11-straight victories, which included a 44-38 regular season win at LaVille.
Despite their recent success, and winning five-straight sectional crowns, the Trojans still entered this postseason with some skepticism.
In Sectional 51, it was eighth-ranked Michigan City Marquette that was supposed to win, but Triton prevailed 47-46 against it in the sectional final at Culver Community High School.
At the regional, Triton first had to get past Fort Wayne Canterbury, which ended its season a year ago, and it did with a 44-41 victory in Saturday's morning session.
"We had something to prove against Canterbury because they ended our season last year," Yeo, who had 17 points, nine rebounds and six blocks in the semifinal win, said. "We expected to win (that game), but we knew it wasn't over. There's two games in one day, so you have to finish."
That second game was against the regional favorite, but then Yeo proved to be the best player on the floor, making the win look a little easier than it was.
"It's not as easy as it looks – believe me," Yeo said. "It takes a lot of man hours and a lot of studying our opponents. I'm glad it's paying off."
And that studying will continue as Groves and his staff prepare for sixth-ranked Central Catholic (18-8), who defeated top-ranked Rockville 65-55 in the semifinals of the Frankfort Regional then Liberty Christian 77-68 in the championshhip game.
Playing in Central Catholic's backyard Saturday, Groves knows his team will be in a position it's gotten familiar with this season.
"We're kind of playing the underdog this year, I guess you could say," Groves said. "Every other year, I think even our fans took it for granted. This year, it was kind of questionable as to whether or not we'd even make it out of sectionals. Our kids kind of embraced that underdog role and have done a great job."
And while watching Triton fans and players celebrate, Skaggs did interviews from the stands after watching his team that featured four starting seniors have its season come to an unexpected end.
"We ran into, what I'd say is a really good team, and I'd say we ran into a great player," he said.
TRITON 53, PIONEER 41
(Triton Regional, C'ship)
P 4 14 12 11 – 41
T 6 15 12 20 – 53
Triton – Joey Corder 3-4 0-0 6, Clay Yeo 13-17 6-7 35, Tanner Shepherd 1-3 4-6 6, Seth Glingle 0-2 1-2 1, Cody Shively 0-0 0-0 0, Darren Harrell 0-0 0-0 0, Bryson Mosier 0-0 0-0 0, Bryce Wanemacher 0-0 0-0 0, Trenton Cooper 0-0 0-0 0, Drew Mosson 0-1 0-0 0, Dillon Meadway 0-0 0-0 0, Skyler Reichert 2-3 0-0 5. Totals 19-30 11-15 53.
Pioneer – Stephen Whitlock 2-4 0-0 6, Brandon Scruggs 1-8 0-0 2, Matthew Dorris 8-11 3-6 19, Mitchell Williams 1-4 0-1 2, Carter Skaggs 2-10 2-2 6, Tyler Beaupre 2-2 0-0 6, J.P. Smith 0-0 0-0 0, Alex Boonstra 0-0 0-0 0, Sam Kiser 0-0 0-0 0, Dillon Stanton 0-0 0-0 0. Totals 16-39 5-9 41.
Three-point goals – Triton 4-8 (Yeo 3, Reichert), Pioneer 4-16 (Whitlock 2, Beaupre 2); Team Fouls (fouled out) – Triton 11 (Glingle), Pioneer 15 (Dorris); Turnovers – Triton 11, Pioneer 8; Rebounds – Triton 25 (Yeo 5), Pioneer 15 (Scruggs 4); Assists – Triton 7 (Corder 4), Pioneer 5; Steals – Triton 6 (Yeo 2, Glingle 2), Pioneer 6 (Whitlock 3); Blocks – Triton 3 (Yeo 3), Pioneer 3 (Dorris 3)
Records: Triton 19-5, Pioneer 21-4
TRITON 44, F.W. CANTERBURY 41
(Triton Regional, Semifinal)
C 11 12 11 7 – 41
T 16 11 8 9 – 44
Triton – Joey Corder 2-3 0-2 4, Clay Yeo 3-10 11-11 17, Tanner Shepherd 5-8 2-4 14, Seth Glingle 1-4 0-0 2, Cody Shively 0-2 1-2 1, Bryson Mosier 0-0 0-0 0, Drew Mosson 1-3 0-1 3, Skyler Reichert 1-2 0-0 3. Totals 13-32 14-20 44.
Canterbury – Trent VanHorn 3-17 5-5 11, Grant Sinn 2-5 0-0 4, Chase Moyle 5-10 4-4 16, Joey Pedro 1-2 0-0 2, Andrew Kus 4-8 0-1 8, Trevor Uhl 0-0 0-0 0, Christian Kreiger 0-0 0-0 0, Trevor Jacobs 0-0 0-0 0. Totals 15-42 9-10 41.
