Valley's Chill Is Triton's Thrill
Vikings struggle to find shooting touch in 49-37 loss to Trojans
July 28, 2016 at 4:25 p.m.
By Mark [email protected]
For a while, Tippecanoe Valley couldn’t buy a made shot in the paint at any price, and it showed. Valley’s “while” came in the second half, and Triton compensated for its missing scorer with forced turnovers and timely shooting in a 49-37 home win.
Playing without Reichert, who averages 12 points per game, Triton coach Jason Groves said his team wanted to have someone other than Valley top scorers Alex Thacker and Neil Clampitt lead the way for the Vikings.
“Clampitt and Thacker had 17 of their 24 points in the first half, so we went triangle-and-two in the second half and made those other guys beat us,” Groves said. “They didn’t make shots and I think we held Thacker and Clampitt to five points in the second half combined. Our kids did a nice job of executing that gameplan.”
Triton held Valley without a field goal for the first six-plus minutes of the third quarter, and forced Valley turnovers on three straight possessions at one point. Masen Yeo and Grant Johnson had steals and layups seven seconds apart that keyed an 11-0 Trojan run and turned a 24-18 deficit into a 29-24 lead.
“I thought our team was more aggressive in attacking in the second half,” Graves said. “That’s what we talked about (at halftime) ‘you guys have to attack, you guys have to look to score.’ Our defense opened up some offense. We got some steals and got in transition. That helped, too.”
Triton senior Landon Kaufman filled the void left by Reichert, hitting five of six from behind the arc to lead all scorers with 15 points in his final home game. Classmate Joey Corder had 11 points in his last appearance in the Trojan Trench.
“Skyler Reichert is our leading scorer, he shoots almost 40 percent from behind the three-point line,” said Groves. “Without him, we’re a different team. We have to get some steals, get into transition and get some easy buckets. Sometimes we have trouble scoring.
“It was nice to see Landon Kaufman step up, have a great senior night, and take Skyler’s role. He’s a great kid, works his tail off for us, and it couldn’t happen to a better kid.”
Naturally, Valley head coach Bill Patrick identified the shots in the lane that would not fall as the culprit in a loss that snapped the Vikings’ five-game winning streak.
“The first three minutes of the game they were playing that triangle-and-two and we didn’t have any problem with it,” Patrick said. “We just missed four or five layups in the second half. There were a couple of them that would have put us ahead, and when you’re playing ahead instead of behind, that makes a difference.
“We only made 25 percent of our shots in the second half; they shot 50 percent. They just wanted it a little more in the second half. I thought they played harder and just outplayed us. We didn’t rebound well. We gave up too many offensive rebounds.”
Thacker left the game in the first half after picking up a pair of fouls, and never got untracked in the second half. He finished with 12 points and Clampitt added 10.
“We didn’t have anyone to pick up the scoring,” said Patrick. “We were relying a lot on Clampitt, and they guarded him pretty close in the second half.
“But the big thing is we just missed some easy shots. We were wide open on four layups, there wasn’t anyone around. You hit those and that’s obviously eight points. I know the final score was 12 but it makes a big difference when you’re playing ahead rather than playing behind.”
Valley, 13-8, will have a week to get ready for its senior night when it hosts Wawasee on Friday.
Triton honored its seniors with a win to move its record to 13-7, and has one more home game remaining, a rescheduled game with Northfield on Tuesday night. The Trojans will then play their final Northern State Conference game Friday at Knox.
TRITON 49, TIPPECANOE VALLEY 37
TV 13 11 4 9 – 37
TRI 11 7 14 17 – 49
Valley – Alex Thacker 4-10 2-4 12, Trevor Neeley 0-1 0-0 0, Jared Littlejohn 0-3 0-0 0, Chandler O’Connor 2-7 0-0 4, Alec Craig 2-3 1-2 5, Gavin Bussard 2-6 2-3 3, Neil Clampitt 4-11 0-0 10. Totals 14-41 5-9 37.
Triton – Joey Corder 4-6 3-3 11, Landon Kaufman 5-6 0-0 15, Jarrett Martin 0-0 0-0 0, Masen Yeo 2-6 2-2 6, Jordan Anderson 3-9 2-2 9, Zac Pitney 0-0 0-0 0, Austin Sellers 1-5 0-2 2, Andrew Chupp 0-2 0-1 0, Nathan Flenar 0-1 0-0 0, Grant Johnson 3-6 0-1 6, Spencer Glingle 0-0 0-0 0. Totals 18-43 7-11 49.
Three-pointers – Valley 4 (Thacker 2, Clampitt 2), Triton 6 (Kaufman 5, Anderson); Rebounds – Valley 23 (Clampitt 8), Triton 33 (Anderson 7); Turnovers – Valley 6, Triton 9; Fouls – Valley 16, Triton 13; Fouled out – none; Records – Valley 13-8, Triton 13-7
JV – Triton 34, Valley 18
Valley – Bryce Webster 6. Brandon Webster 5, Keith Wright 3, Jared Duzenbury 3, Ivan Santiago 1
Triton – Nathan Flenar 7, Jarrett Martin 6, Dylan Hensley 6, Jarrett Kreft 5, Zac Pitney 5, Dalton Bailey 3, Brent Motz 2[[In-content Ad]]
For a while, Tippecanoe Valley couldn’t buy a made shot in the paint at any price, and it showed. Valley’s “while” came in the second half, and Triton compensated for its missing scorer with forced turnovers and timely shooting in a 49-37 home win.
