Triton to square off with Kankakee Monday for Region 4 crown

 
The Triton College men's basketball will play for Region IV Division I title for the fourth consecutive year at 8 p.m. Monday at the Collins Center.

However, the Trojans will face a new opponent in the championship game as Highland Community College, who has been the Trojans opponent for the past three seasons was nosed out by Kankakee Community College 74-72 in overtime on Saturday. That final horn sounded minutes after the Trojans finished an impressive second-half run to beat Sauk Valley Community College 76-63 in their semifinal contest in River Grove.

But the victory was hardly the phone-in type. No. 10 ranked Triton (26-4)  had to go on a 31-10 run to erase a four-point Sauk Valley lead early in the second half. The advantage had swung back and forth throughout the first half with the visitors taking several leads, and offering far more resistance than in the two previous regular-season games, both Triton victories.

Guard John Ittounas fueled the run as he took over the point and helped feed the ball into West Virginia-bound Patrick Suemnick. The big man's 20 points on 9-for-11 shooting proved to be the difference.

"We probably should have found a way to get him more shots," said Triton coach John Clancy." We needed to work inside-out. We made a much more concerted effort to get the ball inside."

The first half gave a hint of a battle down to the wire. After numerous lead changes, Triton emerged with a 37-36 edge at halftime. But the SkyHawks (15-14) jumped out to a 45-41 lead. Impressed with the urgency of the situation, Triton upped the pace.

Teonta McKeithen's layup gave Triton a 49-46 lead. After Sauk Valley's  Cade Nailor's three-pointer tied the game at 49, the Trojans took the lead again, and was boosted by McKeithen's NBA-length three-pointer that bumped the edge to 54-49.

Then the Trojans jumped on Suemnick's back. He broke off a running finger-roll for a 58-52 lead. Minutes later, his short jumper and accompanying free-throw after a foul gave Triton a 64-52 lead. At this point, Clancy's press was steadily wearing down the visitors.

"We took Sauk Valley's best shot," Clancy said. "We were sleepwalking a little bit and knew that our press over the course of time was going to wear them down."

Suemnick was complemented by Cobie Montgomery's 13 points and McKeithen's 12. Cam Denson had seven points and nine rebounds.

Beau Bailey led Sauk Valley with 16 points, while Andre Brandon had 14.

The Trojans swept the two regular season match-ups with Kankakee, winning by identical 84-72 scores, including the most recent meeting Feb. 10 at Triton.
 
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(Story by tritonathletics.com contributor George Castle)