Continuously serving Kosciusko County since 1854
NORTH JUDSON – Landon Patrick was looking for a steal all game long.
He finally got one with less than 10 seconds left in Triton’s 1A regional championship game against Marquette Catholic, and the result was a play that will be talked about in Bourbon until the end of time.
Picking the pocket of the Blazers’ Vaughn Rael-Kludt with time winding down in a tied ball game, Patrick’s swipe led to a breakaway for Gage Riffle, who laid the ball in as time expired to give the Trojans a 53-51 victory, as well as their second straight regional championship.
“I just wanted to stay in front of him. We pride ourselves in our defense and we knew they wanted to take the last shot,” Patrick said after the thrilling win. “Honestly, I was just trying to get a stop and try to force overtime. As soon as I passed it off, I couldn’t do anything but smile.”
As for Riffle, whose game-winning shot sent Triton back to the semi-state round, he was still in disbelief well after the game ended.
“I still can’t fully comprehend it, man. The second I made that shot I was ready to get back on defense and then the buzzer sounded,” he said. “I can’t even describe how I was feeling. It was something I never thought was possible and I’m so grateful for it.”
With only 1.4 seconds left on the game clock, Triton senior Gage Riffle outraces the Marquette Catholic defense to score the game-winning basket...Nieter
And according to Jason Groves, who even after 20+ seasons as the head coach of the Trojans sprinted to midcourt as if he had just won his first sectional title, it was all part of the plan.
“We knew we had a foul to give so we wanted them to be aggressive. Landon was looking for that steal all game long and he got it at the right moment,” he said. “They made a play when they needed to, and that’s what they’ve been doing all year long.”
Senior Landon Patrick of Triton cuts down his portion of the net duriing the post-game celebration...Nieter
The Trojans couldn’t have started the game any better offensively if they tried. Three different players scored the first three baskets, all assisted. Patrick was at the center of the action early, dishing out two of those dimes as the visitors on the scoreboard took an early 7-1 lead.
Defensively, Triton was just as effective. The Blazers began the game by playing very stagnant basketball. Unlike their opponents, Marquette Catholic was relying more iso-ball to get the job done. In the early moments of the contest, the Trojans were dealing with this extremely well.
In the latter half of the first quarter though, the Blazers began to figure some things out. After scoring seven points in the first two and a half minutes of the game, Triton had managed just four over the next five. On the other end, Marquette was beginning to share the rock and it was paying dividends. Combined with their tenacity on the offensive glass, the home side was able to tie things up at eleven all with two minutes left in the first.
“We knew we weren’t going to win this game by 10-15 points. We told them that there were going to be ups and downs tonight, and I thought they got a little frustrated whenever they went down and matched us on the scoreboard,” Groves said. “We had to remind them that this is what it’s like to play a good team. Credit to Marquette, they’re a great team, and credit to our senior leaders for rolling with the punches.”
The only points scored in the final 120 seconds came on a layup from sophomore Brady Wood off another nice feed from Patrick. After it looked like Triton may run away with this one early, their opponent had hit them back, resulting in a 13-11 game after eight minutes.
The three pointers started to fall in bunches for the Trojans early in the second, allowing the visitors to extend their lead to eight over the first three minutes of the period. Wood was responsible for two of them, giving him 12 of the team’s 24 points after eleven minutes of play. However, the trends of the first quarter continued here, and after a hot start to the quarter saw Triton separate itself a bit, the Blazers were able to come up with a counterstrike almost immediately.
There were multiple instances over the next few minutes in which Marquette Catholic was able to shrink the deficit down to just one possession, but the home side was still searching for its first lead of the night. Wood was still doing a big chunk of the heavy lifting for the Trojans, as his third triple of the quarter gave him 15, over 50% of the team’s total to that point.
“I feel like after I hit that first three, I just wanted the ball,” Wood said. “I came into this game with a little chip on my shoulder because I felt like they were overlooking me a bit. I wasn’t really mentioned on their scouting report and that motivated me.”
