BOURBON - Bowman guard Kevan Ford took off his jersey and covered his face after his three-point attempt bounced off the back of the rim.
About 15 feet away, Triton players and fans celebrated as the Trojans captured their second regional championship in as many years with a 60-58 win over Bowman Academy in the Trojan Trench.The Eagles, playing without freshman phenom DeJuan Marrero, gave Triton all it could handle and were 42 seconds from a win until senior guard Joel Meister collected an offensive rebound of his own shot and put in a layup to give his team a 59-58 win.
Marrero didn't play Saturday night after getting two technical fouls in his team's 55-28 win over Caston.
The first technical foul came after the refs felt he was hanging on the rim after a dunk attempt and the second came after slapping the backboard after a Caston shot attempt.
"I don't remember what I was thinking," said Meister of what ended up being the game-winning shot. "My mind is racing a thousand miles an hour right now. I know I had a layup that I missed and I got my own rebound."
Bowman was unable to respond as junior guard Nicholas Moore was called for an offensive foul on the Eagles' next possession that drew jeers from both the Bowman bench and their fans.
The Bowman faithful were also irate that Triton was granted a timeout before crossing halfcourt with 18.0 seconds left after taking the ball out with 28.2 left in the game.
Despite Bowman's objections, the Eagles were whistled for 20 fouls to Triton's 13, they couldn't do two things within their control Saturday night, play solid halfcourt defense or defend Griffyn Carpenter.
Bowman played a smothering full court trap that frustrated Triton at times but once the Trojans broke it they had good looks at the basket.
Especially Carpenter, who went 5 of 9 from beyond the arc.
While Bethany Christian was draped all over Carpenter in the morning game, a game Triton won 58-47, Bowman let the sharp-shooting sophomore have open looks at the hoop.
And when Carpenter has open looks at the hoop, it's usually bad news for the other team.
Carpenter, who hit 41.7 percent of his threes during the season, was surprised at Bowman's lack of defense.
"During the first game, Bethany Christian was all over me, so I was kind of surprised Bowman let me get open," said Carpenter.
Carpenter hit his first four three-pointers as Triton jumped out to an early lead.
"We knew we had to get off to a good start," said Triton head coach Jason Groves. "We watched tape on them and a lot of teams get behind early and it's over for them."
Triton took a five-point lead into the half at 32-27 but Bowman began to assert itself in the third quarter.
The Trojans couldn't find an answer for Christopher Bond, who finished with a game-high 22 points and 17 rebounds.
Bowman only trailed by two after Ford hit a half-court shot as time expired to make the score 50-48 heading into the fourth.
"They're a great team and very athletic and hard to defend," Groves.
Groves said his team's gameplan didn't change much without Marrero in the lineup.
"These kids just know how to win," said Groves of his team.
And they won without the A-game of senior forward Colton Keel.
Keel, who played sparingly against Bethany Christian, battled through the flu to finish with 15 points against Bowman.
"Our guards really picked us up tonight," said Keel.
While they didn't do a lot in the scoring department, Meister and junior Ben Montalbano were able to break Bowman's press and limit the Trojans turnovers.
Cody Carpenter and Zac Moriarty provided sparks off the bench scoring six and five points respectively.
"Those guys gave us a huge lift off the bench," said Groves.
The Trojans take on Lafayette Central Catholic at 1 p.m. at Lafayette Jefferson High School.
Triton defeated LCC last year to advance to the state finals.
TRITON 60, BOWMAN 58
B 7 20 21 10 - 58
T 13 19 18 10 - 60
Bowman - Ford 6 0-1 14, Madison 1 0-0 3, Robinson 2-7 0-0 4, Gamble 1-1, Moore 1 3-4 5, Bond 11 0-0 22, Joseph 2 2-2 7. Totals 24 6-9 58.
Triton - Montalbano 1 2-2 4, Meister 2 2-4 6, C. Carpenter, 2 1-2 6, Davis 1 1-1 3, Holderman 0 0-0 0, G. Carpenter 6 4-4 21, Keel 5 5-8 15, Moriarty 2 1-2 5. Totals 19 16-21.
Three-point goals - Bowman 4 (Ford 2, Madison 1, Joseph 1) Triton 6 (G. Carpenter 5, C. Carpenter 1). Rebounds - Bowman 35 (Bond 17) Triton 26 (Davis 6). Total Fouls - Bowman 20, Triton 13. Fouled Out - Moore. Records: Bowman 22-4, Triton 23-2.
