Calls, Balls Bounce Culver’s Way
CULVER – “We didn’t deserve to win the game,” offered a dejected Triton boys basketball head coach Jason Groves after his club suffered a 39-35 overtime loss Friday at Class 1-A No. 10 Culver.
Groves, who was assessed a technical himself in the final moments of the overtime session, had his patience wear out on what he believed was a foul on Grant Johnson’s potential game-winning shot attempt. It wasn’t the first call – or technical for that matter – that Groves and Triton disputed throughout the night. But Groves chose the broad view in his blunt analysis.
“We have kids getting ejected for technicals,” stated Groves, “What are we from the free throw line? We can’t shoot the ball. We played scared, they played aggressive.
“Obviously we had a chance to be in the conference hunt. Well, not anymore.”
Triton began to fall apart at the seams following a technical foul called on Masen Yeo halfway into the fourth quarter. As play continued after Yeo dove to the bucket and looked for a call, Yeo found himself on the short end of a whistle on the other end of the court. The reaction got the ‘T’, which was huge in amounting to his fourth and fifth fouls.
Once order restored, the Cavs hit 2-4 free throws and the game was now tied at 28. It was the first time Culver had been level since early in the first quarter. Everett Krueger later gave Culver the lead at 30-28, and the free throw contest would begin.
Culver would hit 5-8 from the stripe to end regulation, Triton going 3-5. A pair of missed shots by Johnson ended overtime tied at 31, but it looked like Triton might have a window when Jordan Anderson opened overtime with a steal and hoop, hitting the harm for a three-point Trojan lead. The Cavs, however, would close with eight of the final nine points – six coming on free throws and a huge bucket by Nate Carnegie, who was fouled on his make with 25.6 remaining to give Culver a 36-35 lead.
“It was a matter of not hitting free throws,” Groves said of his club, which went 1-6 from the line in overtime and 9-18 in the game. “We were up. But we took bad shots. We were up three and chuck a three from the conference sign, then foul on the rebound. We were dumb. We played stupid. I will take responsibility for it. We were not prepared down the stretch.”
Triton had managed to piece together an 11-1 run in the first half, led by Zac Pitney’s seven points. Culver clamped down on Pitney in the second half, only allowing him one shot attempt the rest of the way. Pitney and Anderson each finished with seven points, Anderson mired in a 2-15 shooting night, missing all 11 of his three-point attempts. Anderson did have seven rebounds and got a look at a game-winning shot in overtime.
Triton falls to 7-5 overall and 2-2 in the Hoosier North Athletic Conference.
Carnegie and Cash Harris each finished with 12 points for Culver (10-1, 5-1 HNAC), Carnegie adding nine boards and two assists. Krueger scored all eight of his points from the free throw line. Culver is a half-game behind Winamac in the HNAC standings, Winamac entering the weekend 5-0.
Both Triton and Culver will jump into the Bi-County Tournament next week with games Tuesday night. Triton will host New Prairie (3-6) while Culver will host Oregon-Davis (5-8) in opening round action. It will be the first Triton home game since Dec. 15.
“We have a home game Tuesday and we’ve been on the road forever, we’ll go from there,” Groves said.