BOURBON – Saturday's high school boys basketball regional at Triton High School didn't end the way it was supposed to for the host Trojans. After dispatching fourth-ranked Kouts 58-45 in the afternoon semifinal, the Class 1A No. 5 Trojans jumped out to a 19-3 lead on ninth-ranked Fort Wayne Canterbury in the night's championship game, but were outscored 19-6 in the second quarter, eventually losing 64-60 in double overtime. "It happened against Michigan City Marquette (in the previous week's sectional title) and it happened this morning (against Kouts)," Triton coach Jason Groves said about his team starting out strong, then fading. "We tend to do that a little bit. We get up and get the lead, and maybe get a little comfortable. But we knew they were going to make a run. All these teams, when you get to this point, are good basketball teams. You're not going to just come in and annihilate anybody." But it wasn't just Triton that was bitten by a big Canterbury comeback Saturday. In the day's opening contest, Canterbury fell behind 15-2 in the opening quarter to Pioneer, but went on to win 48-46. "You just have to stick with it," Canterbury coach Dan Kline said. "Each time we stayed positive. I told the kids, 'You've played your two-point quarter. It's out of the way. Now, let's play.'" After watching Triton jump out to its 19-3 lead, which included two breakaway dunks by junior Clay Yeo, Canterbury regained its composure as 6-foot-3 junior guard Trent VanHorn began penetrating the lane and 6-5 senior Davis Rao netted 10 second-quarter points, including three treys. "We were a little stiff, a little tentative," Kline said about his team's first-quarter performance. "After we start rolling, we're pretty good." The VanHorn-Rao tandem weren't only doing it offensively, but also on the other end. After scoring 12 first-quarter points, the 6-6 Yeo was limited to six points over the next two quarters. "They're both long and strong, and (6-3 senior) Kai (Foday) was pretty strong on the boards too," Kline said. In previous games, Yeo had been able to get inside anytime he wanted to - either by driving or backdoor cuts. Against Canterbury, he scored often by getting behind the Cavalier defense in the opening quarter, but eventually that well dried up. And while he was able to continue to penetrate, the length of the Cavaliers made things tough inside, even though he did score a game-high 34 points on 14-of-27 shooting. "One thing I was concerned about was their length," Groves said. "They're athletic, they're long. "It seemed like they were contesting everything," he added. "It seemed like they were getting a hand on the ball and getting a lot of tips. That messes with the guys' heads a little bit. When you're always getting your shot blocked or tipped, it gets frustrating." Yeo's 34 points did set a new scoring record at Triton High School, as he now sits at 1,337, eclipsing 2011 graduate Griffyn Carpenter's total of 1,327. Yeo's record-breaking shot gave his team a 48-43 lead with 1:22 remaining in regulation, but after the announcement was made of his accomplishment, Canterbury sophomore Grant Sinn nailed a three-pointer, cutting the Triton lead to 48-46 with 1:05 left. The Cavaliers then tied the game with free throws by Foday with 28 seconds remaining. Triton had a shot at the win late, but a baseline layup by senior Zak Shively rimmed out, resulting in OT. Canterbury built a 54-50 overtime lead, but Yeo hit a bucket with 13.7 seconds remaining, then recorded a backcourt steal and converted a layup, to force the second overtime period. In the second overtime, Triton sophomore Tanner Shepherd hit one of two free throws, to give the home team a 57-56 lead, but Canterbury scored the next eight points before Yeo hit a three-pointer with under a second to go, resulting in the final score. "We weren't the favorites," Kline said. "We just came in as the underdog, under the radar." And while the loss was tough for Triton, it did lose to a team that dealt with some adversity this season. After the Cavaliers lost in last year's Triton Regional semifinals, Canterbury had a lot coming back, led by 6-6 Austin Hatch. However, a week after verbally committing to the University of Michigan, Hatch was involved in an airplane crash that killed his stepmother and father, Stephen, who was piloting the plane. The crash was the second Hatch had been involved in, as one also took place in 2003, killing his mother and two siblings. His latest tragedy resulted in him being put into a drug-induced coma, but he was able to recover and was dressed in a suit and sat on the bench Saturday. When he climbed the ladder to take a piece of the net Saturday, he received a rousing ovation. "With (Hatch), we're – pretty good," Kline said. "We just had to reform everything, go straight ahead and say this is what we got and we're just going to play. That's what those kids have done. I'm proud of them." While Yeo was Triton's lone double-digit scorer, Canterbury had four, led by Rao's 24, VanHorn's 16, Foday's 14 and Sinn's 11. Canterbury will now take on No. 6 Rockville in Saturday's semistate at Lafayette Jefferson High School, while the Trojans will be at home. "We've established a standard here," Groves said. "You can't gauge a season by not making it to the state finals. In some ways, I'm more proud of this team than I've been with teams in the past. This group battled and got better as the season went along. What they've accomplished - being NSC champs, Bi-County champs, sectional champs, regional runners-up - they deserve a lot of credit. This is a special season." And the final game saw Triton history made, even though it couldn't have come in a more bittersweet way for Yeo. "I'm sure he'd give that up in a heartbeat for a victory," Groves said about Yeo's record-setting point total. "He's accomplished a lot this year. He's the school's all-time leading scorer, he's set the single-game scoring record and single-season scoring record. So, there's not much left for him to accomplish, besides maybe winning a state championship. He'd like to get there next year, but it's going to take a lot of leadership on his part and a lot of dedication and effort from the other kids."
Triton 58, Kouts 45 Prior to worrying about Canterbury, Triton first had the No. 4 Kouts Mustangs to handle, which it did thanks to Yeo. Following a close first-quarter battle, which saw Triton trailing 15-14, the Trojans outscored the Mustangs 15-2 in the second quarter and went into the half up 29-17. "We weren't as aggressive early as I would have liked for us to have been," Kouts coach Marty Gaff said. "If we had been more aggressive early, I think that would have helped a lot. We were not and we dug ourselves a little bit of a hole." Outscoring Triton 12-4 in the third quarter, Kouts began to dig itself out of the hole and got within 33-31 following a bucket by sophomore Cody Nelson with 7:41 left in the game. "It's kind of the same thing that happened in the sectional finals," Groves said about his team also blowing a lead against Michigan City Marquette a week earlier. "We were up 16 and came out (sluggish). I think we took quick shots, some quick 3s. We were settling a little bit for jumpers. They were doing a better job of containing us and getting after us on defense." But thankfully for Triton, Yeo is on the roster. Just as Kouts made things interesting, Yeo scored back-to-back buckets for the Trojans, regaining a stronghold they would keep. "He's a handful," Gaff said about Yeo. "I didn't feel like we stopped him late. They kind of spread it out and he got going. For most of the game, we did a decent job on him." Yeo finished the game with 27 points on 10-of-18 shooting, while senior Zak Shively had 14 points and four assists. All season, Kouts had defined itself as an uptempo squad the would take three-point shots at the drop of a hat. Against Triton, the Mustangs converted just 2 of 19 treys, making it tough to get over the hump. "We did not shoot well from behind the stripe," Gaff said. "Part of that was, they put good pressure on you out there. We weren't real patient. We didn't go inside enough. I really felt we needed to be more aggressive to the basket early in the game."
