Triton Falls To Oregon-Davis In Sectional Final
March 6, 2017 at 5:02 p.m.
Triton Falls To Oregon-Davis In Sectional Final
By Mark [email protected]
The Trojans came back once, but couldn’t a second time in their 42-31 loss to the 10th-ranked Bobcats in the finals of Class 1A Sectional 51 at the Trojan Trench.
Triton went in to the game with a 10-game winning streak, but coach Jason Groves said he felt like his team was missing something, not unlike when a soup recipe doesn’t seem quite right.
“I told the kids I wasn’t sure if it was them, us or a little bit of both. I felt like we were a little bit out of it tonight,” he said. “We were confused for some reason. I don’t know if it was because it was a championship night without having a ton of time to prepare for O-D, we kinda had a walk-through, or what it was but we seemed kind of out of sync all night. We couldn’t get things going.”
The Bobcats used five first-half treys to turn a 6-6 tie into a 22-13 halftime advantage. Triton then played its best basketball of the night to open the second half. Grant Johnson had a stickback bucket, Beau Hepler hit a trey, then Dylan Hensley and Zac Pitney hit shots in the paint to cap a 9-0 run that tied the game and had Trojan Nation in a frenzy.
Oregon-Davis stayed with what got it there, a spread offense that runs clock and produces good shots. It produced a 10-1 run leading in to the fourth quarter that Triton could not answer.
“I like how we fought back in the second half to tie it up, but whenever (O-D) needed to get a bucket, they hit some key shots. That was the difference, they made the key plays and we seemed out of sync,” Groves said.
Triton tried every defense Groves could think of to stop the bleeding, to no avail.
“The spread offense is what they do. They spread you out and it makes it difficult to come back when they get a lead. They’re hard to guard,” he said. “We threw everything in the book at them; man-to-man, 1-3-1, 2-3, box-and-1, diamond-and-1. We threw everything at ‘em, and they made plays.
“Give them credit, they made the plays they needed when they needed them and came out on top.”
Statistically, the teams were fairly even. Oregon-Davis made one more shot from the floor and two more free throws, but the big difference was the Bobcats made eight shots (one more than half their field goals) from beyond the arc, while Hepler had the only trey for the Trojans.
Johnson capped his high school career with a 10-point night, and Pitney finished with eight points.
It was the third straight year the two teams met for a sectional title, with the Bobcats (20-6) winning in 2015 and Saturday.
Oregon-Davis will return to the Trojan Trench Saturday for a regional game against Lakewood Park Christian at 11:30 a.m. Gary 21st Century and Tri-County square off in the other regional semifinal at 10 a.m. The title game will tipoff at 7:30 p.m.
Triton finished its season with an 18-6 record.
OREGON-DAVIS 42, TRITON 31
T 6 7 10 8 – 31
O-D 12 10 7 13 – 42
Triton – Caden Marr 0-0 0-0 0, Nate Flenar 3-5 1-2 7, Drew Stichter 0-0 0-0 0, Beau Hepler 1-4 0-0 3, Zac Pitney 3-10 2-2 8, Dylan Hensley 1-1 1-2 3, Grant Johnson 5-9 0-0 10, Adam Stevens 0-0 0-0 0. Totals 13-29 4-6 31.
Oregon-Davis – Jonathon Clark 1-6 0-0 3, Trevor Risner 5-11 0-0 15, Lance Campbell 2-7 2-2 7, John Messer 2-4 2-5 7, Aaron Parker 4-7 2-4 10, Trevor Wilson 0-0 0-0 0. Totals 14-35 6-11 42.
Three-pointers – Triton 1 (Hepler), Oregon-Davis 8 (Risner 5, Clark, Campbell, Messer); Rebounds – Triton 19 (Flenar 4, Johnson 4), Oregon-Davis 20 (Clark 6); Turnovers – Triton 10, Oregon-Davis 7; Fouls – Triton 14, Oregon-Davis 6); Fouled out – none; Records: Triton 18-6, Oregon-Davis 20-6
E-Editions
The Trojans came back once, but couldn’t a second time in their 42-31 loss to the 10th-ranked Bobcats in the finals of Class 1A Sectional 51 at the Trojan Trench.
