Triton Tops T. Valley In OT
July 28, 2016 at 4:25 p.m.
By Anthony [email protected]
Hosting the Class 1A third-ranked Triton Trojans (18-2), the Vikings (8-10) hit just 8 of 21 free throws in a 61-59 overtime loss.[[In-content Ad]]"It's almost unbelievable that a varsity team could make eight out of 21 free throws," Valley coach Bill Patrick.
The struggle to hit a free throw was most detrimental late in the fourth quarter.
Leading 49-41 with only 1:17 to play, Valley finished regulation by missing the first of one-and-ones on three-consecutive possessions.
While Valley was missing free throws, Triton reeled off eight-straight points, including a field goal by junior Austin Davis and three-pointers by juniors Griffyn Carpenter and Jordan Everett, tying the game and forcing overtime.
"We talked about this being a mental toughness test," Triton coach Jason Groves said. "We persevered through that. There were a couple stretches where our kids kind of wanted to give in and go back to old habits, but they didn't."
If Triton hadn't persevered, the Trojans would have lost their third game in four tries after beginning the season at 15-0. Instead, they found to way to steal one.
"The kids were really focused tonight," Groves said of his team, which was embarrassed 56-38 at Rochester Tuesday. "After the Rochester game, we kind of had a heart-to-heart and kind of recommitted ourselves to things. We're just trying to get back to basic things, not Xs and Os, just with our attitude and our demeanor on the court. If you stay focused and stay positive, good things happen."
In overtime, Valley once again had Triton on the ropes with a 57-53 lead and only 45 seconds remaining.
From there, Everett connected on another three-pointer, but Valley senior Anthony Tolson found a way to make two free throws, extending the lead to 59-56 with 38 seconds left to play.
However, once again, Everett nailed a three-pointer from the same spot as he did all night, the left wing, knotting the contest at 59-59.
"He stepped up big and hit some key shots when we needed it," Groves said of Everett who hit 5 of 7 three-pointers to match freshman Clay Yeo for a team-high 15 points.
After hitting four three-pointers, one would think Everett wouldn't get any breathing room, but somehow he was left open one last time.
"We left him open a couple of times, and we told the kids, 'Watch (Everett) and (Carpenter) and stay with (Taran Holderman).'," Patrick said. "We just didn't getting out on him at all."
On Valley's ensuing possession, Everett drew a charge, handing the ball right back to Triton with 13.5 seconds to go.
In a timeout, Groves drew up a play for the team's leading scorer Carpenter, but Valley came out in a 1-3-1 zone defense, throwing a curve at the Trojans.
"We didn't expect them to switch to the 1-3-1 zone, so we had a play for Griffyn curling in the middle of the lane, but they did a good job of taking that away," Groves said.
Carpenter still took the contested shot, but his airball went perfectly to Holderman in the post, who simply laid it in and gave Triton the buzzer-beating win.
"I told Holderman, 'As soon as Griffyn gets the ball, curl to the other side of the basket and look for an offensive board.'," Groves said. "That's what he did."
The putback may have been perfect for Triton, but Patrick and his coaching staff saw their perfect defense get thwarted.
"We played good defense," Patrick said. "He misses everything (on the shot). If he hits the rim, we get the rebound. The fact that he misses everything, allows (Holderman) to put it back in."
The loss was Valley's second-straight on a buzzer-beater, falling at Bremen 46-43 on a game-ending three-pointer Tuesday.
"Tonight, I thought our kids played really hard," Patrick said. "Most of the time, we played good defense. We outrebounded them (36-29) and we didn't have many turnovers (10). It just boils down to, if we hit 50 percent from the free-throw line, we win."
Valley was led by Tolson's 17 points, followed by 12 each from sophomore Bret Cooper and senior Taylor Burkhart, but the free-throw shooting spoiled senior night.
"All we had to do was hit one free throw," Patrick said. "One free throw and the game's over."
The loss was tough for Valley, who's lost four of five following a five-game winning streak, but the outcome was one the Trojans needed gravely with the postseason one game away.
"This is what we wanted and what we needed," Groves said. "We needed this victory bad."
