Triton Trojans Embracing Team Concept
July 28, 2016 at 4:25 p.m.
By Anthony [email protected]
Ever since winning the school’s lone state title, Triton coach Jason Groves has had a go-to guy on the team, starting with 2009-graduate Colton Keel, then 2011-graduate Griffyn Carpenter, who’s 1,327 points were a school record until 2013-graduate Clay Yeo snapped that with his Marshall County-record of 1,992 points.
With Yeo now playing at Valparaiso University, Groves returns some talent and experience, but in that one player, he lost 27.3 points, 7.9 rebounds and 2.8 assists per game.
“The kids realize that now that Clay’s gone, it’s their time to step up,” Groves said. “They’re going to have to step up and we’re going to need to get contributions from everybody. They’ve really taken that to heart.
“(With Yeo), you know you can get the ball to him and he’s going to make something happen,” he added. “Now, it’s going to take a little more strategy, just putting our players in good positions to win basketball games.”
Yeo, the 2012-13 Times-Union Player of the Year, led the Trojans to a 20-6 mark that ended with a 55-50 loss to Borden in the state championship game last season.
As much as Yeo did for the team, he didn’t do it alone, but starting center Seth Glingle graduated and senior forward Cody Shively is now a student at Mishawaka High School.
“You look at (Yeo), Cody Shively, Seth Glingle – with those three, they’re probably our strongest, most athletic, better defenders,” Groves, who also lost reserves reserves Drew Mosson, Bryson Mosier and Trenton Cooper, said. “We’re trying to replace quite a bit here. We’ll have to have other kids step up, not just on offense, but on defense too.”
With so many key players gone, the obvious player to step up as the leader of the Trojans is Tanner Shepherd.
As a junior, the 6-foot-1 Shepherd averaged 11.7 points and 3.8 rebounds a game, but has had spells of great play followed by subpar play.
This season, he won’t have that luxury if the Trojans are going to have success and capture its fourth-straight Northern State Conference, and its fifth in six years.
“The first thing out of my mouth to him during our individual meetings were, ‘You need to be more consistent,’” Groves said. “He has to be consistent night in and night out. Not just offensively, but just mental focus in the game and defensively as well. I’m going to ask him to do a lot more for us this year.”
Triton’s other returning starter is junior Joey Corder, a 6-4, point guard.
Stepping into the point guard role last season, Corder eventually found his groove, averaging 3.1 points, 2.9 rebounds and 1.9 assists per game.
“He reminds me a little bit of Clay,” Groves said of Corder. “He can do a little bit of everything. He can go inside, go outside. He can defend. He’s definitely a very versatile kid. The same message I had for him is the same I had for Tanner, which was to be more consistent.”
Senior post players Bryce Wanemacher and Dillon Meadway also return with some varsity experience, but it will be ramped up quite a bit.
“(Meadway) didn’t play a whole lot, but he’s really athletic,” Groves said. “He’s not as strong as Glingle, but he jumps extremely well.
“With Bryce, he’s physically strong, so we’re going to be asking those two to defend,” he added. “Sophomore Mason Yeo may need to as well. He’s got the ability, it just needs to click for him.”
In the backcourt, senior Darren Harrell and junior Skyler Reichert have proven they can shoot, but it’s their defense that will need to pick up if Groves is going to keep them on the floor for long periods of time.
“Those guys are two of the better shooters in our program,” Groves said. “They shoot the ball extremely well, so they’re definitely going to be asked to contribute offensively. For those two, defensively, they’ve got to get better. That’s all there is to it. They’ve got to step up and be able to defend.”
Another potential deep threat for the Trojans is sophomore Jordan Anderson, who’s early play has taken Groves by surprise.
“Coming into the season, I wasn’t sure what his role would be, but his work ethic has been phenomenal,” Groves said of Anderson, who scored two varsity points as a freshman. “He’s working his tail off. You can tell basketball means something to this kid, because he really got better over the summer.
“He’s definitely playing himself into the lineup,” Groves added.
Another player who will see minutes this year is one that didn’t play at all last year.
After catching Groves’ attention as a freshman, 6-3 junior Austin Sellers sat out last year, but has come back.
“He was one of our better freshmen that year and decided not to play last year,” Groves said. “I’m really excited he decided to play this year, because he does a little bit of everything. He’s a really good player. He’s athletic, he’s smart, he’s crafty. He’s a good kid and I’ve been really impressed with him here in the preseason.”
The rest of the Triton varsity team is filled out by juniors Landon Kaufman, Blake Johnson and Spencer Glingle.
