Triton Refuses To Let Basketball Season End
July 28, 2016 at 4:25 p.m.
BOURBON - Just as Triton High School's girls basketball team hosted and won the regional round of the state tournament, the boys will try and so Wednesday night.
Triton (15-8) will host 18-5 Michigan City Marquette tommorrow at 7:30 p.m. with the winner advancing to Saturday's Kokomo Class A Semistate.
A year ago Triton hosted the sectional, coming away with the school corportation's first sectional championship since 1965. That same year the Trojans won their only regional championship in the school's history.
Tuesday morning second-year Triton coach Joe Bennett was asked just how much of an advantage it is for his team to be playing at home.
"You can't put a point value on it, I wish you could," said Bennett. "It's a little easier for our crowd to watch. I just think it's an advantage being familiar with the setting and the baskets. I just think it's a slight advantage for us."
If Triton has another slight advantage over the Blazers it may be as simple as tournament experience. While last year's sectional championship was the first in 30-plus years for the Trojans, Marquette won its first sectional championship in school history three days ago.
Marquette coach Joe Toth was unavailable for comment.
The Blazers advanced to tommorrow night's regional championship game by defeating Whiting 67-51 in the championship game of Saturday's Michigan City Marquette Sectional.
Marquette won sectional first round and semifinal round games over Morgan Township and Kouts by a combined total of 10 points.
Said Bennett of the Blazers: "They're an athletic, quick and good shooting team. They have a great balance of scoring inside and outside. They're very aggressive defensively because they can't wait to score."
Marquette comes in averaging 59 points per contest while its defense allows 49.5 points per game.
And defense is what Bennett said he thinks will be a major key.
"I think we need to focus on the fundamentals of defense," he said. "We have to help each other out and play good defense."
The Blazers have three double figure scorers in seniors Scott Fogus and Justin Frever and junior Michael Dolezal.
Fogus leads Marquette with his 16.9 points per game average, shooting 43.4 percent from the field. He has also made 57 of the Blazers' team total of 123 three-pointers.
The 6'5" Dolezal adds 13.4 points and 7.6 rebounds per contest and has 71 of Marquette's 95 blocked shots this season.
Frever contributes 10 points and 4.2 rebounds per game and is second on the team with 57 assists. Billy Breen leads the team with 153 assists.
Senior forward Brandon Zeider enters as Triton's lone double-figure scorer at 17.8 points per contest. He's also second on the team in rebounds with an average of 5.8 per game.
After Zeider, Triton has six players averaging between 4.5 and 7.7 points per game. Junior Joey Potter averages 7.7 points and 4.9 rebounds per game, followed by Brian Klingerman (6.8 pts.), Austin Unterbrink (5.9 pts., 5.0 assists), Jake Burnett (5.7 pts.), Jim Read (5.2 pts.) and Rob Salyer (4.5 pts.).
"I've been real pleased with that," said Bennett of his team's offensive balance. "It's been different people stepping up each night. Austin Unterbrink and Brian Klingerman both scored 11 in the sectional championship game. It's been a great balance from other guys, we just haven't been able to determine who's going to help Brandon out."
The Trojans have outscore their opponents by an average of nearly seven points per game this year, and outrebounded them by an average of 10 per contest.
Tipoff is set for 7:30 p.m. Wednesday.
