By Dee Grenert Sports Writer
BOURBON — LaVille boys basketball head coach Michael Edison knows a thing or two about momentous games.
The Lancers’ shocking victory over previously-unbeaten Triton certainly qualifies.
With LaVille trailing by a point, freshman sniper Andrew Hostetler drained a go-ahead triple with 13 seconds left in the game and the Lancers held on for a 59-55 Northern State Conference upset win over Class A No. 2 Triton at The Trojan Trench Saturday.
“I played 40 games a year at Bethel and 20 to 25 games a year at Plymouth,” the second-year LaVille skipper said. “This ranks up there. This is in my top 5 all time, and it’s my biggest win as a coach. You don’t get a whole lot bigger than this. It’s pretty awesome, and I’m happiest for my players.”
After eight lead changes and five ties through the opening 24 minutes, Triton appeared to finally seize the reins. A 9-0 stretch, capped off by Curtis Nordmann’s steal and bucket, gave the Trojans a 55-45 lead — the biggest gap for either team — with 4:14 left in the game.
However, with fiery Triton senior point guard Ben Montalbano — a little too fiery Saturday — exiting late in the third quarter and sitting until 47.4 seconds remained in the game and leading scorer Griffyn Carpenter out for his third straight contest with a concussion, Triton went scoreless the rest of the way.
“We didn’t take care of the basketball,” Triton head coach Jason Groves said. “We had 19 turnovers, and we’re averaging 11 for the season. You don’t take care of the basketball you’re going to have trouble.”
The Trojans still held a slender 55-54 lead with a minute left in the game, but LaVille’s Justin Baker rebounded a missed Triton bunny, and following a loose-ball scramble in the backcourt — one of many during a sometimes sloppy game — the Lancers took possession under Triton’s basket.

Following a timeout with 35.4 seconds to play, LaVille senior Jacob Mangus penetrated the right side and kicked out to Hostetler on the wing for his fifth trey of the evening.
“We decided to run a set play,” Edison said. “(The Trojans) were half-court trapping us. We wanted to get the ball in the middle to Mangus, let him penetrate and kick, and it didn’t have to be a last-second shot. If there’s 15 to 20 seconds, take a shot and shoot the ball with confidence, and (Hostetler) did.”
Triton gave itself two more chances to pull even. Senior Taran Holderman drew a double-bonus foul following a loose-ball tussle with 8 seconds left. However, he triggered wide right on both attempts, and Mangus snared the rebound.
After Mangus missed the front end of a one and one and Triton’s Austin Davis rebounded, the Trojans stopped the clock with 2.3 seconds to go. Triton lined up four players in the forecourt, but the inbound baseball toss landed — untouched — beyond the Triton endline.
Mangus then iced the game with a pair of free throws with 1.2 ticks on the clock.
“We’ve talked about composure and being poised,” Edison said. “(The Lancers) handled themselves well, taking care of the ball. They came up with enough defensive stops and big stops to win the game.”
Hostetler nailed a game-high 19 points, headlined by a 5-for-8 mark from 3-point land.
Mangus, who sank 4 of 6 from deep, added 18 points. Triton freshman Clay Yeo held Mangus down in the second half until an injury timeout forced the 6-foot-4 rookie to the bench for two defensive possessions. With Yeo out, Mangus quickly drained a long 3 and a jumper to make it a 55-52 game with 2:45 left.
“(Mangus) was pretty far out there on that 3,” Edison said. “When he gets open, even if it is a few feet behind the line, that’s as good a shot as we’re going to get against Triton.”
For the game, the Lancers hit 11 of 18 from 3-point land and 63.6 percent overall from the field, and snapped up several loose balls down the stretch.
“You’re not always going to shoot like that, but you make up for a lot of things when you shoot well,” Edison said. “Loose balls aren’t chance. You create your own destiny going after loose balls.”
Meanwhile, most of LaVille’s 3-point looks were of the wide-open variety.
“Defensively we weren’t matching up, and we were giving up shots that I don’t understand why we’d give up,” Groves said. “We weren’t supposed to help off of their shooters.
“LaVille played extremely well,” he added. “They were physical, got after us, and shot the ball very well.”
Also for LaVille, Baker secured seven rebounds, and Cody Coblentz handed out six assists.
Yeo scored a team-high 16 points and nabbed four steals for Triton. He turned in a highlight-reel worthy play, blocking a Hostetler 3, grabbing the ball and heading the other way for a dunk early in the fourth quarter.
Davis added 12 points and seven rebounds, while Jordan Everett just missed double figures with nine points — all on 3-pointers — for Triton. Montalbano dished out five assists, and Holderman added four steals.
However, LaVille’s switching man-to-man defense shut off a good deal of Triton’s penetration, leaving the Trojans looking uncharacteristically flat.
“LaVille did a good job against our penetration, but it’s a little bit disappointing that we didn’t adjust,” Groves said. “Instead of passing and cutting we did a lot of standing.
“There’s still a lot of basketball to be played,” he added. “I told them the question is: how are you going to respond? Lately in practice we haven’t been practicing to get better as a basketball team. I told them they’re not invincible. There’s been a lack of preparation. Maybe this will focus us a little bit more.”
Groves said Carpenter will be examined again Monday; his junior guard’s return date remains uncertain.
Both teams play again Thursday. LaVille hosts New Prairie, while Triton heads to Bremen.
• LAVILLE 59,
  TRITON 55
At Bourbon
Score by quarters
LaVille: 15  26  40  59
Triton:   17  29  42  55
LAVILLE (59): Trenton Stout 2 0-0 6, Jordyn Williams 2 4-4 8, Cody Coblentz 0 0-0 0, Codee Kimbel 0 0-0 0, Jacob Mangus 6 2-3 18, Andrew Hostetler 7 0-0 19, Nicholas Amor 0 0-0 0, Justin Baker 4 0-0 8. TOTALS: 21 6-7 59.
TRITON (55): Ben Montalbano 0 2-2 2, Curtis Nordmann 1 0-0 2, Camron Garey 1 0-0 3, Quentyn Carpenter 1 4-4 7, Austin Davis 5 2-3 12, Taran Holderman 1 0-2 2, Clay Yeo 5 6-8 16, Jordan Everett 3 0-0 9, Blake Lemler 1 0-0 2. TOTALS: 18 14-19 55.
3-point goals: LaVille 11 (Hostetler 5, Mangus 4, Stout 2), Triton 5 (Everett 3, Garey, Q. Carpenter); Turnovers: LaVille 23, Triton 19; Rebounds: LaVille 15 (Baker 7), Triton 17 (Davis 7); Assists: LaVille 14 (Coblentz 6), Triton 10 (Montalbano 5); Steals: LaVille 6 (Baker 2), Triton 12 (Holderman, Yeo 4); Fouls (fouled out): LaVille 18 (Coblentz), Triton 15 (Everett); Records: LaVille 7-9 (3-2 NSC), Triton 16-1 (4-1 NSC).
JV score: Triton 54, LaVille 35.