Continuously serving Kosciusko County since 1854
BOURBON -ÊThe last time the Triton Trojans were in action, a half second separated them from a victory over John Glenn in a wild game. Triton rallied late only to lose by 2.
Friday night the Culver Cavaliers ended the game on an 18-0 run.
Unfortunately for the Cavaliers Triton was up by 36 at the time and still picked up a 58-40 win.
The first quarter saw Triton fall into a trap common when a team is considerably better than the competition.
The Trojans played down to the Cavaliers' level for most of the first quarter. Culver was aided by a yeoman-like effort by Tim Day. The 6-foot-2 senior forward muscled his way inside for his team's first two baskets. He scored six of his team-high 10 points in a first quarter that saw Culver down 11-8 in the final minute of the quarter.
The Trojans quickly extended their lead to 17-8 on two three pointers from Adam Wanemacher and Josh Moore.
The three-pointers continued to rain on the heads of the Cavaliers in the second quarter.
The sole culprit for Triton was junior Braxton Barton. He was 4 of 8 from behind the arc in the second quarter. Barton left the game with a minute left in the quarter when he had the wind knocked out of him during a rugby-esque scrum for a loose ball.
Triton coach Mike McBride wasn't surprised by Barton's range. McBride felt it was long overdue.
"We know that he can make those shots. For some reason he's struggled from the field at times but tonight he was effective out there," said McBride.
"I think it comes down to consistency. Not only on the offensive end but on the defensive end."
Barton, spurred by his good shooting, aided Triton in putting the defensive clamps down.
Culver, however, true to form hit buckets every now and again to keep things respectable.
Triton once again went on a late run and as the buzzer signaled the end of the first half, the Trojans found themselves up 38-18.
Continued From 1B
The Cavaliers are an eight-man squad, none of whom have above average skill or athleticism. However, they are scrappy.
Despite Culver's toughness, things came crashing down to earth in the third quarter. The Cavaliers began the half 0 of 8 from the field and finished the quarter 1 of 12 for two points.
Triton, substituting liberally, managed to score another 13 points. While the first half saw Triton rely heavily on the three, the second half was a polar opposite. Triton attempted a few from behind the arc but scored no points on three pointers.
With less than five minutes left in the game the Trojans extended their lead to 58-30. Culver slowly built momentum and were aided by the fact Triton's second team was in the contest most of the quarter.
As the Trojans' role players struggled, Culver mounted an 18-0 to cut Triton's lead in half.
While McBride was happy with the win, the late run brought up a point he's been trying to get across all season.
"Again, it all comes down to consistency," said McBride. "For 32 minutes tonight we played really well. Even though we had our reserves in it's important to play hard the whole game."
Surprisingly it wasn't McBride who brought this up to his players.
"I wasn't even the one to bring that up," he said. "Our seniors were the ones who talked about how that sort of mental lapse can't happen against anyone."
Triton now sits at .500 with a 5-5 record and 1-2 in the NSC. The news wasn't all good for the Trojans though. McBride reported after the game that both Bryan Watkins and Kyle Bell, both of whom have started at some point in the season, both face MRI's on Tuesday on their knees.
A shorthanded Trojan squad will host Elkhart Baptist Friday night at 8 p.m.
TRITON 58, CULVER 40
Triton 17 21 13 7 - 58
Culver 8 10 2 20 - 40
TRITON FG FT A S R Pts.
Wanemacher 3-6 4-6 4 2 4 13
McClarnon 3-5 3-4 3 3 3 9
Savill 1-2 0-1 1 0 3 2
Kuhn 2-4 0-0 1 3 3 4
Moore 2-4 1-1 2 1 6 6
Blackford 3-9 0-0 1 0 7 6
Sauer 0-0 0-0 0 1 1 0
Baton 6-13 0-0 0 1 2 16
Sellers 0-1 0-0 0 0 0 0
Moriarty 1-1 0-0 0 0 1 2
C. McClarnon 0-0 0-0 0 0 0 0
Totals 21-45 8-12 12 11 30 58
Culver FG FT A S R Pts.
Scroggs 0-3 0-0 1 0 0 0
Snyder 4-11 0-0 3 2 3 8
Caudill 1-4 3-3 0 0 3 6
Day 5-7 0-0 0 0 2 10
Carter 2-4 0-0 0 3 3 4
DeSabatine 1-5 0-0 0 0 0 2
Elliot 2-5 0-0 0 0 0 6
Weldon 1-3 2-3 0 0 4 4
Totals 15-41 5-6 4 5 15 40
Three point goals -ÊTriton 6-14 (Barton 4-8, Moore 1-1, Wanemacher 1-1), Culver 3-11 (Elliot 2-4, Caudill 1-3). Team Fouls -ÊTriton 13, Culver 11. Turnovers -ÊTriton 12, Culver 14. Technical Fouls: None. Fouled Out -ÊNone