Triton closes its regular season Friday at home against Knox, while Valley is right back in action tonight at Southwood.
TRITON 61, T. VALLEY 59 (OT)
T 10 14 8 17 12 - 61
V 8 8 14 19 10 - 59
Triton - Griffyn Carpenter 4-18 0-0 11, Ben Montalbano 2-9 4-4 8, Austin Davis 2-3 1-3 5, Taran Holderman 2-5 0-0 5, Clay Yeo 6-8 3-4 15, Camron Garey 0-1 0-0 0, Quentyn Carpenter 0-0 0-0 0, Jordan Everett 5-7 0-0 15, Blake Lemler 1-1 0-0 2. Totals 22-52 8-11 61.
Valley - Zach Owens 3-10 4-5 10, Taylor Burkhart 6-11 0-2 12, Anthony Tolson 7-14 3-8 17, Gus Lukens 0-1 0-0 0, Jordan Littlejohn 4-6 0-1 8, Bret Cooper 4-7 1-4 12, Nick Kindig 0-0 0-1 0, Jared Gordon 0-0 0-0 0. Totals 24-49 8-21 59.
Three-point goals - Triton 9-25 (Everett 5, G. Carpenter 3, Holderman), Valley 3-11 (Cooper 3); Team Fouls (fouled out) - Triton 20 (Garey, Yeo), Valley 14; Turnovers - Triton 8, Valley 10; Rebounds - Triton 29 (Davis 9), Valley 36 (Owens 7, Lukens 7, Littlejohn 7); Assists - Triton 13 (Montalbano 10), Valley 6 (Tolson 4); Steals - Triton 4, Valley 2; Blocks - Triton 1, Valley 1; Records: Triton 18-2, Valley 8-10
JV - Triton 47, Valley 30
Triton - Zak Shively 9, Dane Kennedy 4, Marc Lindsey 4, Quentyn Carpenter 12, Seth Glingle 14, Bryson Mosier 2, Cam Lemler 2
Valley - Derrick Ferrell 9, Brandon Tolson 2, Taylor Breeden 6, Justin Gunter 3, Jared Gordon 4, Jeffrey Tillman 4, Nate Morrison 2
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Hosting the Class 1A third-ranked Triton Trojans (18-2), the Vikings (8-10) hit just 8 of 21 free throws in a 61-59 overtime loss.[[In-content Ad]]"It's almost unbelievable that a varsity team could make eight out of 21 free throws," Valley coach Bill Patrick.
The struggle to hit a free throw was most detrimental late in the fourth quarter.
Leading 49-41 with only 1:17 to play, Valley finished regulation by missing the first of one-and-ones on three-consecutive possessions.
While Valley was missing free throws, Triton reeled off eight-straight points, including a field goal by junior Austin Davis and three-pointers by juniors Griffyn Carpenter and Jordan Everett, tying the game and forcing overtime.
"We talked about this being a mental toughness test," Triton coach Jason Groves said. "We persevered through that. There were a couple stretches where our kids kind of wanted to give in and go back to old habits, but they didn't."
If Triton hadn't persevered, the Trojans would have lost their third game in four tries after beginning the season at 15-0. Instead, they found to way to steal one.
"The kids were really focused tonight," Groves said of his team, which was embarrassed 56-38 at Rochester Tuesday. "After the Rochester game, we kind of had a heart-to-heart and kind of recommitted ourselves to things. We're just trying to get back to basic things, not Xs and Os, just with our attitude and our demeanor on the court. If you stay focused and stay positive, good things happen."
In overtime, Valley once again had Triton on the ropes with a 57-53 lead and only 45 seconds remaining.
From there, Everett connected on another three-pointer, but Valley senior Anthony Tolson found a way to make two free throws, extending the lead to 59-56 with 38 seconds left to play.
However, once again, Everett nailed a three-pointer from the same spot as he did all night, the left wing, knotting the contest at 59-59.
"He stepped up big and hit some key shots when we needed it," Groves said of Everett who hit 5 of 7 three-pointers to match freshman Clay Yeo for a team-high 15 points.
After hitting four three-pointers, one would think Everett wouldn't get any breathing room, but somehow he was left open one last time.
