Triton Wins; Coach Reaches Milestone
July 28, 2016 at 4:25 p.m.
By Anthony Gadson-agadson@timesuniononline.com
The Triton Trojans got Groves his 100th career win with a 52-35 victory at Bethany Christian (1-5) Tuesday night, improving the Class 1A No. 4 Trojans to 4-2 on the season.[[In-content Ad]]With a .758 winning percentage, Groves sits behind just Wheeler's Mike Jones (.803), Munster's Mike Hackett (.788), Bowman Academy's Marvin Rea (.785), New Castle's Steven Bennett (.765), Broad Ripple's Scott Hicks (.762) and East Chicago's Abe Brown (.761) in that category.
"I've got good kids," Groves said. "The kids kind of bought into what we were selling them and that makes it a lot easier."
Groves began his coaching career at 25-18, going 0-4 after finishing the season for Steve McBride in 2004-05, then going 11-10 and 14-8 in his first two full seasons. Since then, Groves' has led Triton to a 75-10 mark, including three sectional crowns, two regionals and the state title in 2007-08. Since the 2006-07 season, Triton has lost to only five Class 1A teams, with three off those losses coming from a team that won the state title in that year - twice to Oregon-Davis in 2006-07, and to Jac-Cen-Del in the 2008-09 state title game.
"We've had some good leadership each year, and that's kind of carried down," Groves, who also has two Northern State Conference crowns, said. "So, that's been the main thing. I realize you can't win without the horses, and we've had the horses. I've been very fortunate with that."
Groves currently has two horses, with senior Griffyn Carpenter and sophomore Clay Yeo. However, the two haven't been running at full stride this year.
Carpenter missed the previous two games with an illness, but returned for the second quarter against Bethany, while Yeo was on the bench for the second-straight game with a knee injury.
After sitting the first quarter out, Carpenter hit his first three shots, scoring 10 points and hauling in five rebounds in the second quarter alone. Carpenter went on to score 15, while also leading the Trojans with eight rebounds and four steals.
"He plays a lot of basketball," Groves said of Carpenter. "He's just a kid that can come in and light up the scoreboard at any given time. He shoots extremely well, and I don't think a few days off is going to affect him."
Yeo may be able to return to the court Friday at home against New Prairie, but Groves is careful not to rush him back too early. He can afford to be cautious with Yeo because other guys have been stepping up, like senior Jordan Everett, who scored 17 points and made three steals against Bethany.
"Jordan Everett kind of played really well in the games Griffyn was out, and he's still stepping it up," Groves said. "I've been pleased with some of the kids that have needed to step up. Zak (Shively) and Quentyn (Carpenter) have been kind of thrown into the fire. They're getting a majority of the ball handling done. They're learning on the go, and Austin (Davis), Blake (Lemler), Dane (Kennedy) and all those guys have been getting experience."
Against Bethany, Triton got experience competing against a taller team, which featured a starting frontline of 6-foot-5 junior Andy Slagel, 6-4 junior David DeLeeuw and 6-8 senior Hamilton Thorne.
"I told the guys that (Bethany's) height and length really concerned me," Groves said. "I said, 'We have to set the tone defensively. You guys have to come up and stick them right away.' You can't control your offense. Offense is a variable, but defense and effort, you can do that night in and night out."
The Trojans did use strong defense and two Everett three-pointers to jump out to an 8-0 lead, which it rode to the end of the game.
Following Friday's NSC-opening game against New Prairie, which will see the junior varsity game begin at 6:30 p.m., the Trojans will face Class 4A No. 3 Warsaw Monday at Grace College's Orthopaedic Capital Center in the Mid-Winter Classic.
TRITON 52, BETHANY CHRISTIAN 35
T 16 17 11 8 - 52
B 8 6 7 14 - 35
Triton - Zak Shively 2-5 1-3 5, Quentyn Carpenter 1-4 2-2 4, Austin Davis 2-7 1-1 5, Jordan Everett 5-10 4-4 17, Blake Lemler 1-6 0-0 2, Griffyn Carpenter 6-11 0-0 15, Nick Nordmann 0-0 0-0 0, Dane Kennedy 1-1 0-0 2, Jackson Downing 0-0 0-0 0, Stephen Rowe 0-2 0-0 0, Drew Mosson 1-4 0-0 2, Seth Glingle 0-1 0-0 0. Totals 19-51 7-7 52.
Bethany - Ben Bontreger 0-4 0-0 0, Femi Hollinger-Janzen 3-5 4-5 10, Andy Slagel 2-6 1-1 5, David DeLeeuw 1-4 5-6 7, Hamilton Thorne 3-6 1-5 7, Andrew Snyder 0-3 0-0 0, Bryce Rheinheimer 0-0 0-0 0, Joel Yoder 0-2 0-0 0, James Helmuth 2-4 0-0 6, Caleb Morris 0-3 0-0 0. Totals 11-37 11-17 35.
Three-point goals - Triton 7-16 (G. Carpenter 3, Everett 3), Bethany 2-10 (Helmuth 2); Team Fouls - Triton 13, Bethany 10; Turnovers - Triton 12, Bethany 16; Rebounds - Triton 37 (G. Carpenter 8, Davis 8), Bethany 25 (Thorne 7); Assists - Triton 10 (Shively 4), Bethany 3 (Snyder 2); Steals - Triton 10 (G. Carpenter 4), Bethany 9 (Hollinger-Janzen 4); Blocks - Triton 2, Bethany 10 (Slagel 6); Records: 4-2, Bethany 1-5
JV - Triton 41, Bethany 17
Triton - Bryson Mosier 14, Cody Shively 6, Kai Slough 5, Jordan Grimm 5, Trenton Cooper 4, Glingle 4, Mosson 3
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The Triton Trojans got Groves his 100th career win with a 52-35 victory at Bethany Christian (1-5) Tuesday night, improving the Class 1A No. 4 Trojans to 4-2 on the season.[[In-content Ad]]With a .758 winning percentage, Groves sits behind just Wheeler's Mike Jones (.803), Munster's Mike Hackett (.788), Bowman Academy's Marvin Rea (.785), New Castle's Steven Bennett (.765), Broad Ripple's Scott Hicks (.762) and East Chicago's Abe Brown (.761) in that category.
