AKRON – For the longest time, Triton and Tippecanoe Valley were either ice cold offensively or playing solid defense, depending on a particular point of view. Valley was the first to snap out of it, and after building a 13-point lead in the third quarter, Triton cut the lead to two with 2:38 to play before the Vikings held off the visiting Trojans to earn a 50-41 win Friday night. Triton hit just 25 percent of its shots in the first half, but Valley was only 1.3 percent better in forging a 16-13 lead at halftime. Valley came out red hot after intermission, however, hitting eight shots in the third quarter after making only five in the first half. The Vikings hit almost 71 percent of their shots from the floor in the second half to build 13-point lead, 34-21, with about two and a half minutes to go in the third. The Trojans rallied, led by Zac Pitney, who scored eight points at the end of the third and the first possession of the fourth quarter. The Viking defense was strong enough to keep the Trojans from completing the comeback, though, forcing turnovers and getting stops when Valley needed them most. “I thought our defense was really good. We just didn’t shoot well the first half. We shot better in the second half, and overall I thought we played pretty well. We’ve been playing better the last six or seven ballgames,” said Valley head coach Bill Patrick. “At halftime we told the kids ‘look, you’re doing a lot of things well. You’re playing defense, and doing a lot of things well. Just relax and hit a few shots.’” Patrick called a timeout after Triton cut the lead down to size. “We told them ‘we’re ahead, just keep playin.’ (Jarod) Duzenbery let it get to him a little bit, but we told him to just relax and play,” he said. “We’re playing about as well as we can play. We just didn’t put in any time in the summer, so now we’re about where we should have been at the beginning of the season. If we had started out the season where we should have been, we‘d be a really good team by now. We’re playing better now, but obviously NorthWood’s the team to beat in the sectional. But, we’ve got a couple of weeks here to, hopefully, keep improving.” Triton head coach Jason Groves had simple answers to questions about not getting the lead back after the second quarter. “Too many turnovers, not enough stops down the stretch,” he said. “We’d cut it and then we couldn’t get a stop defensively, or we’d foul and put them on the line. We just couldn’t get over that hump. We have to execute better down the stretch. “Give Valley credit for that; it wasn’t just us not hitting; it was their defense, too. They were pretty stingy tonight and didn’t give us much at all. It was tough comings offensively and they did a nice job. “But we gotta find ways to score. We have to get on the offensive boards, get to the free throw line more; that’s what I’ve kinda been on our kids about. They took a lot of things away from us and we gotta find ways to generate points. Tonight we didn’t do that; there were times I thought we disappeared on the offensive boards, and we just didn’t get to the free throw line enough. So that’s something we have to get better at as a team.” Triton was led by Grant Johnson’s 14 points and Pitney’s 10. The Trojans missed all 12 of their three-point attempts and only shot nine free throws, hitting seven. Neil Clampitt scored 15 points and Brandon Webster had 11 for Valley. Duzenbery had nine tough points in the paint for the Vikings. The win was Valley’s third in a row, and the Vikings have won four of five to move their record to 9-12 for the season. They’ll close out the regular season Feb. 26 in Syracuse against Wawasee. Triton had its three-game win streak snapped, and the home team in the Valley/Triton series has won every year for the last seven seasons. The Trojans (14-7) play at Bremen Tuesday before closing out the regular season by hosting Knox in a Hoosier North Athletic Conference game Feb. 26.
TIPPECANOE VALLEY 50, TRITON 41 T 6 7 14 14 – 41 TV 5 11 19 15 – 50 Triton – Jarrett Martin 0-0 0-0 0, Nathan Flenar 0-2 0-0 0, Jarrett Kreft 1-5 0-1 2, Masen Yeo 4-8 0-0 8, Jordan Anderson 1-10 5-6 7, Zac Pitney 5-8 0-1 10, Brent Motz 0-0 0-0 0, Grant Johnson 6-8 2-2 14. Totals 17-41 7-9 41. Valley – Brandon Webster 3-5 3-6 11, Trevor Neeley 0-4 0-0 0, Keith Wright 0-0 0-0 0, DeSean Heckman 0-0 0-0 0, Alec Craig 3-7 2-3 8, Gavin Bussard 2-2 3-4 7, Neil Clampitt 6-9 2-2 15, Jarod Duzenbury 3-9 3-5 9. Totals 17-36 13-20 50. Three-pointers – Triton 0, Valley 3 (Webster 2, Clampitt); Rebounds – Triton 25 (Yeo 5), Valley 23 (Duzenbery 9); Turnovers – Triton 17, Valley 12; Fouls – Triton 18, Valley 13; Fouled out – none; Records: Triton 14-7, Valley 9-12 JV – Tippecanoe Valley 44, Triton 37 Triton – Beau Hepler 8, Caden Marr 5, Adam Stevens 5, Drew Stichter 5, Ethan Berry 2, Dylan Hensley 2 Valley – Ivan Santiago 11, Wes Melanson 10, Jake Gearhart 10, Alex Morrison 4, Dakota Parker 4, Caleb Bandow 3, DeSean Heckman 2