The Trojans have won at least 20 games each of the past six seasons, and while some may believe they’ll have a bit of a drop this year without Yeo, Groves is very confident in the guys he’ll put on the floor.
“Last year, it seemed like (Yeo) was everything for us,” he said. “At the same time, we have a lot of good kids returning. I’m really excited about the ones we have back. They’re multi-talented. We’re not going to be, maybe, as big or strong, but we’re maybe a little bit quicker and can shoot a little bit better. I really like what we’ve got coming back.
“With this group, we have enough balance and enough guys that are capable of doing things, that it’s not just going to be put on the shoulders of one person,” he added.
Triton’s season begins Wednesday at home against Oregon Davis, then picks up with home games against Plymouth (Dec. 3) and NorthWood (Dec. 6).
While five of its first six games will be played at home, the Trojans may not have a home game between its Dec. 17 game against Bethany Christian and its Jan. 31 contest against Jimtown if they don’t host a TCU Bi-County game.
“It’s just something you need to deal with,” Groves said. “We don’t have much control over that. We’ll take it as it is.”
During a stretch of guaranteed five-straight road games will be NSC affairs at New Prairie (Dec. 20), John Glenn (Jan. 11) and Culver (Jan. 17), contests that will mean a lot if the Trojans are to make it four-straight NSC crowns, having shared it with LaVille last season.
However, winning the fourth will be difficult with a lot of returning players back this year in the conference
“The first one you have to look at is John Glenn, because they have the most returning,” Groves said of his alma mater, which finished 3-4 in the NSC last season. “I think they lost one senior and they really came on at the end of last year, winning the bi-county. Then, LaVille’s going to be strong. They have (Blake) Berger back and with coach (Michael) Edison’s system there, they’re going to be solid. Culver as well. I think they have, probably, the best kid in the conference in (Trent) Elliott. I would say those three would be the ones I’d look at (to contend for the NSC crown). It should be an interesting conference.”
Without a superior scorer, the Trojans will be returning to its championship roots to retain its NSC superiority, if not more.
“I was talking to someone the other day about that, about how we don’t have that one dominating player,” Groves said. “The first time we won state, we didn’t have one dominating player, but we did have three or four that were really good. After they graduated, we had Colton Keel, then Griffyn Carpenter and Clay Yeo. We’ve always had that one guy we could always count on to get baskets. This year, it’s all about the team.”[[In-content Ad]]
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Ever since winning the school’s lone state title, Triton coach Jason Groves has had a go-to guy on the team, starting with 2009-graduate Colton Keel, then 2011-graduate Griffyn Carpenter, who’s 1,327 points were a school record until 2013-graduate Clay Yeo snapped that with his Marshall County-record of 1,992 points.
With Yeo now playing at Valparaiso University, Groves returns some talent and experience, but in that one player, he lost 27.3 points, 7.9 rebounds and 2.8 assists per game.
“The kids realize that now that Clay’s gone, it’s their time to step up,” Groves said. “They’re going to have to step up and we’re going to need to get contributions from everybody. They’ve really taken that to heart.
“(With Yeo), you know you can get the ball to him and he’s going to make something happen,” he added. “Now, it’s going to take a little more strategy, just putting our players in good positions to win basketball games.”
Yeo, the 2012-13 Times-Union Player of the Year, led the Trojans to a 20-6 mark that ended with a 55-50 loss to Borden in the state championship game last season.
As much as Yeo did for the team, he didn’t do it alone, but starting center Seth Glingle graduated and senior forward Cody Shively is now a student at Mishawaka High School.
“You look at (Yeo), Cody Shively, Seth Glingle – with those three, they’re probably our strongest, most athletic, better defenders,” Groves, who also lost reserves reserves Drew Mosson, Bryson Mosier and Trenton Cooper, said. “We’re trying to replace quite a bit here. We’ll have to have other kids step up, not just on offense, but on defense too.”
With so many key players gone, the obvious player to step up as the leader of the Trojans is Tanner Shepherd.
As a junior, the 6-foot-1 Shepherd averaged 11.7 points and 3.8 rebounds a game, but has had spells of great play followed by subpar play.
This season, he won’t have that luxury if the Trojans are going to have success and capture its fourth-straight Northern State Conference, and its fifth in six years.
“The first thing out of my mouth to him during our individual meetings were, ‘You need to be more consistent,’” Groves said. “He has to be consistent night in and night out. Not just offensively, but just mental focus in the game and defensively as well. I’m going to ask him to do a lot more for us this year.”
Triton’s other returning starter is junior Joey Corder, a 6-4, point guard.
