Clay Yeo scores 33, hits game-winning trey against Warsaw
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Dale Hubler-dhubler@timesuniononline.com
BOURBON – Clay Yeo admitted his dream is to be an Indiana All-Star. The 6-foot-6 Triton High School senior certainly played like one Tuesday night. In a David-and-Goliath battle in terms of school size, Yeo scored 33 points, including the game-winning three-pointer with just under a second remaining, to lift tiny Triton to a thrilling 49-47 victory over the big-school Warsaw Tigers. “I was fading away and I was off-balance,” Yeo said of his heroic hoop. “It was one of those nights when shots were falling. That’s the way it is when you play bigger schools. When you’re a 1A school, you always want to beat a 4A school.” Yeo, who also hit treys in the waning seconds of the first and second quarters, finished the game 13 of 19 from the field. With Indiana All-Stars game director Charlie Hall in attendance, Yeo had 20 of Triton’s 24 points at halftime. “It’s in the back of my mind,” Yeo said when asked if his performance was All-Star worthy. “It’s been my dream for a long time. I was a Junior All-Star last year and had a lot fun.” With Tuesday’s thrilling win, Triton improved to 5-3 on the season, while the Tigers fell to 3-4. Warsaw owns a 30-5 record in the all-time series with the Trojans. Tuesday evening was the first time the Tigers have played in Bourbon since the 1990 sectional, and the first time they’ve lost to Triton since the 1988 sectional. “Clay Yeo was outstanding, and he made a very difficult shot at the end of the game,” said Warsaw coach Doug Ogle. “I don’t know if we can guard him any better than we did. He made a great shot.” To say the least, the contest was back-and-forth, as there were 17 lead changes and five ties. Triton led 13-11 after one quarter of play, while Warsaw led 26-24 at halftime and 38-35 at the end of the third quarter. The Tigers took a 47-46 lead when junior Jordan Stookey scored with 45 seconds remaining. After inbounding the ball and holding it, Triton called a timeout with 13 seconds remaining. Given what he had done to that point, it’s fair to say everyone in the gym knew Yeo would end up with the ball in his hands. “Having a player like Clay makes my job a lot easier,” said Triton coach Jason Groves. “You give him the ball and he makes things happen. He wanted the ball. He told me in the final timeout he wanted the ball. I told him he didn’t have to worry.” After dishing off to a teammate, Yeo got the ball back, and despite being off-balance and fading away, came through with the game-winner. While Yeo’s performace was remarkable, Ogle was upset with his team’s effort on the boards. Triton outrebounded Warsaw 26-14. Ogle felt that was the biggest factor in the game. “We shouldn’t have been in that position at the end,” said Ogle. “More than anything, rebounding was the biggest difference in the game. They outrebounded us, and that’s disappointing. Credit them. They were more physical and more determined.” Tanner Shepherd, Seth Glingle and Cody Shively all scored four points each for Triton, while Darren Harrell scored three points and Joey Corder added a free throw. For Warsaw, Jared Bloom scored 22 points on 9-of-12 shooting, while John Swanson and Stookey finished with 11 and seven points, respectively. Bloom scored 11 points in each half, and made good on his final seven shot attempts. “Jared Bloom played well offensively,” said Ogle. “He scored 22 points on 12 shots. We should have been patient enough to get him the ball more.” Warsaw is back in action Thursday when it hosts Fort Wayne South, while Triton is off until it hosts Elkhart Christian Jan. 3.
