Triton Falls Despite Three-Point Barrage
July 28, 2016 at 4:25 p.m.
BOURBON - It was just another typical game in what is becoming a heart-wrenching season for the Triton boys basketball team.
Once again, the Trojans stayed close for 30 minutes, giving themselves a chance to win it at the end. And once again, the opposition pulled it out.
This time it was conference foe Jimtown. The Jimmies have been ranked as high as No. 10 in Class 2A, and they showed why in defeating Triton 51-42 despite a spectacular three-point shooting show from the Trojans.
Triton made six of its first seven three-pointers on the night and 8 of 13 overall. Matt Savill continued his first-quarter onslaught with three bombs in the opening period. Derek Ganshorn picked up from there with one in the second and two in the fourth. Schuyler Stutzman threw one in during the third quarter, and sophomore Austin Unterbrink nailed one from about two steps behind the three-point line.
"We have good shooters and kids work hard at their shooting in the offseason," Triton coach Kevin O'Rourke said. "I do think their hard work has paid off. It's a nice thing to have an offense. You've got to put points on the board, but when (the Jimmies) got shots in the paint, they shot a higher percentage from there. That's something that we've got to keep working at."
The three-pointers weren't enough as the Trojans made just three shots inside the three-point line against the bigger and stronger Jimmies. Jimtown used its height and strength with seven offensive rebounds in the second half and a 22-12 rebounding edge in the final three quarters.
"Looks aren't deceiving," O'Rourke said. "Three 6-foot-6 kids. (Andy) Pettis is 6 foot and stronger than an ox and can jump well. (Pete) Svetanoff's a good strong kid. There's no question that they had a tremendous amount of physical size."
Triton came out well as usual, jumping to an 11-6 lead after the one quarter. Jimtown was held to one field goal in the last six minutes of the first period, while Savill worked his magic with nine points on three three-pointers, his last one coming courtesy of a buzzer-beater.
Savill wouldn't get many open looks the rest of the night and would end up with just 10 points as Jimtown did a great job of keeping someone near him from that point on.
In the second quarter, the Jimmies tied the score at 11-11 when Ganshorn hit his first trey of the game. Savill made a free throw and Stutzman scored on a layup as the only other Triton points of the quarter. Although the Trojans only managed six points in the second period, they still led 17-15 at the break.
In the third quarter, Stutzman made his three-pointer to break a 19-19 tie, but then the Trojans would go into a dive. Jimtown scored nine consecutive points to take a 28-22 lead, but Unterbrink made two free throws and a jumper as the horn sounded to end the period to make the score 30-26 Jimtown.
The Trojans took hardly any time to show that they weren't going away as Ganshorn made his second three-pointer of the night 13 seconds into the final period to cut the lead to one. When Unterbrink nailed his long bomb, Triton took a 34-32 advantage with 4:46 to play.
But Pettis took over for Jimtown with a three-point play, two layups and two free throws in the next three minutes to give the Jimmies a 41-38 advantage. Jimtown would knock in its free throws down the stretch to pull out the nine-point victory.
Unterbrink led Triton with 13 points, while Ganshorn scored 11 and Savill added his 10. Throw in Stutzman's seven points, and there were 41 of the Trojans' 42 points.
"We have the ability to be an awfully good basketball team, and we've proven that in stretches of every game," O'Rourke said. "We haven't got the mind set yet that we've got to win every possession. What happens is, at the end of the game we sit down and say we'd like to have a few of those possessions back. We've got to get a tougher mental approach."
Despite all of the tough-luck losses, O'Rourke continues to see the possibilities in this team after the type of schedule the Trojans have gone through.
"We have no starters back and every team we've played but one has two, if not three, starters back. But we're 10 games into the season, and we can't look at that anymore. Every one of our losses has been against a team with a winning record, but at some point we've got to say, 'Now it's our turn.' We've played very few A schools. I just hope that will make us better come tournament time. We'll have gone through the wars by the time the sectional comes around."
