Triton Regional Hosts Top Class A Team
July 28, 2016 at 4:25 p.m.
By Daniel [email protected]
That's what Saturday's Class 1A Triton Regional has in store for those heading to the Trojan Trench.
In the first game of the day, the host No. 3 Trojans (21-2) take on Bethany Christian (15-8) at 10 a.m. In the second game of the day, Caston tries to extend its improbable playoff run against No. 2 Bowman Academy with its roster of potential D-1 prospects at noon.
The championship is scheduled for 7:30 p.m.
Triton enters the regional as the defending 1A champs and looks to keep its hopes alive with a three-pronged scoring attack and tenacious defense.
Senior Colton Keel, a senior forward who will matriculate at Bethel College this fall on a basketball scholarship, paces the Trojans with 16.9 points per game to go along with 8.1 rebounds, but coach Jason Groves is looking for everyone to step up.
"It's going to have to be a team effort," he said about his team, which defeated Bethany Christian 62-52 on Jan. 24 in Goshen. "All the guys are going to have to be on top of their games. (Junior) Ben Montalbano will be important at point guard, because Bethany Christian's press gave us some trouble in our earlier meeting."
In pursuit of another deep postseason run, Keel is the only starting holdover from last year's title team that featured Jake Everett, A.J. Harrison and Troy McIntyre.
But Triton, who in the early 2000s was known for its dominant girls basketball program, didn't rebuild.
They reloaded.
Sophomore sharp-shooter Griffyn Carpenter is hitting 41.7 percent of his three-point attempts and averages 15.6 points per game.
His game-high 19 points led the Trojans as they held off a scrappy Argos squad 48-39 to win the sectional Saturday night.
Also stepping into a starting role is Joel Meister who scores 13.7 points per game and gets 2.3 steals a contest.
Montalbano leads the team with 5.8 assists per game.
Saturday's contest will give Bethany Christian it's second shot at the Trojans, which makes Groves a bit nervous.
"We had one good quarter, and Bethany Christian had one bad one," Groves said about the win in late January. "Outside of that, we were pretty even, and I'm sure they think that too. They're big, disciplined and play good defense."
Triton looked unbeatable to start the season as they jumped out to a 15-0 start before a surprising home loss to Bremen 45-42 in overtime. Five nights later they fell to 3A power Rochester 70-64.
The Trojans rounded back into their old form with two 30-plus-point victories to open sectional play.
Triton manhandled Westville 68-36 then took down Oregon-Davis 66-36 before holding off Argos.
Bethany Christian earned a spot in the regional with wins over Fort Wayne Keystone, Fort Wayne Canterbury and Lakewood Park.
Bethany Christian has won two regionals in its schools history with the last coming in 2002.
Should Triton beat Bethany Christian for the second time this season, they will await the winner of Bowman Academy and Caston.
"We'll worry about that when we get there," Groves said of playing in the regional championship. "I know Bowman looks like an all-star team. It should be interesting to see, but we can't look past the first game. We need to take care of business."
Caston (4-19) had won just one game before rolling off three straight victories to claim their first sectional title since 2003 and just their sixth in school history.
"I don't think people understand what we've been through this season," said Caston coach Andy Firth.
Firth said injuries decimated his team earlier in the year but that his team is now hitting its stride.
Ethan Zartman has led Caston during the tournament as he scored 20 points against Pioneer and 11 against Tri-County hitting the winning shot in both games.
Caston is led in scoring by junior forward Wes Rigney who averages 16 points per game to go along with seven rebounds and 4 blocks per game.
Other players to watch for Caston are Alex Hurd, Trevor Hoover and Sam James.
The Comets will have the Herculean task of taking down a talented Bowman Academy squad.
The Eagles (18-3) are led by freshman phenom DeJuan Marrero.
One of Bowman's loses this season, a 89-63 win at the time against LaPorte LaLumiere, was later forfeited.
Marrero, a 6-foot-5 guard/forward combo is considered by many scouting Web sites to be one of the top freshmen in the country and he's already holding offers from several D-1 schools including Illinois.
Marrero scored 30 points in Bowman Academy's final regular season game against Indianapolis Metropolitan.
Marerro has also registered a couple of triple doubles this season.
Bowman advanced to the regional with a 86-43 win over Whiting and a 82-66 win over Morgan Township.
Bowman Academy is averaging 73.3 points per game, but Firth hopes to cut down on the number of possessions with a "patiently deliberate" style of play.
Bowman Academy is playing in its first full varsity season. The charter school out of Gary has been open for six years and last season the basketball team played a junior varsity schedule without a postseason.
Calls left for Bethany Christian coach Jim Buller and Bowman Academy coach Marvin Rea were not returned as of this morning.
