Lady Trojans beat Noxon at tourney

The Western News

Following a 25-point loss in its season opener on Friday, the Troy High School girls basketball team needed to find a way to play better on day two of the Plains Tournament.

“We had a walk-through in the morning and made adjustments from the night before,” first-year coach Cory Andersen said. “The girls came out with much more intensity … and they didn’t have that ‘deer-in-the-headlights’ look.”

As a result, the Lady Trojans found the win column in a 45-41 victory over Noxon.

Senior Molly Harpole erupted for 34 of the team’s 45 points and the Trojan “D” came up big.

“Molly had a good offensive game but the whole thing there was the defense,” Andersen said. “We probably should’ve won by more.”

With a comfortable 14-point lead heading into the final quarter, Troy saw its cushion slowly melt away. Noxon made a run by taking advantage of Trojan miscues.

“In the middle of the fourth quarter, we had a few turnovers,” Andersen said.

Still, the Trojans regained their composure in time to nab the win.

On Friday, the turnover bug hit Troy bad in a 52-27 loss to Valley Christian.

“We turned the ball over and we were not ready for the press,” Andersen said. “That was the big issue … the turnovers got us.”

Valley Christian led just 8-6 after the first quarter and stretched the advantage to 25-14 by halftime. Troy was still in the game, however, and within striking distance. But the Trojans put away the contest in the third with a 20-4 run.

“We have some young players so a problem early in the year is going to be experience,” Andersen said. “They have some athletic players with height but I really thought the game would be much closer.”

Harpole had a team-high nine points for the Lady Trojans. Allie Maestas added eight.

Troy (1-1) will play its home opener on Thursday against District 7B foe Thompson Falls. Depending on the length of the junior varsity contest, the Trojans’ varsity should take the floor at around 6 p.m. Then on Saturday, Troy will play host to Superior at 1 p.m.

Plains Tournament

Friday at Plains

Troy (27)

Maestas 8, Pepiot 2, Harpole 9, Hand 2, Anderson 4, Cummings 2.

Valley Christian (52)

L. Cross 7, Moore 3, Hartzell 9, Kesler 18, Wittmier 4, H. Cross 6, Ireland 5.

Saturday at Plains

Noxon (41)

R. Stettler 5, Frunz 9, Larkin 9, Swant 4, Therrian 4, C. Stettler 6, K. Marich 2, S. Marich 2.

Troy (45)

Maestas 7, Olds 2, Harpole 34, Hand 2.