Johnson, Hepler Lead Triton To Win
December 23, 2017 at 7:32 a.m.
By Mark [email protected]
Ultimately the host Trojans took a 52-35 high school boys basketball win over the Titans at the Trojan Trench Friday night.
But for a first-year IHSAA team playing its first game against a public school, Trinity was a handful for the youth-oriented Trojans, according to Triton coach Jason Groves. Trinity came in allowing 33 points a game, and beat Howe Military 65-3 on Dec. 8.
“We wanted to come out aggressive, because these guys are really good defensively,” he said. “I told our kids ‘you’re going to have to be ready, because if you have an open look, they’re just going to foul you. They’re not going to just let you shoot an open shot. Period. That’s how they’ve been all year long, and we knew it was coming.”
The home team held Trinity to one made basket in the first period in taking a 15-4 lead, then gave up just two hoops in the fourth quarter, and one of those was with 35 seconds left and the starters removed from the game.
The tradeoff for the aggressive attitude of both teams was fouls and turnovers. There were 44 personal fouls called and the teams combined for 39 turnovers.
When the Trojans were able to shoot, they made 68 percent from the floor. Ross Johnson had a double-double with 22 points and 11 rebounds, both game highs. Beau Hepler was perfect in six shots from the floor, including a 3-of-3 effort from beyond the arc, and finished with 15 points.
“I thought our guys were aggressive, and that’s what we wanted them to be,” said Groves. “I knew it might cause a bit of a turnover problem for us, and it did. But our guys got off to a good start defensively, and that got us off to a great start and helped us build a lead.
“We work on (ball-handling), but we have a lot of inexperienced guys playing varsity, so it’s gonna happen. I told our guys we have to keep focusing and working on it, and try to limit them as much as possible.”
Groves said he was pleased his team avoided the pitfalls of a trap game; a first-year team playing its first sanctioned public-school game just before the holidays could have been a recipe for an upset.
“I asked the guys ‘did you watch the IPFW-IU game?’” Groves smiled. “Their coach (Joel Burris) told me this was the biggest game they’ve had this year, and they came in expecting to win. He’s doing a great job, and I have a feeling we’ll be hearing from them again; they’ll probably be in our sectional when they’re eligible.”
In the junior varsity game, Keegan Westafer scored 17 points for Triton in its 25-13 win over Trinity.
Triton takes a 3-4 record into its holiday break, and won’t play again until traveling to Walkerton to take on John Glenn Jan. 5.
“We need a break,” Groves said. “We need to come back refreshed and regrouped. I told them ‘enjoy your holiday and your family, and don’t think about basketball. Then come back refueled and ready to go get after it.’
“Basketball is such a long season, and whenever you can get a break, it’s good.”
TRITON 52, SOUTH BEND TRINITY 35
SBT 4 11 12 8 – 35
T 15 12 12 13 – 52
Trinity – Eli Thomas 1-10 0-2 3, Liam Hunsberger 0-2 3-4 3, Michael Florin 2-6 2-2 7, Ian Pingel 1-2 0-0 3, Sean Pingel 2-5 5-7 9, David Loughran 3-5 1-3 7, Ben Bagiackas 0-0 0-0 0, Dan Mattimore 0-3 0-1 0, Jonah Slack 0-2 0-0 0, Gabe Kottkamp 1-1 1-3 3. Totals 10-36 12-22 35.
Triton – Chase Butler 0-0 0-0 0, Max Slusser 0-0 0-0 0, Jared Bules 1-4 1-2 4, Drew Stichter 1-1 0-1 2, Beau Hepler 6-6 0-0 15, Delano Shumpert 0-0 2-4 2, Trenton Kreft 0-0 0-0 0, Kaden Atkins 0-0 0-0 0, Quentin Thornburg 0-0 0-0 0, Lucas Richman 2-3 3-4 7, Dylan Hensley 0-0 0-0 0, Tyler Heckaman 0-0 0-0 0, Ross Johnson 7-11 8-13 22. Totals 17-25 14-24 52.
Three-pointers – Trinity 3 (Thomas, Florin, I. Pingel), Triton 4 (Hepler 3, Stichter 1); Rebounds – Trinity 19 (S. Pingel 7), Triton 27 (Johnson 11); Turnovers – Trinity 18, Triton 21; Fouls – Trinity 20, Triton 24; Fouled out – Slack; Records: Trinity 5-3, Triton 3-4
JV – Triton 25, Trinity 13
Triton – Keegan Westafer 17, Tyler Heckaman 4 Quentin Thornburg 2, Hunter McIntyre 2
E-Editions
Ultimately the host Trojans took a 52-35 high school boys basketball win over the Titans at the Trojan Trench Friday night.
