LAFAYETTE - Still slowed by illness, Triton High School senior Colton Keel admitted he vomited a couple times during Saturday's Class 1A semistate game at Lafayette Jeff's Crawley Center.
Victory, though, never tasted so sweet, as the third-ranked Trojans overcame a slow start and beat No. 6 Lafayette Central Catholic 50-47.The three-point win earned defending state champion Triton a spot in Saturday's state finals at Conseco Fieldhouse in Indianapolis, where the Trojans (24-2) will play No. 1 Jac-Cen-Del (24-2) at 10:30 a.m.
Jac-Cen-Del advanced to state by beating No. 7 North Daviess 38-32.
"This is amazing," said Keel, who scored 13 points for the Trojans, including a free throw that tied the game at 47-all with 54 seconds remaining in the game. "Winning state last year was amazing, to get back to state this year, this is even better. This is amazing."
The Knights, who had their season ended in the semistate last year when Keel tipped in a shot in the closing seconds, finished this year's campaign with a 20-7 record.
Lafayette Central Catholic entered Saturday's game against the Trojans on a 12-game winning streak.
Sophomore Griffyn Carpenter, who led the Trojans in scoring with 14 points, gave Triton a 49-47 lead with a pair of free throws with 30 seconds to play.
With 13 seconds remaining, Triton senior Joel Meister hit the first of a two-shot opportunity at the free throw line, accounting for what turned out to be the final score.
The Knights grabbed the rebound on the missed charity toss, and Elliott Zak missed a three-pointer for Lafayette Central Catholic.
The Knights had one more chance to tie the game, but Dru Anthrop's trey was off the mark as time expired.
"It's amazing," Meister, who scored nine points for Triton, said of advancing to state this year after losing four starters from last year's team to graduation. "Last year we were hidden behind a great group of seniors. Being a senior, and to go back this year, this is amazing."
The end result for Triton was amazing. The start of the game, not so much, as the Knights raced out to an 8-0 lead.
The Trojans were scoreless for the first 5:15 of the first quarter.
Keel's old-fashioned three-point play with 2:45 to play in the opening quarter, however, sparked a 17-4 run that led to a 25-22 lead at halftime.
"We wanted to stay focused, and I thought the kids did that," said Groves. "They (LCC) got out to a quick lead, but these kids expect to win. It doesn't matter who we're playing, these kids expect to win."
And it's that belief in themselves and the coaching staff that has led the Trojans to a 49-4 record the past two seasons.
Triton hasn't lost to a Class 1A team since falling 49-47 to eventual state champion Oregon-Davis in the sectional championship game in 2007.
"That says a lot about these kids," said Groves. "They expect to win. It takes confidence, and these kids believe in each other. I'm so proud of them."
Triton's five senior players - Keel, Moriarty, Dustin Kreft, Cody Carpenter and Zac Moriarty - will finish their prep careers at Conseco Fieldhouse Saturday.
They can thank junior teammate Ben Montalbano for making it possible.
The 5-foot-8 point guard played all 32 minutes and made big play after big play against Lafayette Central Catholic, scoring 10 of his 12 points in the first half.
Montalbano also pulled down a game-high six rebounds, sharing that honor with Meister, dished out a pair of assists and made a steal.
"We wanted to get out to a quick start, but they turned the tables on us," said Montalbano. "Once we got settled down, we got things going."
Anthrop led the Knights with a game-high 19 points, but did so by hitting just 8 of 24 shots from the field. The 6-1 senior made both of his free throw attempts but was 1 of 7 from three-point range.
As a team, Lafayette Central Catholic was 18 of 57 (32 percent) from the field overall and 5 of 29 (17 percent) from three-point range.
Triton, on the other hand, finished the game 19 of 38 (50 percent) from the field overall and 3 of 7 (43 percent) from three-point range.
The Trojans were 9 of 12 from the free throw line, including a 7-of-9 effort in the second half.
The game featured 11 lead changes and seven ties.
Joining Anthrop in double-figure scoring for the Knights was Chris Mills, who finished with 12 points.
