Trojans Do Not Horse Around In Big Conference Win!

It was a matter of taking care of business for the Triton Trojans as they entered “The Nest” at North Judson-San Pierre High School. Facing an extremely athletic Bluejays team, mistakes would have to be at a minimum for the Trojans, and opportunities needed to be taken advantage of. That is exactly what Triton did on Saturday afternoon.

The first quarter would see the two teams battling evenly throughout the eight minute start. The Trojans and Bluejays were both taking care of the basketball on offense, while playing solid defense at the opposite end. North Judson would log just two turnovers while Triton tallied only three, as the Trojans were able to take a three-point lead at seventeen to fourteen following the end of the first quarter. The constant, attacking offense of Triton would begin to take its toll on the Bluejays as the game progressed. The Trojans would be able to get six individuals in the scoring column early in the game, led by Bruce Johnson and Tyson Yates who both put up six first half points.

The Trojans would continue to stretch their lead in the second quarter, although not being able to score quite as frequently as the two defenses increased their level of intensity. The ‘Jays would hold Triton to thirteen points, but the disciplined defense of the Trojans would only allow North Judson to accumulate eight. Consistency from the field would be one of the biggest advantages the Trojans held over the Bluejays. While both teams were able to get up at least twenty field goal attempts in the first half, Triton would be able to hit on fifty-two percent of their attempts, compared to North Judson’s forty-five. As the second quarter came to an end, the Trojans an eight point lead at thirty to twenty-two.

When the teams emerged from their locker rooms to begin the second half, the Trojans’ mentality continued to be intense on the defensive end. After forcing the Bluejays into nine first half turnovers, Triton would force another nine in the second, as the Trojans would outscore North Judson forty-nine to twenty-nine in the second half, on their way to a seventy-nine to fifty-one win at the Bluejays Nest in North Judson.

“I thought we were a little bit more patient (in the second half) offensively” Triton Head Coach Jason Groves said following the game. “In the first half we were kind of putting the ball on the floor and they were doing a nice job, right away, with their defense, but we got some ball reversals, we got out in transition, and defensively I thought we did really well”.

There was no shortage of quality production when it came to the individual performances of the Triton Trojans, as they were able to get quality minutes out of every person on their roster throughout the game.

“I thought a lot of guys played well” Groves said. “Tyson Yates played really well. I thought he battled defensively. John Gardner always plays hard and plays with intensity. Obviously, Ashton (Oviedo) does what he’s able to do each and every game. I thought Cole Shively coming off the bench really played well. Bruce Johnson was able to knock down some shots, Keegan (Westafer) coming off the bench did really well. I told the guys after the game I thought it was a really great team effort”.

The Starke County Co-Op Play of the Game on WKVI came with just three seconds left in the third quarter, when Tyson Yates drove the lane and scored on a layup that made the score fifty-four to thirty-seven as time expired.

The Ashley Derrickson/Five Star Player of the Game on WKVI went to Triton Junior Tyson Yates. The 5’10 guard scored a game-high twenty points, while dishing out six assists and pulling down five rebounds in the Trojans’ road win.

North Judson will be back to work on February 4th, when they travel to Pioneer in another Hoosier North Athletic Conference matchup, while Triton will be back at in on the 4th as well, when they travel to Pioneer.

Game Statistics

Scoring

Triton(79): Hunter McIntyre-4, Cole McKinney-7, Ashton Oviedo-15, John Gardner-9, Cole Shively-10, Bruce Johnson-14, Tyson Yates-20

NJSP(51): Kelson Jordan-3, Connor Benson-2, Blayne Wilcox-11, Trey Hampton-6, Payton Cox-9, Ty Schumacher-4, Owen Frasure-3 Cheyenne Allen-13

Made 3-Point Shots

Triton(8): Cole McKinney-1, Ashton Oviedo-1, John Gardner-1, Cole Shively-1, Bruce Johnson-4

NJSP(5): Kelson Jordan-1, Trey Hampton-2, Owen Frasure-1, Cheyenne Allen-1

Free-Throw Shooting

Triton: 9-15 60%

NJSP: 4-6 66%

Rebounding

Triton(26): Hunter McIntyre-2, Keegan Westafer-2, John Gardner-10, Cole Shively-2, Bruce Johnson-2, Tyson Yates-5, Connor Large-1, Team-2

NJSP(20): Kelson Jordan-1, Connor Benson-1, Blayne Wilcox-7, Trey Hampton-4, Kason Sanchez-1, Payton Cox-1, Eric Materna-1, Cheyenne Allen-3, Team-1

Steals

Triton(5): Hunter McIntyre-1, John Gardner-2, Tyson Yates-2

NJSP(2): Blayne Wilcox-1, Cheyenne Allen-1

*Statistical Information In This Article Provided By Triton High School*