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BOURBON - The storylines were plentiful Friday night as Triton hosted No. 5 (3A) Tippecanoe Valley in boys basketball action.
The Trojans, playing with a heavy heart after the suspension and subsequent resignation of head coach Mike McBride, were looking to give interim coach Jason Groves his first varsity win. The Vikings, playing tight and with a sense of urgency, were looking to give their head coach Bill Patrick his 600th win.
In the end, Valley's David Lash was too much as Patrick became just the 10th coach in state history to reach the 600 win plateau with a 67-44 drubbing of Triton.
Lash scored a game-high 29 points on the strength of a 12 of 15 shooting performance and ignited two Vikings runs that broke the game open.
The 6-foot-4 junior hit a jumper midway through the first quarter as Valley clung to a 7-5 lead to spark an 8-0 Viking run.
Triton battled its way back and drew to as close as seven points in the second quarter on the strength of freshman Troy McIntyre's play. McIntyre penetrated Valley's defense for six points in a span of several minutes as the Trojans outscored the Vikings, 8-1.
When Triton was able to get inside position on the bigger and stronger Vikings, they were able to use their quickness advantage to draw fouls and shoot higher percentage shots.
The Trojans got to the charity stripe nine times in the first half.
"That's what we talked about. We talked about how we can't back down. We needed to be aggressive, try and get to the free throw line and play with confidence," said Groves. "I thought we did a good job in the first half of getting to the basket and drawing fouls."
The second half, namely the third quarter, was a much different story. Triton lived and died by the outside shot. Senior Cory McClarnon scored seven quick points in the third quarter on a night that along with everything else, was also Triton's senior night.
McClarnon finished with a team-high 11 points while fellow senior Brandon Garey had six.
While McClarnon did all he could to keep Triton within shouting distance, a Valley team that, with the exception of Lash, played tentative in the first half, started making shots.
Six-foot-6 junior Shane Drudge scored eight points in the third quarter as the Vikings began to distance themselves. Drudge popped out and shot a three-pointer at the 5:10 mark of the quarter that seemed to be a dagger in the heart of the Triton faithful, which along with Valley's contingent nearly had the Trojan gym at full capacity.
Valley's Shane Denny, playing on two bad ankles, was efficient once again with 12 points on 4 of 7 shooting.
Drudge was the only other player to finish in double digits for Valley with 10 points. Lash led the Vikings in rebounds with 10 en route to a double-double.
"They're so physically strong and big that we don't match up with them well. That's what we talked about in our zone, we had to keep them away from the basket and try and keep them off the boards," said Groves.
Triton was unsuccessful in controlling the glass as Valley finished with a 30-18 rebounding edge.
The Trojans did get some nice contributions on offense from a couple of underclassmen.
McIntyre and junior Chad Kauffman scored 10 and 11 points respectively for the Trojans.
The game however, took a backseat to Patrick's milestone.
After the contest, players from the first team Patrick ever helmed at Sidney High School were on hand to present their coach with a plaque.
While plenty were quick to heap praise on Patrick, the coach was quick to thank all those who helped him along the way.
"Over the years, to win 600 with two excellent communities, Whitko and Tippecanoe Valley, is great, we've had good assistant coaches, good players who were willing to work hard, our managers, cheerleaders, it's not something you can accomplish by yourself. It takes a whole community and we've had two great communities to work with," said Patrick.
Patrick coached at Whitko for 29 years before leaving with some acrimony and moving on to Valley.
While by most accounts Patrick has mellowed from his early days, the fire is still there. Friday's contest serves as a perfect example.
After jawing with the refs over some calls, the coach heard something he's probably heard once or twice in his 809 games on the bench.
"I got told not to say anymore tonight, so one official obviously thought I still had (a fire) in me," said Patrick.
That fire is bred from Patrick's desire to build and cultivate young talent.
"It's still enjoyable to take a group of kids and see what you can develop. I still put as much time and work in as the first year," said Patrick.
Until Patrick nabs that elusive first state title, his proudest accomplishment is his consistency.
"Of all the things I've accomplished, 36 years without a losing season means a little bit more," said Patrick.
Patrick is 122-29 in his seven years at Valley. The Vikings, along with every other program he's taken over, had a losing record the season before Patrick arrived.
The Trojans, 3-16 overall, close the season with a Northern States Conference matchup at Knox. Tipoff is set for 8 p.m.
The Vikings, 17-1 overall, host Southwood tonight at 7:45 p.m.
T. VALLEY 67, TRITON 44
T. Valley 19 12 20 16 - 67
Triton 7 12 12 13 - 44
T. Valley FG FT R S Pts.
*Denny 4-7 4-4 4 0 12
*Gibson 2-12 0-0 2 0 5
*Domenico 1-1 0-0 0 1 3
*Lash 12-15 5-6 10 1 29
*Drudge 4-7 1-1 4 0 10
Kindig 0-0 0-0 6 1 0
Kelley 0-2 1-3 2 0 1
Reed 2-3 1-2 2 0 5
Hoffer 0-1 0-0 0 0 0
Neeley 0-2 0-0 0 0 0
Parker 0-0 2-2 0 0 2
Nelson 0-0 0-0 0 0 0
Totals 25-50 14-18 30 3 67
Triton FG FT R S Pts.
*McC'non 4-13 1-1 3 1 11
*Garey 3-5 0-0 7 0 6
*Kauffman 3-8 5-5 2 1 11
*Everett 1-5 2-2 1 0 4
*McIntyre 3-5 4-6 2 0 10
Davis 1-3 0-0 2 0 2
Harrison 0-1 0-0 1 0 0
H'stetler 0-0 0-0 0 0 0
Garner 0-0 0-0 0 0 0
Totals 15-40 12-14 18 2 44
Three-point goals - T. Valley 3-11 (Gibson 1-7, Domenico 1-1, Drudge 1-1, Neeley 0-2); Triton 2-9 (McClarnon 2-6, Kauffman 0-1, Davis 0-1, Harrison 0-1) Turnovers - T. Valley 10, Triton 12. Fouls - T. Valley 14, Triton 13. Fouled out - None.
