BOURBON – After a low-scoring third quarter, Triton outscored Oregon-Davis 19-7 over the last eight minutes of the sectional title game to win 55-36 Saturday night in the Trojan Trench. The win avenged last season’s sectional final home loss to the Bobcats, and to hear Trojan head coach Jason Groves tell it, revenger wasn’t a factor in this year’s tournament. “I didn’t even mention last year to them,” Groves said. “We are a new team, they are a new team. This is a totally new year. We are a different team and we are playing well. Last year is in the past. That’s nothing. Let’s focus on this year and get it done. And our kids did.” So the players didn’t even talk about revenge amongst themselves? “Yeah we did,” junior center Grant Johnson admitted, smiling. “Coach did tell us that this year both teams are different than last year. “But we looked at each other and said ‘there’s no way those guys are going to come in here and beat us again this year.’ We were not going to let them get us again.” Senior Masen Yeo got the Trojans off to a solid start, scoring 12 first-quarter points and helping Triton to an early seven-point lead. The Bobcats trimmed that deficit to one before the end of the period. Shots were falling for both teams before intermission, with Oregon-Davis hitting 60 percent of its shots before halftime and Triton knocking down 59 percent of its shots. It wasn’t necessarily a lack of defense that led to the hot start from the field. Offensive patience was the order of the day. “Part of it was (Oregon-Davis) came to play,” Groves said. “Give credit to their kids and their coaching staff. They did a nice job. But I liked how our kids responded, I felt good when we had a seven-point lead at halftime when they shot that well. “We had to make a few minor adjustments, and we did. Our kids handled it and I thought our kids played really well.” Back-to-back threes for Triton, with Zac Pitney sandwiching a trey around a pair by senior Jordan Anderson, gave the Trojans a 32-24 halftime cushion. Both teams cooled in the third period, scoring just nine points between them. Johnson helped put the Bobcats away with 10 of his 12 points coming late, as did five of his game-high seven rebounds. “At halftime coach told me if I wanted to be out there, I needed to step up,” Johnson said. “Fortunately, I was able to do that and help us win.” Yeo finished with a team-high 19 points, and Anderson had 11 for Triton. The Trojans committed just seven fouls as a team, and didn’t send Oregon-Davis to the free throw line at all. The Bobcats’ Jonathon Clark had a game-high 20 points, including four three-pointers. The Trojans (18-7) took the sectional title for the 12th time in school history, and have won the sectional seven times in the last 10 seasons, missing out from 2013-15. In Saturday’s regional tournament, Triton will host Gary 21st Century (18-6) in the 10 a.m. game, with Fort Wayne Blackhawk (16-11) and South Newton (23-2) squaring off in the other semifinal around noon. The regional championship game will be at 8 p.m. in the Trojan Trench.
