Triton Fans Excited
July 28, 2016 at 4:25 p.m.
By Anthony [email protected]
"There's a lot of excitement," third-year Triton coach Jason Groves said of the vibe around the area right now. "Coming back to school after the sectional win, there were a lot of congratulations going around. Winning a sectional is not an easy thing to do, and I think a lot of people realize that."[[In-content Ad]]Breezing through the Class 1A Sectional 50 field at Triton High School by an average winning margin of 33 points, including a 71-31 championship win over Michigan City Marquette, you could say the Trojans are kind of peaking right now.
"Marquette is a good team," Groves said of the 11-11 Blazers. "I just think we're playing well right now. The guys are playing with confidence in each other. We're coming out and playing hard as a team."
Triton couldn't have picked a better time to be playing "well." The Trojans (21-2) will look to continue their postseason run in the 10:30 a.m. regional game against Morgan Township (20-4) at Triton High School Saturday. The winner of that game will then play in the 8 p.m. championship against the winner of the Fort Wayne Blackhawk (18-5)/Tri-County (16-7) game, which follows the Triton/Morgan Township semifinal.
The reason for Triton's recent play may actually stem from two late-season losses. After beginning the year 16-0, the Trojans suffered back-to-back road losses at Rochester (55-42) and Tippecanoe Valley (61-49).
"If we didn't have those two losses, I don't think we'd be playing like we are," Groves said. "Those two losses really brought us back to reality."
And the fact those losses came against two of the better teams in Class 3A also helps to ease the pain of the blemishes on their record.
"It helps a lot to play the bigger schools at the end of the season," Triton junior forward Colton Keel said. "It just toughens you up."
It's safe to say the Sectional 50 field can attest to that, but the Trojans have never seemed to care about the size of their school. Since they were young, this year's senior class of Bart Christian, Jake Everett, A.J. Harrison and Troy McIntyre have been fighting the stereotype of guys at a small school.
"We're a confident group," McIntyre said. "Since we were young, we've been successful. We don't put up much with people saying small schools can't win.
"Since we were in junior high, we'd play Kokomo and other large schools in summer tournaments," he added. "We played with those teams, and won too."
They've shown they can play with the bigger schools, but it was a fellow 1A squad that burst their bubble last season. A 49-47 sectional championship loss to eventual state champion Oregon-Davis helped fuel the fire this year.
"We remember what that felt like last year, and we weren't going to let that happen this year," McIntyre said.
However, when a winter storm hit Northern Indiana last week, the Trojans had to wait a couple of extra days to begin their postseason. After two postponements, Triton eventually picked up their championship Monday rather than Saturday.
"I can't stand to wait for games to start," Keel said about the anticipation leading up to the sectional.
After the initial snow closed Triton High School, the second postponement was due to schools from the west being unable to make the trip to Bourbon. Luckily for the Trojans, they didn't have to worry about travel - a luxury they also have for the regional.
"We get a lot more fans than if we went somewhere else," Christian said about playing postseason games on Triton's home court.
And that home court's been good to the Trojans. Not since Feb. 22, 2007 has Triton lost at home, that coming against Rochester.
"It's kind of something we take pride in," Groves said about defending their court. "We don't want someone else coming in and winning on our court."
The next team to attempt that will be Morgan Township.
"They definitely get after you with pressure," Groves said of the 13th-ranked Cherokees. "They pressure the ball, get into the passing lanes and front the post. With that kind of defense, they also get a lot of points through transition. So the first thing we need to do is take care of the ball."
According to the Trojan players, the Cherokees' pressure will be the only one they feel Saturday. Entering the regional with third ranking in Class 1A, Triton's aware they may be gunned for, but they aren't worried.
"It's not a big deal to be the favorite," McIntyre said. "At this point, every team is going to be good."
If Triton does manage get through the regional, they'll be a step closer to their ultimate goal.
"I think we can go all the way," Keel said about the prospect of winning state.
Returning all but one player from last year's team, and sporting a No. 1 ranking for much of the season, has obviously made Triton's season-long goal identifible, but Groves' trying to keep that in check.
"It's been in the back of our minds," Groves said. "There's a difference between dreams and goals. Our dream's to win state, but our goal is to concentrate on the day-to-day routine of working hard and practicing hard. If we accomplish those goals, eventually we'll accomplish our dreams."
That approach seems to be working on the players.
