Triton Picks Up Big NSC Win
July 28, 2016 at 4:25 p.m.
o Editor's note: Part of this story appeared in Monday's Times-Union, but is being rerun in its entirety today.
BOURBON - Triton snagged a big win Saturday night against conference rival Bremen, but it took some staying power in the second half to achieve the victory.
The Trojans jumped out early on the inexperienced neighbors from the North, and then held off a late Lion run to secure a 59-54 victory.
The win moved Triton to 2-1 on the season and 1-0 in Northern State Conference play. Bremen dropped to 0-1 overall and 0-1 in the NSC.
Triton, on the strength of 15 first-half points from Cory Monesmith, seemed comfortably in control in the third quarter with a 16-point lead.
A three-minute scoring flurry by Bremen, though - a 14-3 run - cut the margin to just five with nearly two minutes left in the third. From that point on, it was anyone's game to take.
Triton head coach Kevin O'Rourke, who has coached the Trojans to victory in 9 of the past 13 contests dating back to last season, was satisfied with his squad's play.
"We got out of here with a big conference win," O'Rourke said. "I am very pleased with the victory. I knew they (Bremen) were going to make a run, and they did. Give our kids credit - they hit them (free throws) when they counted."
Triton's early season experience - the Trojans already had two games under their belts entering the game while it was Bremen's season opener - showed in the early going. Using a disciplined offensive scheme, the Trojans worked the ball around as long as it took to get the open shot - usually from the hands of Monesmith.
Bremen, on the other hand, looked tentative much of the first half, and the result was evident on the shot chart - not how many attempts Bremen missed, but how few the Lions took.
Bremen was just two of 6 in the first quarter and 6 of 14 the entire first half. Triton connected on 10 of 23 in the first two quarters.
The host Trojans led 12-7 after one quarter and it wasn't until around the 4:00 mark that Bremen got into double digits. By that time, Triton had a 23-11 advantage that grew to 29-13 after Trojan Philip Reed got a deuce to roll. Triton led 29-15 at halftime.
The lead moved to 33-17 after Monesmith scored two more, but Bremen took off from there.
Seven points from David Slos sparked Bremen on a 14-3 spurt, and suddenly, less than three minutes after trailing by 16, Bremen had made it a game at 36-31 Triton. The host Trojans led 38-31 entering the fourth.
Two Shane Libey trifectas cut the score to 40-37, and later on, Bremen made it just one point - 42-41. Monesmith answered with a big-time three-pointer to push the margin to 45-41 with 4:40 on the clock, but Bremen responded and knotted the score at 45 apiece with 3:21 to play.
Each time Bremen challenged Triton, the Trojans answered, usually in the form of free throws. Twelve of Triton's last 14 points came via the charity stripe, with seniors Jeff Rupe and Reed hitting five of six each. For the game, Triton outscored Bremen by 10 from the line and took nearly twice as many attempts.
A pair of Reed free throws put the Trojans up 56-51 with 14.8 seconds on the clock, but Bremen had one last surge. The Lions' Matt LaFree connected from long range to make it 56-54 Triton, and it was up to Triton to seal with win with free throws.
Rupe had the honors this time, hitting both free throws, and Reed added another free throw after Bremen missed from the field to account for the 59-54 final.
Triton fared relatively well in the rebounding department, losing the battle 28-26. Six Lions towered 6-foot-2 or better, though, just one Trojan, who didn't play, was 6-2 or taller.
The game was marred by an excess of second-half fouls - 32 infractions combined in the second half compared to just 12 in the first pair of quarters.
O'Rourke was disappointed again by the number of fouls his team registered in the final two frames.
"We fouled a lot in the second half, and that's the last thing we want to do," O'Rourke said, adding that it was a similar scenario at CMA last week.
"They scored too many free throws with the clock stopped, and we need to learn not to foul that much when we're up."