1999-2000 TRITON BOYS BASKETBALL STATS
(Through 23 games)
Name FG FG% 3-PT 3-PT% FT FT% PTS PPG A APG S SPG R RPG
Zeider (G) 141-279 50.5 30-76 39.5 98-121 81.0 410 17.8 69 3.0 24 1.0 134 5.8
Klingrmn (C) 74-177 41.8 0-0 --- 9-24 37.5 157 6.8 8 0.3 19 0.8 152 6.6
Read (F) 45-83 54.2 0-0 --- 25-46 54.3 115 5.2 11 0.5 8 0.4 62 2.8
Salyer (F) 41-85 48.2 3-16 18.8 18-28 64.3 103 4.5 7 0.3 16 0.7 108 4.9
Blackford (G) 24-69 34.8 7-34 20.6 18-28 64.3 73 3.3 39 1.8 14 0.6 29 1.3
Potter 69-118 58.5 0-0 --- 32-41 78.0 170 7.7 7 0.3 16 0.7 108 4.9
Unterbrink 41-104 39.4 3-15 20.0 45-55 81.8 130 5.9 111 5.0 23 1.0 49 2.2
Burnett 40-94 42.6 26-63 41.3 13-18 72.2 119 5.7 8 0.4 10 0.5 30 1.4
Triton 511-1084 47.1 69-210 32.9 284-413 68.8 1375 59.8 310 13.5 152 6.6 710 30.9
Opponents 436-1050 41.5 82-240 34.2 263-396 66.4 1217 52.9 204 8.9 126 5.5 468 20.3
*starters indicated by position
1999-2000 MICHIGAN CITY MARQUETTE BOYS BASKETBALL STATS
(Through 23 games)
Name FG FG% 3-PT 3-PT% FT FT% PTS PPG A APG S SPG R RPG
Fogus (F) 124-286 43.4 57-150 38.0 85-105 81.0 390 16.9 80 3.5 27 1.2 112 4.9
Dolzeal (C) 138-253 54.5 12-26 46.2 21-68 30.9 309 13.4 45 1.9 39 1.7 175 7.6
Frever (F) 81-217 37.3 18-76 23.7 50-72 69.4 230 10.0 57 2.5 25 1.1 96 4.2
Fletcher (G) 49-101 48.5 10-29 34.5 37-57 64.9 145 6.3 53 2.3 42 1.8 96 4.2
Breen (G) 37-92 40.2 11-35 31.4 24-45 53.3 109 4.7 153 6.6 27 1.2 26 1.1
Jaske 20-64 31.3 10-36 27.8 15-19 78.9 65 3.8 2 0.1 5 0.3 25 1.5
McDonald 22-43 51.2 0-0 0 25-35 71.4 69 3.0 6 0.3 3 0.1 38 1.7
Marquette 483-1088 44.4 123-365 33.7 269-428 62.9 1358 59.0 409 17.8 172 7.5 597 26.0
Opponents 439-1069 41.1 97-286 33.9 163-258 63.2 1138 49.5 275 11.9 136 5.9 551 24.0
*starters indicated by position
TRITON
(15-8)
*Bremen 64, Triton 60 OT
NorthWood 67, Triton 53
Triton 80, LaVille 45
*Triton 60, Elkhart Baptist 49
Plymouth 62, Triton 45
*Triton 69, Washington Township 52
Triton 50, Caston 39
Knox 69, Triton 64
Glenn 67, Triton 43
*Triton 60, CMA 48
Bethany Christian 57, Triton 56
Triton 67, Jimtown 39
*Triton 74, Rochester 66
*Triton 62, New Prairie 45
Triton 61, Argos 52
*Triton 61, North Miami 40
*Tippecanoe Valley 70, Triton 61
Knox 61, Triton 57
*Triton 57, Culver 40
Triton 62, Oregon-Davis 55
Culver Sectional
Triton 52, Argos 41
Triton 58, South Central 40
Triton 65, Oregon-Davis 46
*regular season road games
MICHIGAN CITY MARQUETTE SCORES
(18-5)
Marquette 69, Elkhart Baptist 40
*Michigan City 73, Marquette 56
Marquette 59, South Central 51
Marquette 62, River Forest 43
Marquette 69, S.B. St. Joe 60
*Marquette 63, Wheeler 53
Marquette 70, Argos 45
*Marquette 74, S.B. Christian 48
Marquette 67, LaCrosse 45
*Marquette 53, South Central 39
*Morgan Township 52, Marquette 47
*Marquette 73, Lake Station 46
Marquette 54, Westville 38
*Hammond Clark 59, Marquette 48
Marquette 47, Washington Township 41
Marquette 50, River Forest 29
Marquette 64, Oregon-Davis 51
Mishawaka Marian 63, Marquette 48
*Marquette 55, Whiting 44
*New Prairie 58, Marquette 44
Marquette Sectional
Marquette 51, Morgan Township 44
Marquette 68, Kouts 65
Marquette 67, Whiting 51
*regular season road games [[In-content Ad]]
BOURBON - Just as Triton High School's girls basketball team hosted and won the regional round of the state tournament, the boys will try and so Wednesday night.
