REGIONAL PREVIEW: Triton Central a ‘mirror image’ of South Putnam

By Joey Bennett

Sports Editor

Triton Central coach Bryan Graham doesn’t have to look far to find a team comparable to South Putnam, his opponent in Saturday’s second semifinal game of the Speedway Regional girls’ basketball tournament.

Graham’s team is one that will run when the opportunity is there, he said, but can slow it down in the halfcourt when necessary.

“We’re kind of a mixed bag,” Graham said. “We are probably more known for our defensive side of things, trying to make people feel uncomfortable. We’re really a lot like South Putnam; our teams kind of mirror each other a lot.”

While Graham recognizes that senior guard Lillie Stein is South Putnam’s leading scorer for the season, he knows she is not the only weapon for the Eagles.

“It’s not like you just have to shut down one person and you can beat them,” he said. “Usually when it comes to tournaments and big games, it’s not the leading scorer who wins but the ones around her who step up and make big plays on the defensive end. The good players are known to be good players for a reason because they do it consistently, but you have to have good role players too.”

Sophomore Maya Chandler leads the Tigers in scoring at 15.2 points per game, and also grabs 6.7 rebounds a night. Freshman Tenleigh Phelps supports Chandler with 14.8 points and 7.5 rebounds per game.

No other Tigers score in double figures, but the team’s 61-point per-game scoring average (26th best in the state) is supplemented by senior Haley Schneider (8.1), senior Isabella Cooper (7.0) and sophomore Grace Crist (4.7).

Graham describes his team as being very young, with 14 freshmen and sophomores among the 20 players on the junior varsity and varsity rosters.

“This year has definitely been a learning experience,” he said. “Even when we’ve been getting wins, we are learning a lot along the way. We have been growing up as the season goes along.”

The Tigers won 16 of their first 17 games this season, losing only to Class 4A Whiteland during that time. They then dropped three of their final five games before tourney play (to Class 4A New Palestine, a sectional champion, as well as Class 3A top-10 ranked Beech Grove and a strong Class 2A Providence team).

“Some of our best basketball this year came when we lost,” he said. “We lost to Whiteland in December by eight, and we had the ball down two or four points late in the game but we couldn’t convert. New Palestine was about the same thing, as we had the ball down about four points late in the game.

“Against Beech Grove, we were up six or seven to start the fourth quarter,” added Graham, who is also the school’s athletic director. “We have definitely had some tough games toward the end of our schedule, and that’s the way I designed our schedule. It has helped out with having a young team to get ready for the tournament.”

In the sectional, Triton Central defeated Knightstown 61-34 in the semifinals before winning a low-scoring 32-13 contest over Shenandoah in the championship. Shenandoah was playing without its best player due to injury, but surprisingly it was not the Raiders who slowed down the pace of the game.

“Actually, we held the ball,” Graham said. “They are a very good zone team, and I hadn’t seen them play man-to-man. We held the ball trying to make them come out of it once we got up, and they didn’t.

“At one point in the fourth quarter they only had nine points, and we held it for about 90 seconds at a time,” he added. “That’s not really our style of play, but we had that option put in if we needed it.”

Graham has 192 games in his tenure at Triton Central and five sectional titles in the past seven years. The Tigers won a regional title in 2012.

“We have a lot of support for girls’ basketball at Triton Central, and we’re thankful for that,” Graham said. “This is my 20th year of being associated with the school. I coached JV boys before I took over the girls’ program 10 years ago. I have a lot of great assistant coaches who have been with me for a long time, and that’s a big plus to have.”

Planning for the potential of two regional games in one day is nothing new for Graham.

“This is the fifth time I’ve had the opportunity to do that,” he said. “It’s definitely easier doing it the fifth time than it was the first time. You have to have preparation for the teams in case you win.“It’s a situation where you’re dead tired when it’s over, but your adrenaline keeps you going throughout the day,” Graham added. “I’d rather have the problem of being tired than being able to rest all night.”