Three-point goals – Triton 4-13 (Shepherd 2, Mosson, Reichert), Canterbury 2-13 (Moyle 2); Team Fouls (fouled out) – Triton 10, Canterbury 16; Turnovers – Triton 11, Canterbury 9; Rebounds – Triton 27 (Yeo 9), Canterbury 23 (VanHorn 8); Assists – Triton 9 (Yeo 5), Canterbury 5 (Moyle 2, Kus 2); Steals – Triton 6 (Corder 2, Shively 2), Canterbury 9 (Moyle 4); Blocks – Triton 7 (Yeo 6), Canterbury 2 (Kus 2)[[In-content Ad]]
Trailing 22-21 after two quick Pioneer buckets to open the second half, Yeo stole a pass and took it all the way to the other end of the court for a dunk that got him going in a big way.
Following that two-handed jam with 6:24 remaining in the third quarter, Yeo scored the next 15 points for the 10th-ranked Triton Trojans (19-5) against the fourth-ranked Pioneer Panthers (21-4).
His scoring spurt didn't end until junior Tanner Shepherd hit a pair of free throws to give the home team a 40-32 lead with 4:21 remaining in the game.
With Yeo netting 22-straight Triton points between the second and fourth quarters, the 6-foot-6 senior propelled his team into Saturday's 4 p.m. Lafayette Jefferson Semistate game against Lafayette Central Catholic with a 53-41 victory.
"We needed plays and I just made plays," Yeo said. "Credit my teammates for giving me the ball. They trust me and I gave myself confidence."
Yeo's confidence put Triton in its fourth semistate in the past six years, all of which have been under coach Jason Groves.
"I don't know what to say - he never ceases to amaze me," Groves said of Yeo. "He's a phenomenal talent. It's a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to be able to coach a kid like that. I'm blessed with that opportunity. I just thank God everyday for these kids and what they've done for me – especially Clay."
While Yeo was scoring 35 points on 13-of-17 shooting, the entire Trojans defense was holding Pioneer's offense 23 points below its season average.
"Our kids are good on defense, and it's not an accident," Groves said. "We work on that in practice. It's not necessarily a game plan. It's something we focus on each and every day in practice. Our kids know, if they don't play defense, they aren't going to play."
And Triton's top defender was junior Cody Shively.
Without even attempting a shot, Shively had a huge impact, holding Pioneer's 6-4 sophomore guard/forward Carter Skaggs to six points on 2-of-10 shooting, 16 points below his season average.
"Cody Shively did a remarkable job on Skaggs," Groves said. "Skaggs is a good player, and not only from 3, but he can get inside. Cody did a great job on him."
Skaggs is coached by his father Pat Skaggs, who was impressed with Triton's entire squad.
"Their post players probably don't get a lot of credit, because Yeo gets all the credit, but I thought their role players stepped up and did a lot of good things for them," he said.
And he wasn't leaving out Yeo, who also had five rebounds, three blocks and two steals in his final game at the Trojan Trench.
"He is so multi-dimensional," Skaggs said of Yeo, who'll be playing at Valparaiso University next year. "He's 6-6 and he may have been the quickest guy on the court. He has so many offensive skills. We sure didn't slow him down. He obviously proved that he's worthy of being an Indiana all-star. He was a handful."
Proving his talent with a Triton-best 1,950 career points, Yeo's just 50 points shy of becoming the state's 42nd player to score 2,000 points.
But even with all his stats, it took a team to win this year's sectional and regional.
And even though a coach always believes in his team, it wasn't until the beginning of February that Groves began to see a championship team at Triton.
"At the beginning of the year, I did not," Groves said when asked if he thought this squad would make it to the semistate. "I started to think that it could towards the end of the year. I don't tell too many people, but I told my wife that, 'This team is starting to get it.' They were starting to get it in practice. They practice hard. They come in each day and don't complain. I can't say that about every team and this team's doing that. I think they really started to get it down the stretch. Down the stretch, I began to think this was a pretty good basketball team and this could become a reality."
Following a loss to LaVille in the semifinals of the TCU Bi-County Tournament, the Trojans were at a crossroads at 8-5 and a week removed from having their 16-game win streak against Culver snapped.
Upset with the performance of his team in the Bi-County, Groves delivered a message.
"After the first loss to LaVille we talked to the guys about, 'Guys, this season can go one of two ways. We can come in and have practices like we've been having and lose three or four more games and our season will be done in the sectional or regional. Or you guys can come in and make the decision that you don't want your season to end.' Luckily, they chose the latter," Groves said.
Since that setback at LaVille, Triton's reeled off 11-straight victories, which included a 44-38 regular season win at LaVille.
Despite their recent success, and winning five-straight sectional crowns, the Trojans still entered this postseason with some skepticism.
In Sectional 51, it was eighth-ranked Michigan City Marquette that was supposed to win, but Triton prevailed 47-46 against it in the sectional final at Culver Community High School.
At the regional, Triton first had to get past Fort Wayne Canterbury, which ended its season a year ago, and it did with a 44-41 victory in Saturday's morning session.
