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BOURBON -ÊOn paper, the matchup between Northern State Conference foes Culver and Triton looked lopsided.
Heading into Friday's boys basketball action, the Cavaliers were 1-7 and 0-3 in the conference, while Triton was 4-3 and 1-1 in the NSC.
After holding close for a half, Culver Community buried itself with 31 total turnovers in helping Triton pick up an 80-45 win.
"I thought our defensive intensity was great, especially in the second half,' Triton coach Joe Bennett said. "I'm happy with our defensive effort.'
The first quarter was played at a fast pace by both teams. Each team looked sloppy early as Culver turned the ball over eight times, and the Trojans had five miscues.
Both teams got great looks in the first half, with the Cavaliers and Trojans having a contest to see which team could score the most lay-ups.
"I thought Culver did a good job of executing in the first half,' Bennett said. "I give them a lot of credit for what they did.'
Trojan center Ben Moore had a huge first quarter as he lived in the paint, scoring 12 of his gamehigh 18 points.
"Ben Moore played a great game tonight,' Bennett said. "He does a lot of good things for us down low.'
The Cavaliers took an early 7-5 lead after Ryan Egger drilled a three in the corner. The Trojans responded, going on an 8-0 run to take a 13-7 lead with 3:41 left in the quarter. Both teams hit several lay-ups in the final three minutes to keep it close. The Trojans held a slim 23-19 first-quarter lead.
"We gave up a lot of lay-ups early because our defense wasn't great,' Bennett added. "We made adjustments in the second half, and we didn't give them much.'
The next three quarters were dominated by the Trojans.
Steven Boyer opened up Triton's outside game, scoring nine second-quarter points to extend the Trojan lead.
Culver was as close as 36-31 with 1:59 to play in the half before Triton exploded.
The Trojans finished the quarter with an 11-0 run to up the lead to 47-31 at half. What looked to be a close game at the break turned into a nightmare for the Cavaliers.
"We had some key steals, and our pressure was much better,' Bennett said.
The Cavaliers tried to make a run in the second half, but the Trojan defense stopped the Cavaliers from doing anything. Triton clamped down and held the Cavaliers to 14 second-half points.
"To only give up 14 points in the second half, that says something about our level of defense,' Bennett said.
Boyer led the Trojans with six third-quarter points, while Derek Sauer chipped in four.
The Trojans outscored the Cavaliers 14-10 to give them a 62-41 lead heading into the final frame.
The fourth quarter was horrible for Culver. The Cavaliers committed 10 turnovers, shot 1 of 7 from the floor and were outscored 18-4 on their way to a huge loss.
"We spread the ball out more in the second half, and it got us a lot of good looks,' Bennett said.
The Trojans got a lot of good effort off their bench in the lopsided win.
"We got tremendous effort from the bench tonight,' Bennett said. "They came in and did some nice things for us.'
Moore led the Trojans with 18 points and pulled down five rebounds. Boyer added 17 points and four steals. Jake Burnett chipped in nine and grabbed five rebounds.
Culver was led by Ryan Egger and Adam Loehmer, who each scored 11.
Triton (5-3, 2-1) hosts Elkhart Baptist on Friday.
"We have the big picture in mind,' Bennett said. "We need to stay focused and get better every game. This is a long season.'
TRITON 80, CULVER 45
Culver (1-8) 19 12 10 4 - 45
Triton (5-3) 23 24 15 18 - 80
Culver FG FT A S R Pts.
Carlson (G) 2-7 2-4 1 1 2 6
Hooker (G) 3-8 1-3 0 2 5 7
Egger (G) 4-13 2-2 1 0 3 11
Loehmer (F) 5-5 1-1 1 0 3 11
Lee (C) 3-5 0-1 0 0 4 6
Newman 2-3 0-0 2 1 1 4
Brown 0-1 0-0 0 1 1 0
Totals 19-42 6-11 5 5 19 45
Triton FG FT A S R Pts.
Boyer (G) 6-17 2-4 0 4 1 17
Burnett (G) 4-11 1-2 2 3 5 9
J. Moore (F) 3-5 0-1 1 3 3 6
Read (F) 1-2 4-4 1 4 3 6
B. Moore (C) 9-11 0-0 0 1 5 18
Landes 0-0 0-0 1 0 0 0
Potter 2-5 2-2 0 2 4 6
Yankovich 3-3 0-0 0 1 1 8
Sauer 3-6 0-1 0 1 5 6
Disher 0-0 0-0 1 1 0 0
Pizano 1-2 0-0 0 3 0 2
Wanemacher 1-1 0-0 0 1 0 2
Totals 33-63 9-16 6 24 27 80
Three-point goals -ÊCulver 1-8 (Carlson 0-2, Hooker 0-3, Egger 1-3), Triton 5-11 (Boyer 3-8, Burnett 0-1, Yankovich 2-2). Turnovers -ÊCulver 31, Triton 18. Total fouls - Culver 19, Triton 17. Fouled out -ÊLee.
JV: TRITON 45 CULVER 41
