By Rusty Nixon
Correspondent
BOURBON – The dream continues for the Oregon-Davis Bobcats taking a sectional championship from host Triton by a 38-34 final.
The Trojans caused some early problems but O-D was able to weather the storm, right the ship and put themselves in position to pull off the upset. Oregon-Davis coach Joe Eskridge was happy at games end, but not surprised. Asked if he could have foreseen a sectional title at the beginning of the year he said simply, “Yes.”
“We went through those rough stretches at the beginning of the year but I never doubted these guys and I just asked them to believe with me,” he said. “They started to believe in themselves and – what is it? Nine out of 11? – it’s a great roll and hopefully we aren’t done yet.”
The game was a defensive slug fest that saw numerous runs, lead and momentum changes, but a three minute period starting at the four minute mark in the fourth would be where the game was won. At the 1:30 mark a frenetic :45 seconds saw two steals, three missed field goals and two blocked shots. It was at that point the Bobcats were able to jump out to a four point lead and from there seal the win.
“They do such a great job in that 1-3-1 they get out and get after you and they make you play faster than you want to,” said Eskridge of the Trojans. “I told our guys, ‘be patient. Settle down. Work it into a position where we can attack.’ In the second half we did those things.”
“It doesn’t help things when you shoot one for 23 for the game,” said Triton coach Jason Groves. “We shot 28 percent from the field. You aren’t going to win many games doing that no matter how good you play defense. We gave up 38 points. If you had told me that before the game I would have felt pretty good about the game. We just couldn’t finish.”
Groves team was outstanding defensively but the offensive woes were just too much.
“A lot of that was O-D. They are playing with a lot of confidence right now,” said Groves. “We were definitely concerned about that. They do a lot of good things defensively – they read things so well. Their kids understand the game of basketball and they read it and react to it. That’s why I’m so impressed with that team.”
In a week that saw the Bobcats (11-13) win their first sectional game since winning a state title in 2007, Eskridge and his team made the most of their opportunities and came away with the title.
“I can’t even really wrap my head around it yet,” said Eskridge. “It’s a great feeling. I feel so good for my guys. They’ve worked really hard and they deserve this. I told them all year they were champions. They come in and work like champions tonight we showed that.”
Joey Corder ended the night with a double/double for the Trojans with 14 points and 11 rebounds. The Trojans end the year at 17-8.
Score by Quarters
O-D 5 17 25 38
Triton 9 19 23 34
O-D (38) – Johnston 1 0-0 3, Schnekenburger 2 0-2 4, C. Clark 1 0-2 3, H. Clark 3 1-2 8, Hurford 2 5-6 10, Worthington 4 2-3 10. Totals 13 8-15 38.
Triton (34) – Corder 4 6-8 14, Kaufman 0 0-0 0, Yeo 3 2-3 8, Anderson 2 0-1 5, Pitney 1 0-0 3, Sellers 0 0-0 0, Bailey 0 0-0 0, Flenar 0 0-0 0, Reichert 0 2-2 2, Johnson 1 0-0 2, Glingle 0 0-0 0. Totals 11 10-14 34.
3 Pt. FG – O-D 4-9 (C. Clark, H. Clark, Johnston, Hurford), Triton 2-23 (Anderson, Pitney).
Rebounds – O-D 21 (Schnekenburger 7), Triton 30 (Corder 11).
Assists – O-D 10 (Hurford 6), Triton 5 (Anderson 3).
Steals – O-D 5 (H. Clark 3), Triton 9 (Anderson 4).
Turnovers – O-D 12, Triton 10.
Fouls (Fouled Out) – O-D 15 (Worthington), Triton 16 (Yeo).
