Triton To Face Familiar Tourney Foe
July 28, 2016 at 4:25 p.m.
By Anthony [email protected]
In the 4 p.m. game of Saturday’s boys basketball semistate at Lafayette Jefferson High School, the Trojans (19-5) will take on the No. 6 Lafayette Central Catholic Knights (18-8), followed by the Class 4A contest between No. 1 Carmel (23-2) and Merrillville (22-3).
The last time Triton was at the semistate, the Trojans defeated Rockville iin 2011. Their two previous semistate meetings with LCC resulted in wins in 2008 and 2009.
“The last two times we were there, we faced Triton and they beat us,” LCC coach David Barrett said. “So, we’re familiar with them and excited to have the opportunity to face them again.”
LCC’s last appearance in the semistate was 2009, when it fell 50-47 to Triton, who lost 66-55 a week later to Jac-Cen-Del in the state finals.
Since that loss to Triton, LCC has gone 70-29, winning four sectionals before claiming the regional title a week ago by knocking off No. 1 Rockville 65-55 in the semifinals and then beating Liberty Christian 77-68 in the title tilt at Frankfort.
Helping the Knights get over the regional hump this year has been a very balanced squad.
For LCC, 6-foot-3 senior forward Andrew Hubertz is leading the scoring attack with 14.5 points per game, followed closely by 6-0 senior guard Jake Churchill’s 14.2 points and 5-11 senior guard Tommy Mills’ 11.1 points.
“What’s kind of scary about them is their balance,” Triton coach Jason Groves said. “They’re all very skilled, they’re all very athletic and quick. They shoot the ball extremely well, they pass the ball really well. They play defense, they’re really disciplined. They’re a pretty scary team. It’s not just one person in particular. They have some good, skilled players.”
Along with leading the team in scoring, Hubertz also leads the Knights with 5.7 rebounds per game, while 6-6 junior center Nick Thompson is averaging 2.7 points and 1.3 rebounds per game.
“We're more guard-oriented,” Barrett said. “We shoot a lot of jump shots. Our bigs are more of defensive stopper-type guys and rebounders.”
For a team that shoots 34.5 percent from beyond the arc, with six different players having made at least seven treys this season, Triton’s defense can’t concentrate on any one player.
“I’d say they have eight or nine different players that are capable of scoring 15 points in a game,” Groves said.
“It’s not going to be one-on-one matchups,” he added. “We just have to play good solid all-around team defense. Be able to rotate, close out, contest and contain.”
Unlike LCC, Triton does have one go-to player in 6-6 senior guard Clay Yeo.
Entering the semistate with 1,950 career points, Yeo is just 50 points shy of becoming the state’s 42nd player to net 2,000.
“Looking at him on tape, he looks like an outstanding basketball player,” Barrett said. “Hard to guard, because he knows how to score.”
On the year, Yeo’s leading Triton with 26.7 points, 7.9 rebounds, 3.0 assists, 1.9 steals and 1.9 blocks per game.
As a leader in every one of Triton’s categories, including his 56.7 field goal percentage and 32.6-percent shooting from behind the arc, Yeo will certainly draw the attention of the LCC defense.
“He’s certainly going to be the focal point,” Barrett said of Yeo, who will be playing for the Valparaiso University Crusaders at this time next year. “We know we need to slow him down. At least if we can slow him down, we feel like we have a good opportunity to win. But we can’t just ignore everyone else and let someone else hurt us."
That kind of attention to his star player isn’t necessarily something Groves is opposed to.
“Obviously, they’re going to make an effort to take him away, but I think that’s a reason why we’ve had success lately,” he said. “We’ve had other guys stepping up. We’ve gotten more scoring out of (6-1 junior guard Tanner) Shepherd, (6-4 senior center Seth) Glingle, (6-3 sophomore guard Joey) Corder and (6-1 sophomore guard Skyler) Reichert. Guys like that have been able to step up and knock down shots. Clay does a lot for us, but he’s definitely not the only option for us.”