"I've got good kids," Groves said. "The kids kind of bought into what we were selling them and that makes it a lot easier."
Groves began his coaching career at 25-18, going 0-4 after finishing the season for Steve McBride in 2004-05, then going 11-10 and 14-8 in his first two full seasons. Since then, Groves' has led Triton to a 75-10 mark, including three sectional crowns, two regionals and the state title in 2007-08. Since the 2006-07 season, Triton has lost to only five Class 1A teams, with three off those losses coming from a team that won the state title in that year - twice to Oregon-Davis in 2006-07, and to Jac-Cen-Del in the 2008-09 state title game.
"We've had some good leadership each year, and that's kind of carried down," Groves, who also has two Northern State Conference crowns, said. "So, that's been the main thing. I realize you can't win without the horses, and we've had the horses. I've been very fortunate with that."
Groves currently has two horses, with senior Griffyn Carpenter and sophomore Clay Yeo. However, the two haven't been running at full stride this year.
Carpenter missed the previous two games with an illness, but returned for the second quarter against Bethany, while Yeo was on the bench for the second-straight game with a knee injury.
After sitting the first quarter out, Carpenter hit his first three shots, scoring 10 points and hauling in five rebounds in the second quarter alone. Carpenter went on to score 15, while also leading the Trojans with eight rebounds and four steals.
"He plays a lot of basketball," Groves said of Carpenter. "He's just a kid that can come in and light up the scoreboard at any given time. He shoots extremely well, and I don't think a few days off is going to affect him."
Yeo may be able to return to the court Friday at home against New Prairie, but Groves is careful not to rush him back too early. He can afford to be cautious with Yeo because other guys have been stepping up, like senior Jordan Everett, who scored 17 points and made three steals against Bethany.
"Jordan Everett kind of played really well in the games Griffyn was out, and he's still stepping it up," Groves said. "I've been pleased with some of the kids that have needed to step up. Zak (Shively) and Quentyn (Carpenter) have been kind of thrown into the fire. They're getting a majority of the ball handling done. They're learning on the go, and Austin (Davis), Blake (Lemler), Dane (Kennedy) and all those guys have been getting experience."
Against Bethany, Triton got experience competing against a taller team, which featured a starting frontline of 6-foot-5 junior Andy Slagel, 6-4 junior David DeLeeuw and 6-8 senior Hamilton Thorne.
"I told the guys that (Bethany's) height and length really concerned me," Groves said. "I said, 'We have to set the tone defensively. You guys have to come up and stick them right away.' You can't control your offense. Offense is a variable, but defense and effort, you can do that night in and night out."
The Trojans did use strong defense and two Everett three-pointers to jump out to an 8-0 lead, which it rode to the end of the game.
Following Friday's NSC-opening game against New Prairie, which will see the junior varsity game begin at 6:30 p.m., the Trojans will face Class 4A No. 3 Warsaw Monday at Grace College's Orthopaedic Capital Center in the Mid-Winter Classic.
TRITON 52, BETHANY CHRISTIAN 35
T 16 17 11 8 - 52
B 8 6 7 14 - 35
Triton - Zak Shively 2-5 1-3 5, Quentyn Carpenter 1-4 2-2 4, Austin Davis 2-7 1-1 5, Jordan Everett 5-10 4-4 17, Blake Lemler 1-6 0-0 2, Griffyn Carpenter 6-11 0-0 15, Nick Nordmann 0-0 0-0 0, Dane Kennedy 1-1 0-0 2, Jackson Downing 0-0 0-0 0, Stephen Rowe 0-2 0-0 0, Drew Mosson 1-4 0-0 2, Seth Glingle 0-1 0-0 0. Totals 19-51 7-7 52.
Bethany - Ben Bontreger 0-4 0-0 0, Femi Hollinger-Janzen 3-5 4-5 10, Andy Slagel 2-6 1-1 5, David DeLeeuw 1-4 5-6 7, Hamilton Thorne 3-6 1-5 7, Andrew Snyder 0-3 0-0 0, Bryce Rheinheimer 0-0 0-0 0, Joel Yoder 0-2 0-0 0, James Helmuth 2-4 0-0 6, Caleb Morris 0-3 0-0 0. Totals 11-37 11-17 35.
Three-point goals - Triton 7-16 (G. Carpenter 3, Everett 3), Bethany 2-10 (Helmuth 2); Team Fouls - Triton 13, Bethany 10; Turnovers - Triton 12, Bethany 16; Rebounds - Triton 37 (G. Carpenter 8, Davis 8), Bethany 25 (Thorne 7); Assists - Triton 10 (Shively 4), Bethany 3 (Snyder 2); Steals - Triton 10 (G. Carpenter 4), Bethany 9 (Hollinger-Janzen 4); Blocks - Triton 2, Bethany 10 (Slagel 6); Records: 4-2, Bethany 1-5
JV - Triton 41, Bethany 17
Triton - Bryson Mosier 14, Cody Shively 6, Kai Slough 5, Jordan Grimm 5, Trenton Cooper 4, Glingle 4, Mosson 3
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