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Winners of five straight games, as well as the Hoosier North Athletic Conference, the Triton boys basketball team continued its journey towards the postseason with a nonconference game against Rochester at the Trojan Trench on Tuesday. After eight minutes, it looked like those in attendance might witness a classic, but as the game wore on, the Trojans showcased their dominance, pulling away for a 72-39 win.
Three different Trojans accounted for the team’s first three baskets of the night, two of which came from deep. That was not the case for the Zebras, as Jonas Kiser scored the first eight for his team. Both sides started off incredibly hot from three, with the first six attempts from distance going down, three for each side.
The offenses continued to dictate the game as the first quarter wore on, as both teams were having a ton of success shooting the ball. Gage Riffle established himself as the man with the hot hand for the home side, hitting three triples in the opening eight minutes. On the other end, Kiser was simply unstoppable. He scored 13 of his team’s 16 first quarter points, assisting the only other made basket.
After an incredibly efficient period for both teams, it was the Trojans that led by the thinnest of margins, taking a 17-16 advantage into the second.
Three minutes into that second quarter, Triton were finally able to create a bit of room for themselves. After a few more minutes of the two sides going back and forth, the home side was finally able to string a few scores and stops together. Brady Wood’s second three of the night put the Trojans up by six and forced a Rochester timeout.
“Our kids did a great job offensively,” Triton head coach Jason Groves said. “We moved the ball really well, got some really good looks. That helps.”
Triton continued to turn up the heat after the break as well. Starting to get a footing on the defensive end, the home side forced two straight turnovers and turned them into baskets at the other end in a flash. All of a sudden, the Trojans were up by double figures and starting to look in control.
Julian Swanson hit a couple of big shots down the stretch to keep his team comfortably in front. In the final seconds before the break, Riffle drained a midrange jumper to cap off an 18-6 second quarter for Triton, giving the home side a 35-22 lead. The white-hot shooting the Trojans had in the first quarter carried over into the second, as the group shot 59% in the first half, including an eye-popping 64% from deep.
“When we’re shooting well, we’re a tough team to beat,” Groves said. “We practice shooting a lot, put a big emphasis on it. Especially when those early ones go and we start playing with confidence, it’s fun to watch.”
Riffle and Swanson continued to lead the charge as the third quarter got going, and by the midway point of the period, the home side’s lead had grown to over 20. The shots that were falling in bunches for the Zebras early on were no longer doing so, and the visitors were struggling mightily to keep up with the Trojans.
Triton senior Jayden Overmyer scores over Rochester's Grant Clark during the first quarter...Nieter
By this point though, there was no stopping the blue and gold. Triton had been in a rhythm since the game had begun and had shown no signs of slowing down. Jayden Overmyer put his name onto the score sheet a couple of times in the third, making some great cuts to the basket and being found by his teammates. With just eight minutes to go, the Trojans had all but finished things off, leading 56-26.
Less than a minute into the fourth, two more threes by Swanson and Wood put the home side over the 35-point threshold required for the running clock. A few minutes after that, the team emptied its bench, sending the starters to the bench after a very successful night.
The home side did not ease up when this happened, as Levi McFarland came off the bench and made the most of his minutes with a couple of makes. Both teams continued to compete until the final whistle, despite the game being decided long ago.
Riffle finished with 17 points on 7/10 shooting. Swanson poured in 15, Overmyer added 12 and Wood scored eleven. Landon Patrick had seven assists. Kiser led all scorers with 19.
Triton (16-3) will travel to take on Elkhart Christian on Friday.
“We want to keep playing with consistency. I think tonight you saw some of that with the ball movement and hunting the right shot. We need to do more of that,” Groves said.
