Sports

The Loggers held off the Trojans, 54-47 last Friday night in packed Troy arena until the last minute of the game.

"I was concerned they would come out flat because of our Thursday night victory," said Troy coach Tony Smith, referring to their 52-50 win over Eureka.

Despite trailing them by 9 at the half, the Trojans rallied to take the lead away from the Loggers - twice in the fourth period.

But after a timeout late in the last minutes of the 4th quarter, the referee whistled the ball in play with the Trojans still in their huddle.

Libby made a basket on the Trojan-free court.

"I didn't get my kids out on the floor on time," said Smith. "The referees are just doing their job. I basically failed to hear in the huddle."

But Smith blamed himself for Troy's defeat in the final minute of the game.

"That play robbed our kids of a chance to win in the end," said Smith. "It was an unfortunate circumstance. It's never happened to me in 30 years of coaching, and that's my responsibility. But it was a great game," he added, singling out Logger Jim Mee.

"Everybody had trouble locating Jimmy Mee," he said. "He got that eye injury and missed some of the third quarter - that was one of the reasons we were able to get back in the game.

When he's not on the floor that hurts them - just like Aaron (Palmer)," he added.

Mee had a game-high of 25 points for Libby, with Joel Fuller and Bryan Cooper scoring 9 points apiece.

Palmer led in points for Troy, making 21. Zack McDougall and Brian Hammrich also contributed 8 and 7 points respectively, with Hammrich making 16 rebounds.

"All credit goes to Libby for pulling it out in the end," said coach Tony Smith. "Our kids competed and we'll continute to compete - I can assure you of that. We come to play hard - we don't know how to play any differently."

Smith added he was especially pleased with the seniors.

"We had great senior leadership. Matt Rogers played great defense, he and (Joe) Day and (Zack) McDougall really led us in that game." he said, adding "our juniors have been doing most of the scoring, but Joe and Matt defended just great and really hustled."

Thompson Falls is Troy's next game, this Thursday.

"It will be very difficult," said Smith. "Thompson Falls is undefeated in league play, but I expect a closer game, even though it's in their house."

The Eureka match was also a close game, with Troy proving victorious at home, thanks in part to free throws by Jesse Day and Shado Garrett in the final seconds of the game.

"Eureka's pressure just put us back on our heels," Smith said. "We were ahead by 6 in the third quarter. When we get ahead late in the game or get under intense pressure, we have a tendency to freeze and quit attacking. But we'll work through that."

A game in which Troy had three players make double figures for the first time, Palmer led with 20 points, also making 21 rebounds.

Point guard Jesse Day had 17 points, while Garrett contributed 10.

"It was a great win because it bolted us into third place in our conference," said Smith.

Smith noted how proud he was of how far the team has come.

"They're really not afraid of anybody right now. It's a nice sense of growth in terms of competing," he said, adding "congrats to the Loggers - they deserved to win. We have nothing but respect for them."