Stepping into the point guard role last season, Corder eventually found his groove, averaging 3.1 points, 2.9 rebounds and 1.9 assists per game.
“He reminds me a little bit of Clay,” Groves said of Corder. “He can do a little bit of everything. He can go inside, go outside. He can defend. He’s definitely a very versatile kid. The same message I had for him is the same I had for Tanner, which was to be more consistent.”
Senior post players Bryce Wanemacher and Dillon Meadway also return with some varsity experience, but it will be ramped up quite a bit.
“(Meadway) didn’t play a whole lot, but he’s really athletic,” Groves said. “He’s not as strong as Glingle, but he jumps extremely well.
“With Bryce, he’s physically strong, so we’re going to be asking those two to defend,” he added. “Sophomore Mason Yeo may need to as well. He’s got the ability, it just needs to click for him.”
In the backcourt, senior Darren Harrell and junior Skyler Reichert have proven they can shoot, but it’s their defense that will need to pick up if Groves is going to keep them on the floor for long periods of time.
“Those guys are two of the better shooters in our program,” Groves said. “They shoot the ball extremely well, so they’re definitely going to be asked to contribute offensively. For those two, defensively, they’ve got to get better. That’s all there is to it. They’ve got to step up and be able to defend.”
Another potential deep threat for the Trojans is sophomore Jordan Anderson, who’s early play has taken Groves by surprise.
“Coming into the season, I wasn’t sure what his role would be, but his work ethic has been phenomenal,” Groves said of Anderson, who scored two varsity points as a freshman. “He’s working his tail off. You can tell basketball means something to this kid, because he really got better over the summer.
“He’s definitely playing himself into the lineup,” Groves added.
Another player who will see minutes this year is one that didn’t play at all last year.
After catching Groves’ attention as a freshman, 6-3 junior Austin Sellers sat out last year, but has come back.
“He was one of our better freshmen that year and decided not to play last year,” Groves said. “I’m really excited he decided to play this year, because he does a little bit of everything. He’s a really good player. He’s athletic, he’s smart, he’s crafty. He’s a good kid and I’ve been really impressed with him here in the preseason.”
The rest of the Triton varsity team is filled out by juniors Landon Kaufman, Blake Johnson and Spencer Glingle.
The Trojans have won at least 20 games each of the past six seasons, and while some may believe they’ll have a bit of a drop this year without Yeo, Groves is very confident in the guys he’ll put on the floor.
“Last year, it seemed like (Yeo) was everything for us,” he said. “At the same time, we have a lot of good kids returning. I’m really excited about the ones we have back. They’re multi-talented. We’re not going to be, maybe, as big or strong, but we’re maybe a little bit quicker and can shoot a little bit better. I really like what we’ve got coming back.
“With this group, we have enough balance and enough guys that are capable of doing things, that it’s not just going to be put on the shoulders of one person,” he added.
Triton’s season begins Wednesday at home against Oregon Davis, then picks up with home games against Plymouth (Dec. 3) and NorthWood (Dec. 6).
While five of its first six games will be played at home, the Trojans may not have a home game between its Dec. 17 game against Bethany Christian and its Jan. 31 contest against Jimtown if they don’t host a TCU Bi-County game.
“It’s just something you need to deal with,” Groves said. “We don’t have much control over that. We’ll take it as it is.”
During a stretch of guaranteed five-straight road games will be NSC affairs at New Prairie (Dec. 20), John Glenn (Jan. 11) and Culver (Jan. 17), contests that will mean a lot if the Trojans are to make it four-straight NSC crowns, having shared it with LaVille last season.
However, winning the fourth will be difficult with a lot of returning players back this year in the conference
“The first one you have to look at is John Glenn, because they have the most returning,” Groves said of his alma mater, which finished 3-4 in the NSC last season. “I think they lost one senior and they really came on at the end of last year, winning the bi-county. Then, LaVille’s going to be strong. They have (Blake) Berger back and with coach (Michael) Edison’s system there, they’re going to be solid. Culver as well. I think they have, probably, the best kid in the conference in (Trent) Elliott. I would say those three would be the ones I’d look at (to contend for the NSC crown). It should be an interesting conference.”
Without a superior scorer, the Trojans will be returning to its championship roots to retain its NSC superiority, if not more.
“I was talking to someone the other day about that, about how we don’t have that one dominating player,” Groves said. “The first time we won state, we didn’t have one dominating player, but we did have three or four that were really good. After they graduated, we had Colton Keel, then Griffyn Carpenter and Clay Yeo. We’ve always had that one guy we could always count on to get baskets. This year, it’s all about the team.”[[In-content Ad]]
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