Triton went in to the game with a 10-game winning streak, but coach Jason Groves said he felt like his team was missing something, not unlike when a soup recipe doesn’t seem quite right.
“I told the kids I wasn’t sure if it was them, us or a little bit of both. I felt like we were a little bit out of it tonight,” he said. “We were confused for some reason. I don’t know if it was because it was a championship night without having a ton of time to prepare for O-D, we kinda had a walk-through, or what it was but we seemed kind of out of sync all night. We couldn’t get things going.”
The Bobcats used five first-half treys to turn a 6-6 tie into a 22-13 halftime advantage. Triton then played its best basketball of the night to open the second half. Grant Johnson had a stickback bucket, Beau Hepler hit a trey, then Dylan Hensley and Zac Pitney hit shots in the paint to cap a 9-0 run that tied the game and had Trojan Nation in a frenzy.
Oregon-Davis stayed with what got it there, a spread offense that runs clock and produces good shots. It produced a 10-1 run leading in to the fourth quarter that Triton could not answer.
“I like how we fought back in the second half to tie it up, but whenever (O-D) needed to get a bucket, they hit some key shots. That was the difference, they made the key plays and we seemed out of sync,” Groves said.
Triton tried every defense Groves could think of to stop the bleeding, to no avail.
“The spread offense is what they do. They spread you out and it makes it difficult to come back when they get a lead. They’re hard to guard,” he said. “We threw everything in the book at them; man-to-man, 1-3-1, 2-3, box-and-1, diamond-and-1. We threw everything at ‘em, and they made plays.
“Give them credit, they made the plays they needed when they needed them and came out on top.”
Statistically, the teams were fairly even. Oregon-Davis made one more shot from the floor and two more free throws, but the big difference was the Bobcats made eight shots (one more than half their field goals) from beyond the arc, while Hepler had the only trey for the Trojans.
Johnson capped his high school career with a 10-point night, and Pitney finished with eight points.
It was the third straight year the two teams met for a sectional title, with the Bobcats (20-6) winning in 2015 and Saturday.
Oregon-Davis will return to the Trojan Trench Saturday for a regional game against Lakewood Park Christian at 11:30 a.m. Gary 21st Century and Tri-County square off in the other regional semifinal at 10 a.m. The title game will tipoff at 7:30 p.m.
Triton finished its season with an 18-6 record.
OREGON-DAVIS 42, TRITON 31
T 6 7 10 8 – 31
O-D 12 10 7 13 – 42
Triton – Caden Marr 0-0 0-0 0, Nate Flenar 3-5 1-2 7, Drew Stichter 0-0 0-0 0, Beau Hepler 1-4 0-0 3, Zac Pitney 3-10 2-2 8, Dylan Hensley 1-1 1-2 3, Grant Johnson 5-9 0-0 10, Adam Stevens 0-0 0-0 0. Totals 13-29 4-6 31.
Oregon-Davis – Jonathon Clark 1-6 0-0 3, Trevor Risner 5-11 0-0 15, Lance Campbell 2-7 2-2 7, John Messer 2-4 2-5 7, Aaron Parker 4-7 2-4 10, Trevor Wilson 0-0 0-0 0. Totals 14-35 6-11 42.
Three-pointers – Triton 1 (Hepler), Oregon-Davis 8 (Risner 5, Clark, Campbell, Messer); Rebounds – Triton 19 (Flenar 4, Johnson 4), Oregon-Davis 20 (Clark 6); Turnovers – Triton 10, Oregon-Davis 7; Fouls – Triton 14, Oregon-Davis 6); Fouled out – none; Records: Triton 18-6, Oregon-Davis 20-6
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