Shepherd is Triton’s second-leading scorer with 11.4 points per game and 3.5 rebounds, while Glingle’s averaging 4.3 points and 5.0 rebounds per game.
No matter if a team’s been led by a balanced attack or by a ‘go-to player’, both are just one game away from a trip to Bankers Life Fieldhouse and a shot at a Class 1A state title.
And this deep into the postseason, not many people would have predicted these two teams would be at the semistate.
For Triton, eighth-ranked Michigan City Marquette was favored in their sectional, and at the regional, it was fourth-ranked Pioneer that was supposed to prevail.
The Knights were supposed to bow out at the regional level four the fourth-straight year, but instead, they upset top-ranked Rockville in the semis, then defeated Liberty Christian in the championship game.
“It says something about Triton and our strength of schedule,” Barrett said. “We both play really good schedules. We’re going to take some lumps during the season, but we know that prepares ourselves for the tournament. We may look like underdogs because of our records, but both are quality teams. Both teams have had success in the past and know how to win and here we are again.”
Triton enters the semistate as winners of 11-straight games, while LCC has won 10 in a row.
Of LCC’s eight losses, two have been against Class 3A West Lafayette (19-6), as well as 4A McCutcheon (15-9), 2A Delphi (19-6), 4A Harrison (10-11), 2A No. 2 Tipton (25-2), 4A No. 7 Cathedral (24-5) and 3A No. 3 Andrean (22-3).
Of those losses, Cathedral, Andrean and Tipton are playing for trips to the state finals Saturday.
“One thing we take pride in, and I’m sure LCC does too, is our strength of schedule,” Groves said. “We play a pretty tough schedule, and obviously, they play one of the toughest 1A schedules, if not the toughest. We take pride in that and know it prepares us for the postseason.”
And even though LCC will be playing down the street from its school, Triton has won three of the four times its traveled to the Lafayette Jefferson Semistate.
“It's always nice, but it hasn’t helped us in the past as they’ve come down here and beaten us,” Barrett said of playing the semistate in Lafayette. “I don't think it bothers them too much.”[[In-content Ad]]
In the 4 p.m. game of Saturday’s boys basketball semistate at Lafayette Jefferson High School, the Trojans (19-5) will take on the No. 6 Lafayette Central Catholic Knights (18-8), followed by the Class 4A contest between No. 1 Carmel (23-2) and Merrillville (22-3).
The last time Triton was at the semistate, the Trojans defeated Rockville iin 2011. Their two previous semistate meetings with LCC resulted in wins in 2008 and 2009.
“The last two times we were there, we faced Triton and they beat us,” LCC coach David Barrett said. “So, we’re familiar with them and excited to have the opportunity to face them again.”
LCC’s last appearance in the semistate was 2009, when it fell 50-47 to Triton, who lost 66-55 a week later to Jac-Cen-Del in the state finals.
Since that loss to Triton, LCC has gone 70-29, winning four sectionals before claiming the regional title a week ago by knocking off No. 1 Rockville 65-55 in the semifinals and then beating Liberty Christian 77-68 in the title tilt at Frankfort.
Helping the Knights get over the regional hump this year has been a very balanced squad.
For LCC, 6-foot-3 senior forward Andrew Hubertz is leading the scoring attack with 14.5 points per game, followed closely by 6-0 senior guard Jake Churchill’s 14.2 points and 5-11 senior guard Tommy Mills’ 11.1 points.
“What’s kind of scary about them is their balance,” Triton coach Jason Groves said. “They’re all very skilled, they’re all very athletic and quick. They shoot the ball extremely well, they pass the ball really well. They play defense, they’re really disciplined. They’re a pretty scary team. It’s not just one person in particular. They have some good, skilled players.”
Along with leading the team in scoring, Hubertz also leads the Knights with 5.7 rebounds per game, while 6-6 junior center Nick Thompson is averaging 2.7 points and 1.3 rebounds per game.
“We're more guard-oriented,” Barrett said. “We shoot a lot of jump shots. Our bigs are more of defensive stopper-type guys and rebounders.”
