BOURBON – From here on out, said coach Jason Groves, every game Triton High School’s boys basketball team plays could lead to a championship. Though there wasn’t a title on the line Friday night, it certainly looked like the Trojans were playing as if there was, as they beat the Class 3A No. 9 Tippecanoe Valley Vikings 65-59. “This is a huge win for our confidence,” said Groves, whose team concludes the regular season Friday with a chance to win an outright Northern State Conference title before trying to capture its sixth-straight sectional crown. “We’ve kind of wondered about ourselves lately, we’ve been up and down,” added Groves. “I thought we played well tonight.” With the six-point win, Triton improved to 14-5 on the season and extended its winning streak to six games. Valley fell to 16-3 and saw its winning streak end at seven games. “We just didn’t play hard,” said Valley coach Bill Patrick. “We got an eight-point lead and decided to relax. We didn’t think we had to play hard.” With the Vikings ahead 22-14 in the second quarter, Groves called a timeout. Whatever the eighth-year coach said to his team worked, as the Trojans closed the half on an 18-5 run and then took a 36-27 lead early in the third quarter. “We were turning the ball over, and defensively we did some silly things,” said Groves. “I called the timeout and reminded them what I wanted done. We started getting good shots. Our defensive effort led to some offense.” After the timeout, Triton’s run allowed them to lead 32-27 at halftime and 51-40 after three quarters of play. Clay Yeo did the majority of the damage to Valley in the second quarter, as the Valparaiso-bound senior scored 11 of his 15 first-half points in the second stanza. On senior night, and possibly the last time he will play at the Trojan Trench, Yeo finished with 27 points, eight rebounds, five assists, two steals and two blocks. “In the first quarter we came out passive,” said Yeo, Triton’s all-time leading scorer. “(Valley’s Tanner) Andrews is big, so I just started attacking the basket.” So did Triton junior Tanner Shepherd, who scored 11 points in the third quarter, making 5 of 6 attempts in the frame. Shepherd, who played on the varsity team at Valley two years ago as a freshman, finished the game with 21 points and six rebounds. “It just goes to show you how well he can play when he’s focused,” Groves said of Shepherd, who was 9 of 14 from the field. “When he’s confident, he plays well. He was motivated for obvious reasons tonight.” Senior Seth Glingle added 10 points in the win, while sophomore Skyler Reichert scored three points and junior Cody Shively and sophomore Joey Corder chipped in with two points each. For Valley, Andrews led the way with 15 points, while sophomore Alex Thacker added 14 points and junior Ben Shriver and senior Nick Kindig finished with 11 and nine points, respectively. The Vikings rallied in the fourth quarter, but got no closer than four points. Triton concludes the regular season Friday at Knox, while the Vikings host Wawasee Friday in its regular season finale.
TRITON 65, TIPPECANOE VALLEY 59 TV 13 14 13 19 – 59 Tri 12 20 19 14 – 65 Valley – Alex Thacker 6-14 1-3 14, Jarred Littlejohn 0-0 0-0 0, Tanner Andrews 5-10 5-6 15, Jacob Ritchey 2-4 2-2 7, Chainey Zolman 1-3 1-1 3, Nick Kindig 4-7 0-0 9, Ben Shriver 4-6 3-4 11. Totals 22-44 12-16 59. Triton – Joey Corder 1-4 0-1 2, Clay Yeo 11-21 4-5 27, Darren Harrell 0-0 0-0 0, Bryson Mosier 0-0 0-0 0, Trenton Cooper 0-0 0-0 0, Tanner Shepherd 9-14 3-3 21, Seth Glingle 5-6 0-1 10, Cody Shively 1-2 0-0 2, Drew Mosson 0-2 0-2 0, Skyler Reichert 1-1 0-0 3. Totals 28-50 7-12 65. Three-pointers – Valley 3 (Thacker, Ritchey, Kindig), Triton 2 (Yeo, Reichert); Rebounds – Valley 20 (Kindig 5), Triton 30 (Yeo 8); Turnovers – Valley 9, Triton 11; Fouls – Valley 14, Triton 16; Fouled out – none; Records: Valley 16-3, Triton 14-5 JV – Triton 29, Valley 19 Triton – Jordan Anderson 12, Dillon Meadway 6, Skyler Reichert 5, Bryce Wanemacher 4, Blake Johnson 2 Valley – Aaron Hoffman 7, Bryce Zimpleman 6, Chandler O’Connor 4, Brandon Webster 2