Triton (3-7) will play at Caston Friday. [[In-content Ad]]
BOURBON - It was just another typical game in what is becoming a heart-wrenching season for the Triton boys basketball team.
Once again, the Trojans stayed close for 30 minutes, giving themselves a chance to win it at the end. And once again, the opposition pulled it out.
This time it was conference foe Jimtown. The Jimmies have been ranked as high as No. 10 in Class 2A, and they showed why in defeating Triton 51-42 despite a spectacular three-point shooting show from the Trojans.
Triton made six of its first seven three-pointers on the night and 8 of 13 overall. Matt Savill continued his first-quarter onslaught with three bombs in the opening period. Derek Ganshorn picked up from there with one in the second and two in the fourth. Schuyler Stutzman threw one in during the third quarter, and sophomore Austin Unterbrink nailed one from about two steps behind the three-point line.
"We have good shooters and kids work hard at their shooting in the offseason," Triton coach Kevin O'Rourke said. "I do think their hard work has paid off. It's a nice thing to have an offense. You've got to put points on the board, but when (the Jimmies) got shots in the paint, they shot a higher percentage from there. That's something that we've got to keep working at."
The three-pointers weren't enough as the Trojans made just three shots inside the three-point line against the bigger and stronger Jimmies. Jimtown used its height and strength with seven offensive rebounds in the second half and a 22-12 rebounding edge in the final three quarters.
"Looks aren't deceiving," O'Rourke said. "Three 6-foot-6 kids. (Andy) Pettis is 6 foot and stronger than an ox and can jump well. (Pete) Svetanoff's a good strong kid. There's no question that they had a tremendous amount of physical size."
Triton came out well as usual, jumping to an 11-6 lead after the one quarter. Jimtown was held to one field goal in the last six minutes of the first period, while Savill worked his magic with nine points on three three-pointers, his last one coming courtesy of a buzzer-beater.
Savill wouldn't get many open looks the rest of the night and would end up with just 10 points as Jimtown did a great job of keeping someone near him from that point on.
In the second quarter, the Jimmies tied the score at 11-11 when Ganshorn hit his first trey of the game. Savill made a free throw and Stutzman scored on a layup as the only other Triton points of the quarter. Although the Trojans only managed six points in the second period, they still led 17-15 at the break.
In the third quarter, Stutzman made his three-pointer to break a 19-19 tie, but then the Trojans would go into a dive. Jimtown scored nine consecutive points to take a 28-22 lead, but Unterbrink made two free throws and a jumper as the horn sounded to end the period to make the score 30-26 Jimtown.
The Trojans took hardly any time to show that they weren't going away as Ganshorn made his second three-pointer of the night 13 seconds into the final period to cut the lead to one. When Unterbrink nailed his long bomb, Triton took a 34-32 advantage with 4:46 to play.
But Pettis took over for Jimtown with a three-point play, two layups and two free throws in the next three minutes to give the Jimmies a 41-38 advantage. Jimtown would knock in its free throws down the stretch to pull out the nine-point victory.
Unterbrink led Triton with 13 points, while Ganshorn scored 11 and Savill added his 10. Throw in Stutzman's seven points, and there were 41 of the Trojans' 42 points.
"We have the ability to be an awfully good basketball team, and we've proven that in stretches of every game," O'Rourke said. "We haven't got the mind set yet that we've got to win every possession. What happens is, at the end of the game we sit down and say we'd like to have a few of those possessions back. We've got to get a tougher mental approach."
Despite all of the tough-luck losses, O'Rourke continues to see the possibilities in this team after the type of schedule the Trojans have gone through.
"We have no starters back and every team we've played but one has two, if not three, starters back. But we're 10 games into the season, and we can't look at that anymore. Every one of our losses has been against a team with a winning record, but at some point we've got to say, 'Now it's our turn.' We've played very few A schools. I just hope that will make us better come tournament time. We'll have gone through the wars by the time the sectional comes around."
Triton (3-7) will play at Caston Friday. [[In-content Ad]]