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The Triton Trojans boys’ basketball team is headed to their fifth state title contest since winning the Class 1A championship on their first try in 2008. It’s easy to forget the 2008 champs were the first of four squads altogether making trips to Indianapolis in late March.
The squad made a repeat appearance the following year (2009), then climbed aboard a bus that could probably have driven itself to Gainbridge Fieldhouse in 2011, and again in 2013).
They’re testimony to the upside of Indiana’s single championship moving to four enrollment classes because there were some solid Trojan teams whose seasons ended when they hit Warsaw and other bigger area powers in sectionals.
The Triton Trojan boys’ basketball program could arguably brag they are the area’s most solid basketball program since the four-class system began if state title game appearances have weight.
While some Michiana big school fans among larger schools might tell you about hitting the usual buzzsaws among their larger enrollment classes chock-full of NCAA D1 and D2 recruits and commits that smaller schools might not face, the largest Indiana high school enrollment class schools’ state tournament runs among larger schools were rarely stonewalled and contaminated by charter, faith-based, and other private school programs in their enrollment class mix.
To Triton’s credit, on the other hand, the 1A enrollment class has been the most severely contaminated by the aforementioned voucher wielding schools who have been spending nearly two decades disrupting the intended spirit of the class basketball system.
Those vouchers have been used to load up on elite talent from larger public schools, and before re-apportioning enrollments among the three smaller Indiana enrollment classes, many smaller schools were red meat from being bumped up to Class 2A or 3A by the proliferation of the aforementioned private schools.
Fort Wayne Blackhawk is a good example topping a longer list as strong support of my opinion.
The reapportion of a greater number of smaller schools in classes 1A and 2A are steadily yielding better fruit for small public schools.
Furthermore, does any PUBLIC school program in the Michiana area – not just in the Times-Union readership boundaries – have a program reaching its fifth state title game since Indiana high school basketball was sliced into four enrollment classes?
Any fan attending this morning’s Class 1A championship game versus perennial Southern Indiana powerhouse Barr-Reeve will see what the original proponents of class basketball wanted to see: a matchup of two small, rural schools in a contest where both sides of the gym will likely have someone who was the last person leaving town making sure all the shops’ signs were turned to “CLOSED.”
There are some authentic, small town Hooooosiers out there on the hardwood this morning.
It was also sweet to see the box score of Triton’s early semistate round win over Michigan City Marquette, a private Roman Catholic school who has used vouchers to build and reload its basketball programs.
Someone might correct me if they were reading over my shoulder as I typed this morning’s column telling me, “Chip! Helloooo!, Indiana has a free-flowing transfer system in place this year so public schools can do the same thing private schools have been doing for years, so zip it.”
Nope. I’m dyin’ on this hill.
Here’s the deal, though. Triton made four previous trips to Indy among six seasons between 2008 and 2013 where this type of thing wasn’t pervasive. They made these trips with kids in their school district’s boundaries.
I have no knowledge whether Triton has, or does not have, transfers into its current sports programs among its best athletes.
Do you know what? It IS still a GREAT pleasure to see two small, rural, public schools battle for the Class 1A boys’ basketball title later this morning.
Good luck to the Triton Trojans this morning!
