BOURBON – Triton’s regional semifinal game against Gary 21st Century Academy couldn’t have started much better, but it couldn’t have ended much worse. The end result was the Trojan’s season coming to an end in a 74-62 loss to the Cougars. The Trojans began the contest by hitting a trio of three-point shots, and when Masen Yeo completed an old-fashioned three-point play it gave the home team a 12-0 lead over the Cougars. Cougar coach Rodney Williams never called time out, instead letting his team self-correct. “As bad as I wanted to call a timeout, I looked to my assistant coaches, and they said ‘coach we’ve been doing it all year. You know that. They’re OK. Let them figure it out,’” said Williams. “and I said ‘you know what? You’re right. They will figure it out.’ And they did. They calmed down. I think they had a lot of excess energy, and once they figured it out, I knew we were going to be OK. Once we got back to even, we knew we were going to be OK, and I didn’t want to burn the timeout.” Triton head coach Jason Groves said he wasn’t surprised by the fast start of his squad. “It just shows what kind of kids we’ve got.” said Groves. “They came out attacking, came out aggressive. Give them credit; they made a run right back at us. Their athleticism and quickness kinda got to us, and obviously was a bit too much for us.” Triton hung tough with Century, with the game featuring six ties and nine lead changes. The Trojans held a two-point lead with 3:08 left in the third before the Cougars closed out the quarter on an 8-0 run to lead 45-39. The Trojans got no closer the rest of the way, and the Cougars sealed the win with free throws down the stretch. With most statistics being relatively even, Century’s pressure forced 18 turnovers, nine more than they committed. The mistakes translated to a 21-2 advantage on points off turnovers. “They got us in a hurry, and we were kinda quick with our passes. Instead of finding the open man we’d just pass it quick,” Groves said. “The thing that stood out in my mind; when they would get us in transition, they would be gone,” Groves said. “We couldn’t get back and we couldn’t stay in front of them. They’re athletic and quick, that was the key. Not just the turnovers, but them finishing. “They definitely made us pay for the turnovers we had.” Williams said he had concerns about playing Triton on the Trojans’ home floor, and figured it would be a close game. “We played a great, great team. We knew the first half was going to be tight. It was our intention all along to get out and run. I mean, that’s what we do,” he said. “Once we do that, it’s kind of hard to keep even with us.” Century’s Geno German, a Division I prospect, scored 24 points, more than nine points below his average. Forwards Tyree Booker and DeAndre Gholston had 18 and 13 points, respectively, and guard Core’von Lott hit seven free throws on his way to 12 points. In the second semifinal game South Newton beat Fort Wayne Blackhawk 51-46. The Cougars went on to claim the regional title with an 82-66 win over South Newton. Century will take a 20-6 record into its semistate matchup in Huntington with Liberty Christian from Anderson. Triton senior Masen Yeo closed out his career with a game-high 28 points, and classmate Jordan Anderson had 16 in his last game as the Trojans finished with a 18-8 mark for the season. “Those kids all week have been very vocal in practice,” Groves said of Yeo and Anderson. “They’ve been such great leaders for us all year long. That’s what you want for kids that have been vital to our program and role models. They’re the type of basketball players you want to coach.”
GARY 21st CENTURY ACADEMY 74, TRITON 62 Cen 13 16 16 29 – 74 Tri 14 12 13 23 – 62 Century – Core’von Lott 2-8 7-8 12, Geno German 7-18 9-11 24, Edwin Hardiman 0-0 0-0 0, DeAndre Gholston 5-13 3-4 13, Armed Cathey 2-5 2-45 7, Jerrell Northern 0-0 0-0 0, Tyree booker 8-9 2-3 18. Totals 24-53 23-30 74. Triton – Jarrett Martin 0-0 0-0 0, Nathan Flenar 0-0 0-0 0, Jarrett Kreft 0-1 3-4 3, Masen Yeo 11-18 3-4 28, Jordan Anderson 5-12 3-3 16, Dalton Bailey 0-3 1-2 1, Zac Pitney 3-5 0-0 8, Brent Motz 0-0 0-0 0, Dylan Hensley 0-0 0-0 0, Grant Johnson 3-6 0-0 6, Adam Stevens 0-0 0-0 0. Totals 22-45 10-13 62. Three-pointers – Century 3 (Lott, German, Cathey), Triton 8 (Yeo 3, Anderson 3, Pitney 2); Rebounds – Century 31 (German 9), Triton 27 (yeo 6, Pitney 6); Turnovers – Century 9, Triton 18, Fouls – Century 13, Triton 21; Fouled out – Yeo; Records: Century 19-6, Triton 18-8. Other semifinal: S. Newton 51, FW Blackhawk 46 Championship: Century 82, S. Newton 66
