Troy boys win in double OT

The Western News

When the shots failed to drop on Saturday at Noxon, the Troy High School boys basketball team needed to find other ways to stay in the game.

Take Steph Jones, for example.

The Trojan senior came off the bench in the fourth quarter to defend the perimeter in an effort to shut down Noxon’s penetration. Troy outrebounded the Red Devils by 10 over those final 8 minutes and then came up big in the final seconds to force overtime en route to a 73-67 win.

“Steph’s defense saved us … that’s his role. Steph is a very, very good, intense defender and he did exactly what we needed him to do,” Troy coach Tony Smith said.

Through much of the game, the Trojans just couldn’t bury their 3-pointers. Troy got some good looks, Smith said, but sometimes that can work against players because they start to think too much about their shots. The Trojans also had some problems at the free-throw line.

Meanwhile, Noxon’s Cody Linderman put together a 31-point scoring performance.

Noxon appeared to have a possible victory in hand with a five-point lead with less than 20 seconds remaining in regulation. Troy’s Jesse Day hit a 3-pointer, however, to pull the Trojans to within two. After a timeout, Shado Garrett came up with a steal on the press and scored on a reverse layup with 4 seconds left to tie the game.

In the first overtime, the Trojans got up by three but Linderman hit a 3-pointer with 5 seconds on the clock to knot the score. Smith described the shot as a 25-footer while he was falling backwards.

Troy pulled away in the second overtime although Day and Brian Hammrich had fouled out. Senior Aaron Palmer came up big with six points in OT.

“One of the big keys was Aaron … he really put tremendous pressure on the basket and scored,” Smith said.

Palmer finished with a team-high 29 points. Day hit for 21 points and Garrett finished with 10.

Troy (5-1 overall) gets back into conference play on Friday with a trip to St. Ignatius.

The Trojans come home to play on Saturday against Arlee with the varsity boys starting at around 6 p.m.

Trojans 73, Red Devils 67

(2 OT)

Saturday at Noxon

Troy (73)

Day 21, Garrett 10, Hammrich 5, Kyriss 4, Powell 1, Palmer 29, Jones 3.

Noxon (67)

Herbig 2, Eaton 4, Hay 6, Allen 19, Linderman 31, Wilkinson 2, Stocking 3.