Triton (15-8) will host 18-5 Michigan City Marquette tommorrow at 7:30 p.m. with the winner advancing to Saturday's Kokomo Class A Semistate.
A year ago Triton hosted the sectional, coming away with the school corportation's first sectional championship since 1965. That same year the Trojans won their only regional championship in the school's history.
Tuesday morning second-year Triton coach Joe Bennett was asked just how much of an advantage it is for his team to be playing at home.
"You can't put a point value on it, I wish you could," said Bennett. "It's a little easier for our crowd to watch. I just think it's an advantage being familiar with the setting and the baskets. I just think it's a slight advantage for us."
If Triton has another slight advantage over the Blazers it may be as simple as tournament experience. While last year's sectional championship was the first in 30-plus years for the Trojans, Marquette won its first sectional championship in school history three days ago.
Marquette coach Joe Toth was unavailable for comment.
The Blazers advanced to tommorrow night's regional championship game by defeating Whiting 67-51 in the championship game of Saturday's Michigan City Marquette Sectional.
Marquette won sectional first round and semifinal round games over Morgan Township and Kouts by a combined total of 10 points.
Said Bennett of the Blazers: "They're an athletic, quick and good shooting team. They have a great balance of scoring inside and outside. They're very aggressive defensively because they can't wait to score."
Marquette comes in averaging 59 points per contest while its defense allows 49.5 points per game.
And defense is what Bennett said he thinks will be a major key.
"I think we need to focus on the fundamentals of defense," he said. "We have to help each other out and play good defense."
The Blazers have three double figure scorers in seniors Scott Fogus and Justin Frever and junior Michael Dolezal.
Fogus leads Marquette with his 16.9 points per game average, shooting 43.4 percent from the field. He has also made 57 of the Blazers' team total of 123 three-pointers.
The 6'5" Dolezal adds 13.4 points and 7.6 rebounds per contest and has 71 of Marquette's 95 blocked shots this season.
Frever contributes 10 points and 4.2 rebounds per game and is second on the team with 57 assists. Billy Breen leads the team with 153 assists.
Senior forward Brandon Zeider enters as Triton's lone double-figure scorer at 17.8 points per contest. He's also second on the team in rebounds with an average of 5.8 per game.
After Zeider, Triton has six players averaging between 4.5 and 7.7 points per game. Junior Joey Potter averages 7.7 points and 4.9 rebounds per game, followed by Brian Klingerman (6.8 pts.), Austin Unterbrink (5.9 pts., 5.0 assists), Jake Burnett (5.7 pts.), Jim Read (5.2 pts.) and Rob Salyer (4.5 pts.).
"I've been real pleased with that," said Bennett of his team's offensive balance. "It's been different people stepping up each night. Austin Unterbrink and Brian Klingerman both scored 11 in the sectional championship game. It's been a great balance from other guys, we just haven't been able to determine who's going to help Brandon out."
The Trojans have outscore their opponents by an average of nearly seven points per game this year, and outrebounded them by an average of 10 per contest.
Tipoff is set for 7:30 p.m. Wednesday.