Playing without Reichert, who averages 12 points per game, Triton coach Jason Groves said his team wanted to have someone other than Valley top scorers Alex Thacker and Neil Clampitt lead the way for the Vikings.
“Clampitt and Thacker had 17 of their 24 points in the first half, so we went triangle-and-two in the second half and made those other guys beat us,” Groves said. “They didn’t make shots and I think we held Thacker and Clampitt to five points in the second half combined. Our kids did a nice job of executing that gameplan.”
Triton held Valley without a field goal for the first six-plus minutes of the third quarter, and forced Valley turnovers on three straight possessions at one point. Masen Yeo and Grant Johnson had steals and layups seven seconds apart that keyed an 11-0 Trojan run and turned a 24-18 deficit into a 29-24 lead.
“I thought our team was more aggressive in attacking in the second half,” Graves said. “That’s what we talked about (at halftime) ‘you guys have to attack, you guys have to look to score.’ Our defense opened up some offense. We got some steals and got in transition. That helped, too.”
Triton senior Landon Kaufman filled the void left by Reichert, hitting five of six from behind the arc to lead all scorers with 15 points in his final home game. Classmate Joey Corder had 11 points in his last appearance in the Trojan Trench.
“Skyler Reichert is our leading scorer, he shoots almost 40 percent from behind the three-point line,” said Groves. “Without him, we’re a different team. We have to get some steals, get into transition and get some easy buckets. Sometimes we have trouble scoring.
“It was nice to see Landon Kaufman step up, have a great senior night, and take Skyler’s role. He’s a great kid, works his tail off for us, and it couldn’t happen to a better kid.”
Naturally, Valley head coach Bill Patrick identified the shots in the lane that would not fall as the culprit in a loss that snapped the Vikings’ five-game winning streak.
“The first three minutes of the game they were playing that triangle-and-two and we didn’t have any problem with it,” Patrick said. “We just missed four or five layups in the second half. There were a couple of them that would have put us ahead, and when you’re playing ahead instead of behind, that makes a difference.
“We only made 25 percent of our shots in the second half; they shot 50 percent. They just wanted it a little more in the second half. I thought they played harder and just outplayed us. We didn’t rebound well. We gave up too many offensive rebounds.”
Thacker left the game in the first half after picking up a pair of fouls, and never got untracked in the second half. He finished with 12 points and Clampitt added 10.
“We didn’t have anyone to pick up the scoring,” said Patrick. “We were relying a lot on Clampitt, and they guarded him pretty close in the second half.
“But the big thing is we just missed some easy shots. We were wide open on four layups, there wasn’t anyone around. You hit those and that’s obviously eight points. I know the final score was 12 but it makes a big difference when you’re playing ahead rather than playing behind.”
Valley, 13-8, will have a week to get ready for its senior night when it hosts Wawasee on Friday.
Triton honored its seniors with a win to move its record to 13-7, and has one more home game remaining, a rescheduled game with Northfield on Tuesday night. The Trojans will then play their final Northern State Conference game Friday at Knox.
TRITON 49, TIPPECANOE VALLEY 37
TV 13 11 4 9 – 37
TRI 11 7 14 17 – 49
Valley – Alex Thacker 4-10 2-4 12, Trevor Neeley 0-1 0-0 0, Jared Littlejohn 0-3 0-0 0, Chandler O’Connor 2-7 0-0 4, Alec Craig 2-3 1-2 5, Gavin Bussard 2-6 2-3 3, Neil Clampitt 4-11 0-0 10. Totals 14-41 5-9 37.
Triton – Joey Corder 4-6 3-3 11, Landon Kaufman 5-6 0-0 15, Jarrett Martin 0-0 0-0 0, Masen Yeo 2-6 2-2 6, Jordan Anderson 3-9 2-2 9, Zac Pitney 0-0 0-0 0, Austin Sellers 1-5 0-2 2, Andrew Chupp 0-2 0-1 0, Nathan Flenar 0-1 0-0 0, Grant Johnson 3-6 0-1 6, Spencer Glingle 0-0 0-0 0. Totals 18-43 7-11 49.
Three-pointers – Valley 4 (Thacker 2, Clampitt 2), Triton 6 (Kaufman 5, Anderson); Rebounds – Valley 23 (Clampitt 8), Triton 33 (Anderson 7); Turnovers – Valley 6, Triton 9; Fouls – Valley 16, Triton 13; Fouled out – none; Records – Valley 13-8, Triton 13-7
JV – Triton 34, Valley 18
Valley – Bryce Webster 6. Brandon Webster 5, Keith Wright 3, Jared Duzenbury 3, Ivan Santiago 1
Triton – Nathan Flenar 7, Jarrett Martin 6, Dylan Hensley 6, Jarrett Kreft 5, Zac Pitney 5, Dalton Bailey 3, Brent Motz 2[[In-content Ad]]
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