Doors at Triton High School open at 9 a.m. Saturday.[[In-content Ad]]
That's what Saturday's Class 1A Triton Regional has in store for those heading to the Trojan Trench.
In the first game of the day, the host No. 3 Trojans (21-2) take on Bethany Christian (15-8) at 10 a.m. In the second game of the day, Caston tries to extend its improbable playoff run against No. 2 Bowman Academy with its roster of potential D-1 prospects at noon.
The championship is scheduled for 7:30 p.m.
Triton enters the regional as the defending 1A champs and looks to keep its hopes alive with a three-pronged scoring attack and tenacious defense.
Senior Colton Keel, a senior forward who will matriculate at Bethel College this fall on a basketball scholarship, paces the Trojans with 16.9 points per game to go along with 8.1 rebounds, but coach Jason Groves is looking for everyone to step up.
"It's going to have to be a team effort," he said about his team, which defeated Bethany Christian 62-52 on Jan. 24 in Goshen. "All the guys are going to have to be on top of their games. (Junior) Ben Montalbano will be important at point guard, because Bethany Christian's press gave us some trouble in our earlier meeting."
In pursuit of another deep postseason run, Keel is the only starting holdover from last year's title team that featured Jake Everett, A.J. Harrison and Troy McIntyre.
But Triton, who in the early 2000s was known for its dominant girls basketball program, didn't rebuild.
They reloaded.
Sophomore sharp-shooter Griffyn Carpenter is hitting 41.7 percent of his three-point attempts and averages 15.6 points per game.
His game-high 19 points led the Trojans as they held off a scrappy Argos squad 48-39 to win the sectional Saturday night.
Also stepping into a starting role is Joel Meister who scores 13.7 points per game and gets 2.3 steals a contest.
Montalbano leads the team with 5.8 assists per game.
Saturday's contest will give Bethany Christian it's second shot at the Trojans, which makes Groves a bit nervous.
"We had one good quarter, and Bethany Christian had one bad one," Groves said about the win in late January. "Outside of that, we were pretty even, and I'm sure they think that too. They're big, disciplined and play good defense."
Triton looked unbeatable to start the season as they jumped out to a 15-0 start before a surprising home loss to Bremen 45-42 in overtime. Five nights later they fell to 3A power Rochester 70-64.
The Trojans rounded back into their old form with two 30-plus-point victories to open sectional play.
Triton manhandled Westville 68-36 then took down Oregon-Davis 66-36 before holding off Argos.
Bethany Christian earned a spot in the regional with wins over Fort Wayne Keystone, Fort Wayne Canterbury and Lakewood Park.
Bethany Christian has won two regionals in its schools history with the last coming in 2002.
Should Triton beat Bethany Christian for the second time this season, they will await the winner of Bowman Academy and Caston.
"We'll worry about that when we get there," Groves said of playing in the regional championship. "I know Bowman looks like an all-star team. It should be interesting to see, but we can't look past the first game. We need to take care of business."
Caston (4-19) had won just one game before rolling off three straight victories to claim their first sectional title since 2003 and just their sixth in school history.
"I don't think people understand what we've been through this season," said Caston coach Andy Firth.
Firth said injuries decimated his team earlier in the year but that his team is now hitting its stride.
Ethan Zartman has led Caston during the tournament as he scored 20 points against Pioneer and 11 against Tri-County hitting the winning shot in both games.
Caston is led in scoring by junior forward Wes Rigney who averages 16 points per game to go along with seven rebounds and 4 blocks per game.
Other players to watch for Caston are Alex Hurd, Trevor Hoover and Sam James.
The Comets will have the Herculean task of taking down a talented Bowman Academy squad.
The Eagles (18-3) are led by freshman phenom DeJuan Marrero.
One of Bowman's loses this season, a 89-63 win at the time against LaPorte LaLumiere, was later forfeited.
Marrero, a 6-foot-5 guard/forward combo is considered by many scouting Web sites to be one of the top freshmen in the country and he's already holding offers from several D-1 schools including Illinois.
Marrero scored 30 points in Bowman Academy's final regular season game against Indianapolis Metropolitan.
Marerro has also registered a couple of triple doubles this season.
Bowman advanced to the regional with a 86-43 win over Whiting and a 82-66 win over Morgan Township.
Bowman Academy is averaging 73.3 points per game, but Firth hopes to cut down on the number of possessions with a "patiently deliberate" style of play.
Bowman Academy is playing in its first full varsity season. The charter school out of Gary has been open for six years and last season the basketball team played a junior varsity schedule without a postseason.
Calls left for Bethany Christian coach Jim Buller and Bowman Academy coach Marvin Rea were not returned as of this morning.
Doors at Triton High School open at 9 a.m. Saturday.[[In-content Ad]]
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