For a team that shoots 34.5 percent from beyond the arc, with six different players having made at least seven treys this season, Triton’s defense can’t concentrate on any one player.
“I’d say they have eight or nine different players that are capable of scoring 15 points in a game,” Groves said.
“It’s not going to be one-on-one matchups,” he added. “We just have to play good solid all-around team defense. Be able to rotate, close out, contest and contain.”
Unlike LCC, Triton does have one go-to player in 6-6 senior guard Clay Yeo.
Entering the semistate with 1,950 career points, Yeo is just 50 points shy of becoming the state’s 42nd player to net 2,000.
“Looking at him on tape, he looks like an outstanding basketball player,” Barrett said. “Hard to guard, because he knows how to score.”
On the year, Yeo’s leading Triton with 26.7 points, 7.9 rebounds, 3.0 assists, 1.9 steals and 1.9 blocks per game.
As a leader in every one of Triton’s categories, including his 56.7 field goal percentage and 32.6-percent shooting from behind the arc, Yeo will certainly draw the attention of the LCC defense.
“He’s certainly going to be the focal point,” Barrett said of Yeo, who will be playing for the Valparaiso University Crusaders at this time next year. “We know we need to slow him down. At least if we can slow him down, we feel like we have a good opportunity to win. But we can’t just ignore everyone else and let someone else hurt us."
That kind of attention to his star player isn’t necessarily something Groves is opposed to.
“Obviously, they’re going to make an effort to take him away, but I think that’s a reason why we’ve had success lately,” he said. “We’ve had other guys stepping up. We’ve gotten more scoring out of (6-1 junior guard Tanner) Shepherd, (6-4 senior center Seth) Glingle, (6-3 sophomore guard Joey) Corder and (6-1 sophomore guard Skyler) Reichert. Guys like that have been able to step up and knock down shots. Clay does a lot for us, but he’s definitely not the only option for us.”
Shepherd is Triton’s second-leading scorer with 11.4 points per game and 3.5 rebounds, while Glingle’s averaging 4.3 points and 5.0 rebounds per game.
No matter if a team’s been led by a balanced attack or by a ‘go-to player’, both are just one game away from a trip to Bankers Life Fieldhouse and a shot at a Class 1A state title.
And this deep into the postseason, not many people would have predicted these two teams would be at the semistate.
For Triton, eighth-ranked Michigan City Marquette was favored in their sectional, and at the regional, it was fourth-ranked Pioneer that was supposed to prevail.
The Knights were supposed to bow out at the regional level four the fourth-straight year, but instead, they upset top-ranked Rockville in the semis, then defeated Liberty Christian in the championship game.
“It says something about Triton and our strength of schedule,” Barrett said. “We both play really good schedules. We’re going to take some lumps during the season, but we know that prepares ourselves for the tournament. We may look like underdogs because of our records, but both are quality teams. Both teams have had success in the past and know how to win and here we are again.”
Triton enters the semistate as winners of 11-straight games, while LCC has won 10 in a row.
Of LCC’s eight losses, two have been against Class 3A West Lafayette (19-6), as well as 4A McCutcheon (15-9), 2A Delphi (19-6), 4A Harrison (10-11), 2A No. 2 Tipton (25-2), 4A No. 7 Cathedral (24-5) and 3A No. 3 Andrean (22-3).
Of those losses, Cathedral, Andrean and Tipton are playing for trips to the state finals Saturday.
“One thing we take pride in, and I’m sure LCC does too, is our strength of schedule,” Groves said. “We play a pretty tough schedule, and obviously, they play one of the toughest 1A schedules, if not the toughest. We take pride in that and know it prepares us for the postseason.”
And even though LCC will be playing down the street from its school, Triton has won three of the four times its traveled to the Lafayette Jefferson Semistate.
“It's always nice, but it hasn’t helped us in the past as they’ve come down here and beaten us,” Barrett said of playing the semistate in Lafayette. “I don't think it bothers them too much.”[[In-content Ad]]
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