Expectations Still The Same At Triton
November 21, 2016 at 6:05 p.m.
Expectations Still The Same At Triton
By Mark [email protected]
“Obviously we have a lot to replace from last year. Masen Yeo and Jordan Anderson had 600 points together, and we’re going to have to find ways to replace that,” Groves said. “We have some kids coming back with some experience. Grant Johnson and Zac Pitney both started toward the end of the year, Nate Flenar played quite a bit.
“Unfortunately, Jarrett Martin tore his ACL a week before the season started. We’ve got some good kids coming back, we just need some younger kids without experience to get up to speed.
“But we’ve got some time. One of the good things about our program is we’ve become better as the season progressed. Very few teams I’ve had got worse as the season went on.
“And that’s a good thing. We’re young, and we have a lot of kids without a lot of varsity experience. So it’s going to take some time with these kids. In practice we’ve been good for two minutes, but not over a long time on both offense and defense. It’ll take us a while to get there, but the kids are working hard and hopefully we will improve.”
Johnson is the only returnee from last season’s sectional championship team who averaged double figures in scoring (10.2). Pitney is next at 5.2 points per game. Groves said they both continue to trend upward.
“I was watching old tape (of Pitney), and as a sophomore he looked like a little pipsqueak out there,” said Groves. “Now you look at him and he’s an athlete. That was the big part of it, but also mentally he’s been a lot better. It’s been night and day; he comes in focused and he’s aggressive, and last year it took him half the season to get to that point. I’m looking for big things out of him this year.
“Johnson’s a three-year starter, and he has to be more consistent inside. He has to be a presence and play more physically inside, and just want the ball, demand the ball. When he gets it he needs to score. Dylan Hensley didn’t play a whole lot of varsity last year, but he’s been looking good in practice. He has good footwork, he passes the ball well, he shoots the ball well. It’s been a while since we’ve had two guys inside who can score.”
Triton has become a program with perennially high expectations, and Groves sees no reason for this year to be any different. The Trojans enter the season ranked No. 18 in Class 1A, and open the season with three road games, including visits to Plymouth and 3A No. 3 NorthWood.
“Every year we look at three things; we want to win the conference, we want to win the Bi-County tournament and we want to win sectional,” he said. “With this group, I think we just have to get better as the season progresses. We have a brutal schedule at the beginning, so it’s possible our record won’t show the progress we’re making.
“But if we keep working and keep getting better, I think we can expect big things out of them when it comes to the postseason. And we have time to get better and mature a little bit.
“Expectations don’t change. I don’t care who we have on our team, it’s going to be the same, and the kids know that. But we’re definitely going to have to get better to make that happen.”
Triton opens its season Wednesday at Oregon-Davis.
“Obviously we have a lot to replace from last year. Masen Yeo and Jordan Anderson had 600 points together, and we’re going to have to find ways to replace that,” Groves said. “We have some kids coming back with some experience. Grant Johnson and Zac Pitney both started toward the end of the year, Nate Flenar played quite a bit.
“Unfortunately, Jarrett Martin tore his ACL a week before the season started. We’ve got some good kids coming back, we just need some younger kids without experience to get up to speed.
“But we’ve got some time. One of the good things about our program is we’ve become better as the season progressed. Very few teams I’ve had got worse as the season went on.
“And that’s a good thing. We’re young, and we have a lot of kids without a lot of varsity experience. So it’s going to take some time with these kids. In practice we’ve been good for two minutes, but not over a long time on both offense and defense. It’ll take us a while to get there, but the kids are working hard and hopefully we will improve.”
Johnson is the only returnee from last season’s sectional championship team who averaged double figures in scoring (10.2). Pitney is next at 5.2 points per game. Groves said they both continue to trend upward.
“I was watching old tape (of Pitney), and as a sophomore he looked like a little pipsqueak out there,” said Groves. “Now you look at him and he’s an athlete. That was the big part of it, but also mentally he’s been a lot better. It’s been night and day; he comes in focused and he’s aggressive, and last year it took him half the season to get to that point. I’m looking for big things out of him this year.
“Johnson’s a three-year starter, and he has to be more consistent inside. He has to be a presence and play more physically inside, and just want the ball, demand the ball. When he gets it he needs to score. Dylan Hensley didn’t play a whole lot of varsity last year, but he’s been looking good in practice. He has good footwork, he passes the ball well, he shoots the ball well. It’s been a while since we’ve had two guys inside who can score.”
Triton has become a program with perennially high expectations, and Groves sees no reason for this year to be any different. The Trojans enter the season ranked No. 18 in Class 1A, and open the season with three road games, including visits to Plymouth and 3A No. 3 NorthWood.
“Every year we look at three things; we want to win the conference, we want to win the Bi-County tournament and we want to win sectional,” he said. “With this group, I think we just have to get better as the season progresses. We have a brutal schedule at the beginning, so it’s possible our record won’t show the progress we’re making.
“But if we keep working and keep getting better, I think we can expect big things out of them when it comes to the postseason. And we have time to get better and mature a little bit.
“Expectations don’t change. I don’t care who we have on our team, it’s going to be the same, and the kids know that. But we’re definitely going to have to get better to make that happen.”
Triton opens its season Wednesday at Oregon-Davis.
Have a news tip? Email [email protected] or Call/Text 360-922-3092