BOURBON - With just one point in tonight's semifinal game against LaVille in the 46th annual TCU Bi-County Tournament, Triton High School senior Griffyn Carpenter will become the school's all-time leading scorer.
Carpenter enters the contest tied with 2004-graduate Todd Blackford atop Triton's all-time scoring list with 1,077 points, having scored 34 points in each of the previous two games."I've been taking a lot more shots before practices and games," Carpenter said about scoring 68 points in two games after his previous scoring high had been 28 points. "I've been taking about 500 shots a day, and I feel like the it's been helping my form. It's been paying off."
Just three games ago, Carpenter became the school's third player to reach the 1,000-point plateau. Tonight he will likely stand alone.
"Everybody had told me I'd get (1,000 points)," Carpenter said. "It was definitely special to score 1,000 points. I was glad I was able to get it, and hopefully, I can set the scoring record."
Setting the scoring record is pretty much a foregone conclusion, but Triton boys basketball coach Jason Groves saw this coming three years ago when Triton won the Class 1A state title.
"Ever since he was a freshman, he showed he could play the game," Groves said. "In the state finals, he came off the bench and hit two big threes. He just doesn't seem to have a conscience. He's not afraid to take the next shot."
During his freshman season, Carpenter watched as a Triton team with eight seniors, including the core of Troy McIntyre, A.J. Harrison and Jake Everett, ran through the regular season. Gradually, the freshman got onto the court, and made his presence known immediately, draining three-straight treys down the stretch of a 61-49 loss at Tippecanoe Valley late in the season.
Triton did lose that game, but it showed the kind of instant offense that was waiting in the wings.
"He had played on the junior varsity, but we planned to use him for the tournament run," Groves said. "We knew he could be that kind of guy."
The three-point shot is what put Carpenter in a position to help with Triton's Class 1A state championship, but gradually, he's added more to his game.
"In his freshman and sophomore seasons, he could make a set three," Groves said. "Now, he can score off the dribble and get penetration. In the last two games, when he's scored 34 points each time, a majority of the points have come from 15-feet in. He's got a good mid-range shot."
He's shown an ability to score inside the three-point arc, but even Carpenter knows the three-point shot is what makes him lethal.
"It's something I've worked on since I started playing ball," Carpenter said about the long-range jumper. "My family's full of good shooters. My grandpa was good, my dad was good, my brother's good and my uncles were good. My dad has really worked with me on my shot, keeping my confidence and my footwork."
Carpenter's grandfather, Sonny Carpenter, finished his playing days with the Tippecanoe Police Dogs with 994 points, while his father, Jack Carpenter, set a single-season scoring record with 558 points at Triton, scoring 965 overall.
All three Carpenters have put up big point totals, but only Griffyn has had the most success, going 71-11 during his time at Triton, while also winning three sectionals, two regionals, two semistates and a state title..
"What's made it successful is the coaches and players," Carpenter said.
The point totals have been great for the all-time winningest player at Triton, but another championship would outweigh any scoring title for Carpenter.
"Winning is the only thing I care about," he said. "I don't care if I score one or 50 points, as long as we get the 'W'. I'll take 10 rebounds and 10 assists to win the game. After my freshman season, I found out a deep tournament run is the most fun you can have. Tournament runs and wins are the most important thing to me."
After this year's tournament run, Carpenter will look to play at the next basketball level, although, at this point, he's not sure where that will be.
"Right now, I've been hearing some things about walking on," he said. "I've taken some visits, but the thing I know is - I'll be playing basketball."