"We had something to prove against Canterbury because they ended our season last year," Yeo, who had 17 points, nine rebounds and six blocks in the semifinal win, said. "We expected to win (that game), but we knew it wasn't over. There's two games in one day, so you have to finish."
That second game was against the regional favorite, but then Yeo proved to be the best player on the floor, making the win look a little easier than it was.
"It's not as easy as it looks – believe me," Yeo said. "It takes a lot of man hours and a lot of studying our opponents. I'm glad it's paying off."
And that studying will continue as Groves and his staff prepare for sixth-ranked Central Catholic (18-8), who defeated top-ranked Rockville 65-55 in the semifinals of the Frankfort Regional then Liberty Christian 77-68 in the championshhip game.
Playing in Central Catholic's backyard Saturday, Groves knows his team will be in a position it's gotten familiar with this season.
"We're kind of playing the underdog this year, I guess you could say," Groves said. "Every other year, I think even our fans took it for granted. This year, it was kind of questionable as to whether or not we'd even make it out of sectionals. Our kids kind of embraced that underdog role and have done a great job."
And while watching Triton fans and players celebrate, Skaggs did interviews from the stands after watching his team that featured four starting seniors have its season come to an unexpected end.
"We ran into, what I'd say is a really good team, and I'd say we ran into a great player," he said.
TRITON 53, PIONEER 41
(Triton Regional, C'ship)
P 4 14 12 11 – 41
T 6 15 12 20 – 53
Triton – Joey Corder 3-4 0-0 6, Clay Yeo 13-17 6-7 35, Tanner Shepherd 1-3 4-6 6, Seth Glingle 0-2 1-2 1, Cody Shively 0-0 0-0 0, Darren Harrell 0-0 0-0 0, Bryson Mosier 0-0 0-0 0, Bryce Wanemacher 0-0 0-0 0, Trenton Cooper 0-0 0-0 0, Drew Mosson 0-1 0-0 0, Dillon Meadway 0-0 0-0 0, Skyler Reichert 2-3 0-0 5. Totals 19-30 11-15 53.
Pioneer – Stephen Whitlock 2-4 0-0 6, Brandon Scruggs 1-8 0-0 2, Matthew Dorris 8-11 3-6 19, Mitchell Williams 1-4 0-1 2, Carter Skaggs 2-10 2-2 6, Tyler Beaupre 2-2 0-0 6, J.P. Smith 0-0 0-0 0, Alex Boonstra 0-0 0-0 0, Sam Kiser 0-0 0-0 0, Dillon Stanton 0-0 0-0 0. Totals 16-39 5-9 41.
Three-point goals – Triton 4-8 (Yeo 3, Reichert), Pioneer 4-16 (Whitlock 2, Beaupre 2); Team Fouls (fouled out) – Triton 11 (Glingle), Pioneer 15 (Dorris); Turnovers – Triton 11, Pioneer 8; Rebounds – Triton 25 (Yeo 5), Pioneer 15 (Scruggs 4); Assists – Triton 7 (Corder 4), Pioneer 5; Steals – Triton 6 (Yeo 2, Glingle 2), Pioneer 6 (Whitlock 3); Blocks – Triton 3 (Yeo 3), Pioneer 3 (Dorris 3)
Records: Triton 19-5, Pioneer 21-4
TRITON 44, F.W. CANTERBURY 41
(Triton Regional, Semifinal)
C 11 12 11 7 – 41
T 16 11 8 9 – 44
Triton – Joey Corder 2-3 0-2 4, Clay Yeo 3-10 11-11 17, Tanner Shepherd 5-8 2-4 14, Seth Glingle 1-4 0-0 2, Cody Shively 0-2 1-2 1, Bryson Mosier 0-0 0-0 0, Drew Mosson 1-3 0-1 3, Skyler Reichert 1-2 0-0 3. Totals 13-32 14-20 44.
Canterbury – Trent VanHorn 3-17 5-5 11, Grant Sinn 2-5 0-0 4, Chase Moyle 5-10 4-4 16, Joey Pedro 1-2 0-0 2, Andrew Kus 4-8 0-1 8, Trevor Uhl 0-0 0-0 0, Christian Kreiger 0-0 0-0 0, Trevor Jacobs 0-0 0-0 0. Totals 15-42 9-10 41.
Three-point goals – Triton 4-13 (Shepherd 2, Mosson, Reichert), Canterbury 2-13 (Moyle 2); Team Fouls (fouled out) – Triton 10, Canterbury 16; Turnovers – Triton 11, Canterbury 9; Rebounds – Triton 27 (Yeo 9), Canterbury 23 (VanHorn 8); Assists – Triton 9 (Yeo 5), Canterbury 5 (Moyle 2, Kus 2); Steals – Triton 6 (Corder 2, Shively 2), Canterbury 9 (Moyle 4); Blocks – Triton 7 (Yeo 6), Canterbury 2 (Kus 2)[[In-content Ad]]
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