Continuously serving Kosciusko County since 1854
BOURBON - After the second game of the boys basketball sectional at Triton High School was in the books Thursday night, one fan joked with the media about how they could possibly fit both stories in today's newspaper. Both games were so close that this fan proceeded to ask whether another tree would be cut down to supply enough paper so nothing was left out of the stories.
This fan's observation was definately true, each and every segment of action was just as important as the next.
Argos squeezed by South Central in the first game with a slim 40-37 victory that gave the Dragons a berth in Saturday's championship game. Triton coach Joe Bennett said a week ago that South Central was the early favorite with their 17-4 record, but nobody could be overlooked.
"South Central was the favorite," said Bennett after his team beat Michigan City Marquette setting up tonight's championship game, "but Argos is no slouch. Not many people beat Plymouth and Argos did that. Both teams played great, it's sad someone had to walk out of a loser but that's the way the tournament is."
Bennett's team earned its berth in tonight's championship by beating Marquette 61-48. However, the game was much closer than the scoreboard indicated.
"The biggest play of the night was when (Matt)Savill hit that three of the inbounds play," said Bennett." "That put them in a pressure mode, that shot there was the biggest of the quarter."
The shot Bennett is referring to came with 3:27 remaining in the fourth quarter and pushed Triton's one-point lead to 46-42. With 2:18 left in the game Triton had extended its lead to 10 at 52-42.
Savill led all scorers with 19 points. Brandon Zeider and Austin Unterbrink added 14 and seven points respectively in the winning effort that improves Triton's record to 13-9. Marquette (9-13) was led by Michael Dolezal's and Justin Frever's 15 points apiece. Roman Macudzinski chipped in seven points in Marquette's final game of the season.
The Blazers held a 28-27 halftime advantage but Triton equalled its first half offensive output in the fourth quarter to account for the 13-point win.
"I was impressed with their defense," said Marquette coach Joe Toth, "I didn't think they could shut us down but they did. We couldn't miss in the third quarter, but unfortunately for us they couldn't miss in the fourth."
Triton made good on 7 of 9 (77.8 percent) field goal attempts in the final frame. The Trojans also connected on 10 of 13 free throws in the fourth quarter. Triton shot 19 of 47 (40.4 percent) from the field for the game. The Blazers shot a dismal 4 of 14 (28.6 percent) in the final quarter and 19 of 42 (45.2 percent) for the game.
"We didn't shoot the ball well enough to win," said
they're a good team. This shouldn't surprise anyone. It's very frustrating. We didn't do a good job of setting screens. We couldn't get people open. Regardless of what we need to do, we're not strong enough. People don't think those things are important but they are."
One other important factor that Toth didn't mention but Bennett did: turnovers. Triton committed just seven turnovers while Marquette was victim to twice that many.
"I've been concerned about that all year long," said Bennett. "I'll tell you what, they're athletic at all positions. Dolezal is good, and the people off the bench are all athletic."
Marquette also committed more fouls than the Trojans. The Blazers were whistled for 21 violations; Triton just 14. The Trojans used that to their advantage by making good on 19 of 27 (70.3 percent) free throw shots for the game. Marquette was just 6 of 7 from the charity stripe.
Triton (13-9) will play Argos (13-7) tonight at 7:30 p.m. in the sectional championship. Argos beat Triton 62-56 earlier in the season.
TRITON 61
MC MARQUETTE 48
Triton 14 13 7 27 - 61
M.C. Marquette 13 15 9 11 - 48
Triton FG FT S R Pts.
Unterbrink (G) 1-3 5-6 0 1 7
Bell 0-0 0-0 0 0 0
Blackford 0-0 0-0 0 0 0
Savill (G) 6-13 4-4 2 6 19
Heckaman 2-4 0-0 0 4 5
Salyer 1-2 1-1 0 1 3
Stutzman 2-5 2-4 0 2 6
Zeider (F) 5-13 4-8 2 4 14
Clauss 0-0 0-0 0 0 0
Hayes 0-0 0-0 0 0 0
McIntyre (F) 0-1 3-4 0 3 3
Read (C) 2-6 0-0 0 5 4
Totals 19-47 19-27 4 29 61
Marquette FG FT S R Pts.
Macudzinski 2-4 2-2 0 1 7
Koehler 1-5 0-0 1 3 2
Green 0-1 0-0 0 1 0
Sardon 1-1 0-0 0 1 2
Fogus (G) 2-8 0-0 0 3 5
Frever (G) 6-8 1-1 1 2 15
Fletcher (G) 0-1 0-0 0 2 0
Jaske 0-1 0-0 0 0 0
Weiler (F) 1-3 0-0 0 2 4
McDonald 0-0 0-0 0 0 0
Bergerson 0-0 0-0 0 0 0
Dolezal (C) 6-10 3-4 1 8 15
Totals 19-42 6-7 3 26 48
Three-pointers - Triton 4 (Savill 3, Heckaman), Marquette 4 (Frever, Macudzinski, Fogus). Turonovers - Triton 7, Marquette 14. Fouls - Triton 14, Marquette 21. Fouled out - Weiler, Fogus.