Monesmith finished with 24, while Reed tallied 15 and Rupe 14. The Trojans travel to NorthWood Friday. [[In-content Ad]]
o Editor's note: Part of this story appeared in Monday's Times-Union, but is being rerun in its entirety today.
BOURBON - Triton snagged a big win Saturday night against conference rival Bremen, but it took some staying power in the second half to achieve the victory.
The Trojans jumped out early on the inexperienced neighbors from the North, and then held off a late Lion run to secure a 59-54 victory.
The win moved Triton to 2-1 on the season and 1-0 in Northern State Conference play. Bremen dropped to 0-1 overall and 0-1 in the NSC.
Triton, on the strength of 15 first-half points from Cory Monesmith, seemed comfortably in control in the third quarter with a 16-point lead.
A three-minute scoring flurry by Bremen, though - a 14-3 run - cut the margin to just five with nearly two minutes left in the third. From that point on, it was anyone's game to take.
Triton head coach Kevin O'Rourke, who has coached the Trojans to victory in 9 of the past 13 contests dating back to last season, was satisfied with his squad's play.
"We got out of here with a big conference win," O'Rourke said. "I am very pleased with the victory. I knew they (Bremen) were going to make a run, and they did. Give our kids credit - they hit them (free throws) when they counted."
Triton's early season experience - the Trojans already had two games under their belts entering the game while it was Bremen's season opener - showed in the early going. Using a disciplined offensive scheme, the Trojans worked the ball around as long as it took to get the open shot - usually from the hands of Monesmith.
Bremen, on the other hand, looked tentative much of the first half, and the result was evident on the shot chart - not how many attempts Bremen missed, but how few the Lions took.
Bremen was just two of 6 in the first quarter and 6 of 14 the entire first half. Triton connected on 10 of 23 in the first two quarters.
The host Trojans led 12-7 after one quarter and it wasn't until around the 4:00 mark that Bremen got into double digits. By that time, Triton had a 23-11 advantage that grew to 29-13 after Trojan Philip Reed got a deuce to roll. Triton led 29-15 at halftime.
The lead moved to 33-17 after Monesmith scored two more, but Bremen took off from there.
Seven points from David Slos sparked Bremen on a 14-3 spurt, and suddenly, less than three minutes after trailing by 16, Bremen had made it a game at 36-31 Triton. The host Trojans led 38-31 entering the fourth.
Two Shane Libey trifectas cut the score to 40-37, and later on, Bremen made it just one point - 42-41. Monesmith answered with a big-time three-pointer to push the margin to 45-41 with 4:40 on the clock, but Bremen responded and knotted the score at 45 apiece with 3:21 to play.
Each time Bremen challenged Triton, the Trojans answered, usually in the form of free throws. Twelve of Triton's last 14 points came via the charity stripe, with seniors Jeff Rupe and Reed hitting five of six each. For the game, Triton outscored Bremen by 10 from the line and took nearly twice as many attempts.
A pair of Reed free throws put the Trojans up 56-51 with 14.8 seconds on the clock, but Bremen had one last surge. The Lions' Matt LaFree connected from long range to make it 56-54 Triton, and it was up to Triton to seal with win with free throws.
Rupe had the honors this time, hitting both free throws, and Reed added another free throw after Bremen missed from the field to account for the 59-54 final.
Triton fared relatively well in the rebounding department, losing the battle 28-26. Six Lions towered 6-foot-2 or better, though, just one Trojan, who didn't play, was 6-2 or taller.
The game was marred by an excess of second-half fouls - 32 infractions combined in the second half compared to just 12 in the first pair of quarters.
O'Rourke was disappointed again by the number of fouls his team registered in the final two frames.
"We fouled a lot in the second half, and that's the last thing we want to do," O'Rourke said, adding that it was a similar scenario at CMA last week.
"They scored too many free throws with the clock stopped, and we need to learn not to foul that much when we're up."
Monesmith finished with 24, while Reed tallied 15 and Rupe 14. The Trojans travel to NorthWood Friday. [[In-content Ad]]