Tri-County Captures First IHSAA Regional Title, Advances to Semistate

Gabe Miller didn't flinch. With the clock winding down and Tri-County's first regional championship hanging in the balance, the senior drove to the basket at Huntington North and converted the shot that mattered most, lifting the Warriors past Fort Wayne Canterbury 44-43 and into program history.

The one-point margin tells the story cleanly: this was as tight as it gets. Tri-County, now 15-11 on the season, became the lone Lafayette-area team to win a regional championship Saturday and the only Lafayette-area program advancing to semistate.

Miller finished with 10 points, but his value in the final minute far exceeded the box score. He was direct about what drove his decision in that moment. "I mean, it's my go-to shot," Miller said. "When my 3-ball doesn't fall, I go to that shot all the time. Hitting it in that moment of the game was big. Just really glad to get the job done with my guys and big credits to my teammates as well for some huge plays all of them made down the stretch."

Junior Tyler Burns led Tri-County with 12 points and senior Drew Foster added 11. Three contributors in double figures in a 44-point team performance against a Canterbury defense good enough to make this a one-possession game until the final buzzer. That balance mattered.

Trev Parker has been building toward this. The Tri-County coach came to the program with a vision after assistant coaching stints at West Lafayette and Central Catholic, and before the age of 29 he has now delivered the program's first IHSAA boys basketball regional title in history. The weight of that milestone was not lost on him Saturday night.

"It's a surreal feeling," Parker said. "You know, I love the game of basketball and it's all I've been around. On top of that, I've been able to learn under some great coaches. I wouldn't be here without people like my dad Troy, coach Dave Wood at West Lafayette and Dave and Drake Barrett at Central Catholic. We have a great coaching staff here at Tri-County. Our connection and chemistry as coaches is pretty solid and I can't do it without these guys."

The win marks a genuine milestone for this small-school program. Tri-County was the only Lafayette-area team standing when the regional results were finalized Saturday, and now the Warriors carry that singular distinction into semistate.