Triton sophomore Brayden Wood fades back for a shot over a pair of Marquette Catholic defenders during the second quarter...Nieter
It looked as if Triton was going to take a two-point lead into the locker room after the Blazers hit yet another put back off an offensive board with about 15 seconds left. However, a shot inside by Jayden Overmyer just narrowly beat the buzzer, giving the blue and gold a 33-29 edge midway through the contest.
Unlike the two previous quarters, the Trojans did not begin the third with another scoring burst. Instead it was the home side that scored six straight points to take its first lead of the game. The Blazers were playing Triton extremely tightly when the visitors had the ball, resulting in the
winners of the Hoosier North Athletic Conference going five minutes without scoring any points.
By the time Overmyer finally ended the 8-0 run, the Trojans were now playing from behind for the first time. Marquette Catholic’s ability to grab offensive rebounds was only growing stronger as the game went on, allowing the home side to take two or three shots per possession. Now, it was Triton’s job to stick around and prevent their opponent from breaking things open.
“We knew this was going to be a tight game,” Riffle said. “It was frustrating at times but we came together in the third quarter and reminded ourselves that this is where we want it to be, that we don’t want it to end. We just needed to start stacking some stops and start playing our game.”
When the buzzer finally sounded to end a nightmare quarter for the Trojans, they had been outscored 11-4 in the period. With eight minutes left to preserve its season, Triton would have to erase a four-point deficit as the Blazers led 41-37 and had all the momentum after an incredibly physical display.
Seniior Julian Swanson of Triton scores against the defense of Marquette Catholic's Andrew Pleasant...Nieter
After sitting a majority of the third with foul trouble, Wood reentered and made an impact immediately, hitting his fourth triple of the game to give his side some momentum. That would be the only basket for the next couple of minutes before a mad-scramble for the ball near midcourt ended with Patrick wide open in the corner. He hit perhaps the biggest shot of his career, tying things up at 43 with 4:40 left.
“It was definitely the biggest shot of my life. Morale was starting to go down a bit and the ball found me,” Patrick said. “I put in a lot of work in the offseason, I know I don’t shoot a lot in games but I take shots all summer to be ready for that moment.”
Over the next two minutes, each team hit a shot to keep things tied up at the three minute mark. Fifteen seconds later, a perfectly-executed fast break for the Trojans resulted in a reverse layup for Riffle that put Triton back in front for the first time in nearly 10 minutes of game action. After a pair of turnovers, the visitors remained in front by two with two minutes left.
It remained that way for the next 45 seconds before another chaotic possession resulted in an open look in the corner for Marquette’s Aleks Pecoski. He got the friendliest of rolls off both the rim and backboard before his shot finally bounced through and gave the Blazers a one-point lead.
It lasted all of seven seconds before Julian Swanson muscled his way to the lane and hit a layup. The lead changes kept on coming as Nate Bakota caught the ball where Pecoski did moments earlier on his team’s next possession, hitting another triple to put the home side up by two. Not to be outdone, Swanson hit another two at the other end to tie things up with 30 seconds left.
After a timeout gave both teams, and the fans, time to catch their breath, Marquette Catholic took its time on the final possession. The Blazers intended to take the final shot, but it never got that far. Some terrific hands by Patrick poked the ball free, and instinctively, Riffle made a beeline towards his basket. With no one back there, the ball made it into his hands with three seconds left, and as the buzzer sounded, he made the layup to win the game.
Wood led the team with 18 points on 7/11 shooting, including going 4/4 from deep. Swanson finished with 13 points, while Riffle added nine. Patrick finished with three points, eight assists and the biggest play of his life.
Triton will face Tri-County at Lafayette Jefferson on Saturday in the semi-state round. Playing in the first game of the day will be Monroe Central and North Vermillion.