"We all know we can't win state without winning regional," McIntyre said.
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"There's a lot of excitement," third-year Triton coach Jason Groves said of the vibe around the area right now. "Coming back to school after the sectional win, there were a lot of congratulations going around. Winning a sectional is not an easy thing to do, and I think a lot of people realize that."[[In-content Ad]]Breezing through the Class 1A Sectional 50 field at Triton High School by an average winning margin of 33 points, including a 71-31 championship win over Michigan City Marquette, you could say the Trojans are kind of peaking right now.
"Marquette is a good team," Groves said of the 11-11 Blazers. "I just think we're playing well right now. The guys are playing with confidence in each other. We're coming out and playing hard as a team."
Triton couldn't have picked a better time to be playing "well." The Trojans (21-2) will look to continue their postseason run in the 10:30 a.m. regional game against Morgan Township (20-4) at Triton High School Saturday. The winner of that game will then play in the 8 p.m. championship against the winner of the Fort Wayne Blackhawk (18-5)/Tri-County (16-7) game, which follows the Triton/Morgan Township semifinal.
The reason for Triton's recent play may actually stem from two late-season losses. After beginning the year 16-0, the Trojans suffered back-to-back road losses at Rochester (55-42) and Tippecanoe Valley (61-49).
"If we didn't have those two losses, I don't think we'd be playing like we are," Groves said. "Those two losses really brought us back to reality."
And the fact those losses came against two of the better teams in Class 3A also helps to ease the pain of the blemishes on their record.
"It helps a lot to play the bigger schools at the end of the season," Triton junior forward Colton Keel said. "It just toughens you up."
It's safe to say the Sectional 50 field can attest to that, but the Trojans have never seemed to care about the size of their school. Since they were young, this year's senior class of Bart Christian, Jake Everett, A.J. Harrison and Troy McIntyre have been fighting the stereotype of guys at a small school.
"We're a confident group," McIntyre said. "Since we were young, we've been successful. We don't put up much with people saying small schools can't win.
"Since we were in junior high, we'd play Kokomo and other large schools in summer tournaments," he added. "We played with those teams, and won too."
They've shown they can play with the bigger schools, but it was a fellow 1A squad that burst their bubble last season. A 49-47 sectional championship loss to eventual state champion Oregon-Davis helped fuel the fire this year.
"We remember what that felt like last year, and we weren't going to let that happen this year," McIntyre said.
However, when a winter storm hit Northern Indiana last week, the Trojans had to wait a couple of extra days to begin their postseason. After two postponements, Triton eventually picked up their championship Monday rather than Saturday.
"I can't stand to wait for games to start," Keel said about the anticipation leading up to the sectional.
After the initial snow closed Triton High School, the second postponement was due to schools from the west being unable to make the trip to Bourbon. Luckily for the Trojans, they didn't have to worry about travel - a luxury they also have for the regional.
"We get a lot more fans than if we went somewhere else," Christian said about playing postseason games on Triton's home court.
And that home court's been good to the Trojans. Not since Feb. 22, 2007 has Triton lost at home, that coming against Rochester.
"It's kind of something we take pride in," Groves said about defending their court. "We don't want someone else coming in and winning on our court."
The next team to attempt that will be Morgan Township.
"They definitely get after you with pressure," Groves said of the 13th-ranked Cherokees. "They pressure the ball, get into the passing lanes and front the post. With that kind of defense, they also get a lot of points through transition. So the first thing we need to do is take care of the ball."
According to the Trojan players, the Cherokees' pressure will be the only one they feel Saturday. Entering the regional with third ranking in Class 1A, Triton's aware they may be gunned for, but they aren't worried.
"It's not a big deal to be the favorite," McIntyre said. "At this point, every team is going to be good."
If Triton does manage get through the regional, they'll be a step closer to their ultimate goal.
"I think we can go all the way," Keel said about the prospect of winning state.
Returning all but one player from last year's team, and sporting a No. 1 ranking for much of the season, has obviously made Triton's season-long goal identifible, but Groves' trying to keep that in check.
"It's been in the back of our minds," Groves said. "There's a difference between dreams and goals. Our dream's to win state, but our goal is to concentrate on the day-to-day routine of working hard and practicing hard. If we accomplish those goals, eventually we'll accomplish our dreams."
That approach seems to be working on the players.
"We all know we can't win state without winning regional," McIntyre said.
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