CULVER — Triton High School’s varsity boys basketball team exacted some revenge Friday night in Culver. Snapping a 16-game losing streak against Triton back on Jan. 11 in Bourbon, the Culver Cavaliers (13-9) couldn’t pull off the feat again in Friday’s Class 1A Sectional 51 semifinal, falling 44-32 to the Trojans (16-5). “We felt as though, if we kept it in the 40s, somewhere in there like it was the first time, that was going to be the biggest thing,” Culver coach Kyle Elliott said, referring to the 46-42 regular-season victory. Culver did keep it a low-scoring affair, but Triton was ready and never trailed. “When we play Culver, it’s always like this,” Triton coach Jason Groves said. “They slow it down. They know exactly what to do against us. They know everything we do. It’s just been one of those rivalries where we play three times each year – Bi-County, NSC and sectional. We knew it was going to be a grind-out, possession basketball game.” Along with keeping the score low, Elliott also wanted to limit Triton’s 6-foot-6 senior guard Clay Yeo, which his Cavs did for a while. After picking up two fouls on the same Culver possession, Yeo sat out the final 6:50 of the third quarter, with five points and three fouls. Despite the Valparaiso University-bound Yeo being stuck on the bench, Triton actually extended its lead from 23-18 to 28-22 going into the fourth. “When Clay Yeo went to the bench with three fouls, that was a critical point,” Elliott said. “We started to make a little run, but couldn’t do anything there. We didn’t close the gap the way I wanted to.” Instead of closing the gap, Culver scored just four points and committed four turnovers during that time. “They picked up their defensive intensity when Clay went out,” Elliott said. “It’s a team defense they have, and they only lost one player out of it. When he went to the bench, I think their defensive intensity picked up.” Back on the court in the fourth, Yeo scored 11 of his game-high 16 points, making 7 of 8 free throws, while also hauling in three rebounds and recording an assist and a steal, sealing the win. In all, Yeo led Triton with 16 points, eight rebounds, four assists and three steals, despite almost missing an entire quarter. However, it wasn’t just Yeo doing damage. Sophomore guard Joey Corder went 2 of 3 from behind the three-point arc, scoring seven points, and sophomore Skyler Reichert went 2 of 2 from three-point range, netting six. “They just have a lot of confidence right now,” Groves said about Corder and Reichert. “They’re sophomores. At the beginning of the year, it was their first varsity experience, but now they’re playing well.” And their three-point buckets were the only ones made by Triton, and broke the spirit of the Cavs. “It wasn’t just one kid,” Elliott said. “I thought all of them contributed to a balanced attack.” Led by Yeo, the rest of Triton’s attack was Corder’s seven points, followed by Reichert and junior Tanner Shepherd’s six, senior Seth Glingle’s five and junior Cody Shively’s four. Culver was paced by junior Trent Elliott’s 13 points, but he made just 3 of 14 field goals, while senior Micah Budzinski finished his last prep game with eight points, six rebounds, five blocks and three assists. After winning their 15th-straight sectional game, the Trojans will look to win its sixth-straight sectional title tonight against No. 7 Michigan City Marquette at 6:30 p.m. Marquette advanced to the title game by defeating Westville 81-46 in Friday’s second semifinal. “Marquette is just super athletic, super skilled,” Groves said. “Obviously, they have to be one of the most athletic, skilled, individually-talented teams in the state.”