But for a first-year IHSAA team playing its first game against a public school, Trinity was a handful for the youth-oriented Trojans, according to Triton coach Jason Groves. Trinity came in allowing 33 points a game, and beat Howe Military 65-3 on Dec. 8.
“We wanted to come out aggressive, because these guys are really good defensively,” he said. “I told our kids ‘you’re going to have to be ready, because if you have an open look, they’re just going to foul you. They’re not going to just let you shoot an open shot. Period. That’s how they’ve been all year long, and we knew it was coming.”
The home team held Trinity to one made basket in the first period in taking a 15-4 lead, then gave up just two hoops in the fourth quarter, and one of those was with 35 seconds left and the starters removed from the game.
The tradeoff for the aggressive attitude of both teams was fouls and turnovers. There were 44 personal fouls called and the teams combined for 39 turnovers.
When the Trojans were able to shoot, they made 68 percent from the floor. Ross Johnson had a double-double with 22 points and 11 rebounds, both game highs. Beau Hepler was perfect in six shots from the floor, including a 3-of-3 effort from beyond the arc, and finished with 15 points.
“I thought our guys were aggressive, and that’s what we wanted them to be,” said Groves. “I knew it might cause a bit of a turnover problem for us, and it did. But our guys got off to a good start defensively, and that got us off to a great start and helped us build a lead.
“We work on (ball-handling), but we have a lot of inexperienced guys playing varsity, so it’s gonna happen. I told our guys we have to keep focusing and working on it, and try to limit them as much as possible.”
Groves said he was pleased his team avoided the pitfalls of a trap game; a first-year team playing its first sanctioned public-school game just before the holidays could have been a recipe for an upset.
“I asked the guys ‘did you watch the IPFW-IU game?’” Groves smiled. “Their coach (Joel Burris) told me this was the biggest game they’ve had this year, and they came in expecting to win. He’s doing a great job, and I have a feeling we’ll be hearing from them again; they’ll probably be in our sectional when they’re eligible.”
In the junior varsity game, Keegan Westafer scored 17 points for Triton in its 25-13 win over Trinity.
Triton takes a 3-4 record into its holiday break, and won’t play again until traveling to Walkerton to take on John Glenn Jan. 5.
“We need a break,” Groves said. “We need to come back refreshed and regrouped. I told them ‘enjoy your holiday and your family, and don’t think about basketball. Then come back refueled and ready to go get after it.’
“Basketball is such a long season, and whenever you can get a break, it’s good.”
TRITON 52, SOUTH BEND TRINITY 35
SBT 4 11 12 8 – 35
T 15 12 12 13 – 52
Trinity – Eli Thomas 1-10 0-2 3, Liam Hunsberger 0-2 3-4 3, Michael Florin 2-6 2-2 7, Ian Pingel 1-2 0-0 3, Sean Pingel 2-5 5-7 9, David Loughran 3-5 1-3 7, Ben Bagiackas 0-0 0-0 0, Dan Mattimore 0-3 0-1 0, Jonah Slack 0-2 0-0 0, Gabe Kottkamp 1-1 1-3 3. Totals 10-36 12-22 35.
Triton – Chase Butler 0-0 0-0 0, Max Slusser 0-0 0-0 0, Jared Bules 1-4 1-2 4, Drew Stichter 1-1 0-1 2, Beau Hepler 6-6 0-0 15, Delano Shumpert 0-0 2-4 2, Trenton Kreft 0-0 0-0 0, Kaden Atkins 0-0 0-0 0, Quentin Thornburg 0-0 0-0 0, Lucas Richman 2-3 3-4 7, Dylan Hensley 0-0 0-0 0, Tyler Heckaman 0-0 0-0 0, Ross Johnson 7-11 8-13 22. Totals 17-25 14-24 52.
Three-pointers – Trinity 3 (Thomas, Florin, I. Pingel), Triton 4 (Hepler 3, Stichter 1); Rebounds – Trinity 19 (S. Pingel 7), Triton 27 (Johnson 11); Turnovers – Trinity 18, Triton 21; Fouls – Trinity 20, Triton 24; Fouled out – Slack; Records: Trinity 5-3, Triton 3-4
JV – Triton 25, Trinity 13
Triton – Keegan Westafer 17, Tyler Heckaman 4 Quentin Thornburg 2, Hunter McIntyre 2
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