"We left him open a couple of times, and we told the kids, 'Watch (Everett) and (Carpenter) and stay with (Taran Holderman).'," Patrick said. "We just didn't getting out on him at all."
On Valley's ensuing possession, Everett drew a charge, handing the ball right back to Triton with 13.5 seconds to go.
In a timeout, Groves drew up a play for the team's leading scorer Carpenter, but Valley came out in a 1-3-1 zone defense, throwing a curve at the Trojans.
"We didn't expect them to switch to the 1-3-1 zone, so we had a play for Griffyn curling in the middle of the lane, but they did a good job of taking that away," Groves said.
Carpenter still took the contested shot, but his airball went perfectly to Holderman in the post, who simply laid it in and gave Triton the buzzer-beating win.
"I told Holderman, 'As soon as Griffyn gets the ball, curl to the other side of the basket and look for an offensive board.'," Groves said. "That's what he did."
The putback may have been perfect for Triton, but Patrick and his coaching staff saw their perfect defense get thwarted.
"We played good defense," Patrick said. "He misses everything (on the shot). If he hits the rim, we get the rebound. The fact that he misses everything, allows (Holderman) to put it back in."
The loss was Valley's second-straight on a buzzer-beater, falling at Bremen 46-43 on a game-ending three-pointer Tuesday.
"Tonight, I thought our kids played really hard," Patrick said. "Most of the time, we played good defense. We outrebounded them (36-29) and we didn't have many turnovers (10). It just boils down to, if we hit 50 percent from the free-throw line, we win."
Valley was led by Tolson's 17 points, followed by 12 each from sophomore Bret Cooper and senior Taylor Burkhart, but the free-throw shooting spoiled senior night.
"All we had to do was hit one free throw," Patrick said. "One free throw and the game's over."
The loss was tough for Valley, who's lost four of five following a five-game winning streak, but the outcome was one the Trojans needed gravely with the postseason one game away.
"This is what we wanted and what we needed," Groves said. "We needed this victory bad."
Triton closes its regular season Friday at home against Knox, while Valley is right back in action tonight at Southwood.
TRITON 61, T. VALLEY 59 (OT)
T 10 14 8 17 12 - 61
V 8 8 14 19 10 - 59
Triton - Griffyn Carpenter 4-18 0-0 11, Ben Montalbano 2-9 4-4 8, Austin Davis 2-3 1-3 5, Taran Holderman 2-5 0-0 5, Clay Yeo 6-8 3-4 15, Camron Garey 0-1 0-0 0, Quentyn Carpenter 0-0 0-0 0, Jordan Everett 5-7 0-0 15, Blake Lemler 1-1 0-0 2. Totals 22-52 8-11 61.
Valley - Zach Owens 3-10 4-5 10, Taylor Burkhart 6-11 0-2 12, Anthony Tolson 7-14 3-8 17, Gus Lukens 0-1 0-0 0, Jordan Littlejohn 4-6 0-1 8, Bret Cooper 4-7 1-4 12, Nick Kindig 0-0 0-1 0, Jared Gordon 0-0 0-0 0. Totals 24-49 8-21 59.
Three-point goals - Triton 9-25 (Everett 5, G. Carpenter 3, Holderman), Valley 3-11 (Cooper 3); Team Fouls (fouled out) - Triton 20 (Garey, Yeo), Valley 14; Turnovers - Triton 8, Valley 10; Rebounds - Triton 29 (Davis 9), Valley 36 (Owens 7, Lukens 7, Littlejohn 7); Assists - Triton 13 (Montalbano 10), Valley 6 (Tolson 4); Steals - Triton 4, Valley 2; Blocks - Triton 1, Valley 1; Records: Triton 18-2, Valley 8-10
JV - Triton 47, Valley 30
Triton - Zak Shively 9, Dane Kennedy 4, Marc Lindsey 4, Quentyn Carpenter 12, Seth Glingle 14, Bryson Mosier 2, Cam Lemler 2
Valley - Derrick Ferrell 9, Brandon Tolson 2, Taylor Breeden 6, Justin Gunter 3, Jared Gordon 4, Jeffrey Tillman 4, Nate Morrison 2
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