1999-2000 TRITON BOYS BASKETBALL STATS
(Through 23 games)
Name FG FG% 3-PT 3-PT% FT FT% PTS PPG A APG S SPG R RPG
Zeider (G) 141-279 50.5 30-76 39.5 98-121 81.0 410 17.8 69 3.0 24 1.0 134 5.8
Klingrmn (C) 74-177 41.8 0-0 --- 9-24 37.5 157 6.8 8 0.3 19 0.8 152 6.6
Read (F) 45-83 54.2 0-0 --- 25-46 54.3 115 5.2 11 0.5 8 0.4 62 2.8
Salyer (F) 41-85 48.2 3-16 18.8 18-28 64.3 103 4.5 7 0.3 16 0.7 108 4.9
Blackford (G) 24-69 34.8 7-34 20.6 18-28 64.3 73 3.3 39 1.8 14 0.6 29 1.3
Potter 69-118 58.5 0-0 --- 32-41 78.0 170 7.7 7 0.3 16 0.7 108 4.9
Unterbrink 41-104 39.4 3-15 20.0 45-55 81.8 130 5.9 111 5.0 23 1.0 49 2.2
Burnett 40-94 42.6 26-63 41.3 13-18 72.2 119 5.7 8 0.4 10 0.5 30 1.4
Triton 511-1084 47.1 69-210 32.9 284-413 68.8 1375 59.8 310 13.5 152 6.6 710 30.9
Opponents 436-1050 41.5 82-240 34.2 263-396 66.4 1217 52.9 204 8.9 126 5.5 468 20.3
*starters indicated by position
1999-2000 MICHIGAN CITY MARQUETTE BOYS BASKETBALL STATS
(Through 23 games)
Name FG FG% 3-PT 3-PT% FT FT% PTS PPG A APG S SPG R RPG
Fogus (F) 124-286 43.4 57-150 38.0 85-105 81.0 390 16.9 80 3.5 27 1.2 112 4.9
Dolzeal (C) 138-253 54.5 12-26 46.2 21-68 30.9 309 13.4 45 1.9 39 1.7 175 7.6
Frever (F) 81-217 37.3 18-76 23.7 50-72 69.4 230 10.0 57 2.5 25 1.1 96 4.2
Fletcher (G) 49-101 48.5 10-29 34.5 37-57 64.9 145 6.3 53 2.3 42 1.8 96 4.2
Breen (G) 37-92 40.2 11-35 31.4 24-45 53.3 109 4.7 153 6.6 27 1.2 26 1.1
Jaske 20-64 31.3 10-36 27.8 15-19 78.9 65 3.8 2 0.1 5 0.3 25 1.5
McDonald 22-43 51.2 0-0 0 25-35 71.4 69 3.0 6 0.3 3 0.1 38 1.7
Marquette 483-1088 44.4 123-365 33.7 269-428 62.9 1358 59.0 409 17.8 172 7.5 597 26.0
Opponents 439-1069 41.1 97-286 33.9 163-258 63.2 1138 49.5 275 11.9 136 5.9 551 24.0
*starters indicated by position
TRITON
(15-8)
*Bremen 64, Triton 60 OT
NorthWood 67, Triton 53
Triton 80, LaVille 45
*Triton 60, Elkhart Baptist 49
Plymouth 62, Triton 45
*Triton 69, Washington Township 52
Triton 50, Caston 39
Knox 69, Triton 64
Glenn 67, Triton 43
*Triton 60, CMA 48
Bethany Christian 57, Triton 56
Triton 67, Jimtown 39
*Triton 74, Rochester 66
*Triton 62, New Prairie 45
Triton 61, Argos 52
*Triton 61, North Miami 40
*Tippecanoe Valley 70, Triton 61
Knox 61, Triton 57
*Triton 57, Culver 40
Triton 62, Oregon-Davis 55
Culver Sectional
Triton 52, Argos 41
Triton 58, South Central 40
Triton 65, Oregon-Davis 46
*regular season road games
MICHIGAN CITY MARQUETTE SCORES
(18-5)
Marquette 69, Elkhart Baptist 40
*Michigan City 73, Marquette 56
Marquette 59, South Central 51
Marquette 62, River Forest 43
Marquette 69, S.B. St. Joe 60
*Marquette 63, Wheeler 53
Marquette 70, Argos 45
*Marquette 74, S.B. Christian 48
Marquette 67, LaCrosse 45
*Marquette 53, South Central 39
*Morgan Township 52, Marquette 47
*Marquette 73, Lake Station 46
Marquette 54, Westville 38
*Hammond Clark 59, Marquette 48
Marquette 47, Washington Township 41
Marquette 50, River Forest 29
Marquette 64, Oregon-Davis 51
Mishawaka Marian 63, Marquette 48
*Marquette 55, Whiting 44
*New Prairie 58, Marquette 44
Marquette Sectional
Marquette 51, Morgan Township 44
Marquette 68, Kouts 65
Marquette 67, Whiting 51
*regular season road games [[In-content Ad]]