With a combined 30 wins between them, the Triton and Rochester boys basketball teams treated fans to an incredibly exciting contest on Tuesday night. Shaking off a slow start, the Trojans took their first lead in the second quarter and were able to control the game from there, escaping enemy territory with a 60-52 win.
“This ranks up there in terms of wins for us,” Triton head coach Jason Groves said after the game. “They’re a very balanced team and I thought we did a great job defensively on them.”
The Trojans found themselves in a hole early on, struggling to break through the halfcourt pressure the Zebras were putting on. Rochester scored the first five points of the game while Triton was dealing with a lid on the basket.
Outside of a layup by Tanner Witt-Hoyo, the Trojan offense was having a hard time getting started as the midway point of the first quarter rolled around. After a few misses to begin the game, sharpshooter Gage Riffle finally got a three pointer to fall, making it a one-possession game once more.
After a scalding hot start to the game, the Zebras cooled off significantly in the latter half of the quarter, largely in part to the Triton defense beginning to figure some things out at the defensive end. Trojan defenders were coming over to help at the perfect time, resulting in some difficult attempts for the home side. The visitors were also doing a great job crashing the boards, giving Rochester just one shot per possession.
After going down 8-2 early in the game, Triton was able to chip away as the quarter rolled on, trailing 8-7 after eight minutes of play.
Following a low-scoring opening quarter, the offense picked up in the second, with the Trojans matching their first quarter total just three minutes into the period. Thirty seconds later, Riffle’s second triple of the night put Triton in front for the first time, though it was only temporary.
The lead changed hands multiple times over the next few minutes as both sides were beginning to feel it offensively. Back-to-back threes by Brady Wood and Riffle gave the Trojans a bit of separation with a four-point edge with three minutes until halftime.
The lead got up to six in the final minutes as the freshman Wood continued a solid first half with a nice finish inside. Each team added a pair of points in the final 10 seconds of the half, as Triton headed to the locker room with a 27-23 lead.

    Triton senior Tanner Witt-Hoyo gets Grant Clark of Rochester in the air before taking a shot under the basket...Nieter

The Trojans remained in front as the second half got going, extending their advantage to seven on a midrange bucket by Landon Patrick. The tough defense the team had been employing that allowed them to take the lead was still in full effect, while offensively, the visitors were in a rhythm. Riffle’s fourth triple of the night made it a 10-point game with five minutes left in the third.
Triton continued to put it on the Zebras as the game rolled along, extending their second half run to 10-2 on another basket inside by Witt-Hoyo. Rochester was finally able to end it on a much-needed three, but still trailed by nine.
While the home side was struggling to put the ball in the hoop, the visitors had no trouble at all, continuing to add on to their lead. Dante Workman did a little bit of everything in the third quarter, turning steals into assists and blocks into rebounds as his team remained on top by double figures.
After a very good third quarter, the Trojans were up by eleven heading into the fourth.
Five straight points by Riffle following a Rochester basket extended that lead to 14 with just six minutes to go in the game. Needing to get something going quickly, the Zebras began playing much more aggressive defense. Trapping and pressing the entire length of the court, it would come back to bite Rochester at times, as the Trojans were able to escape the pressure and turn it into fast break situations.
It also worked a handful of times as well, leading to turnovers in the backcourt that led to easy Zebra baskets. With a little under five minutes to go in the contest, the home side was mounting its comeback and now trailed by just five.
A massive bucket by Witt-Hoyo off a feed from Riffle ended the run and gave some confidence back to the visitors. Another make from the senior a possession later made it a nine-point game once more with a little over three minutes left. Rochester proved to be hard to put away though, as the home side responded with three straight points, all at the line, to get back within six less than a minute later.
With a little under two minutes to go, an offensive foul called against Rochester led to a technical foul going against the Zebras. This allowed the Trojans to put two more points on the board and keep possession, a critical play at this juncture of the game. The visitors would only get the pair at the line and Rochester was able to take advantage once again. Another spurt of points for the Zebras allowed the home side to get within five with 71 seconds left in the game.
After another turnover for the visitors with a little under a minute left, Riffle came away with a huge steal that took a fastbreak away from the home side and allowed Triton to burn some more time off of the clock. He’d end up going to the stripe and hit two freebies to make it a seven-point game with 30 seconds left.
He’d add one more bucket to put the game out of reach in the final seconds to put the game on ice. He finished with a game high 24 points.
Witt-Hoyo added 14 points in support. Triton (17-3) is at home against Bremen Tuesday night.