Troy girls down Arlee by 17 points

With only two seniors on each roster, the Troy and Arlee girls basketball teams definitely have a youthful feel to their respective lineups this season. As such, each school is working its way forward in search of experience and seasoning to take their programs to the next level.

The Lady Trojans posted a 42-25 victory over visiting Arlee on Saturday night. Although happy to get a win, first-year coach Cory Andersen knows there is work to be done.

“I thought tonight we didn’t play very well at times,” he said. “We could’ve played much better. We had too many turnovers, too many mental mistakes. But with young kids, that’s what happens. You kind of have to go through your growing pains.”

Arlee really struggled from the field by making just 10-of-53 shot attempts for a success rate of 18.9 percent. Troy nearly doubled that stat with a shooting percentage of 35.4 percent. Arlee had a 45-37 advantage in rebounds on a night that featured a lot of misses.

“We could’ve made some better decisions and plus, we missed some easy shots,” Andersen said. “It was good to get a win … we’re happy with that. We have a long way to go to compete with the top teams in our conference.”

The Lady Trojans (4-3 overall) led 13-4 after the first quarter but Troy actually had a slow start. Alicia Anderson had the only basket for the home team through the first 3:54 of the contest. Alyssa Olds got things going with back-to-back hoops 73 seconds apart and then the Trojans put the offense on cruise control while creating havoc with their man-to-man defense to build a lead. Still, the offense could not find its happy place and Troy led just 23-11 at the intermission.

In the third quarter, the Trojans outscored the opposition, 10-5, for a 17-point advantage with 8 minutes remaining. Arlee scored five quick points to open the fourth and got the deficit down to 12 but the Trojans answered with a jumpshot from Molly Harpole. The Trojan senior scored again 30 seconds later, drew a foul and hit the free throw for a three-point play.

Harpole scored 17 points on six field goals and 5-of-8 free throws. Olds added 11 points and Allie Maestas had 10 rebounds.

The victory helped ease the pain from a 51-23 loss at St. Ignatius on Friday night in a District 7-B meeting. Mission had to shake off the visitors after a fairly close first quarter.

“We played with them for about a quarter-and-a-half,” Andersen said. “In the second half, we just weren’t able to match their speed.”

The Lady Bulldogs got 17 points out of Mattea Grant to even their record in the conference. Harpole pumped in 11 for Troy, which dropped to 1-2 in league play.

“Mission is probably the best team in the conference,” Andersen said. “They go 12 deep and one of the problems is we ran out of gas.”

The Lady Trojans will play host to Class A Libby on Thursday night. The evening begins at 4:15 p.m. with junior varsity action.

Troy then heads up to Eureka in a conference game on Saturday.

It Was Over When …

Troy’s Molly Harpole scored on a jumper with 6:13 left in the fourth and then completed a three-point play at the 5:43 mark. Arlee had gone on a 5-0 run to cut the deficit to 12 only to see Harpole close the deal.

Game Ball

The Lady Trojans’ defense allowed no more than nine points in any quarter and even that occurred in the fourth when the outcome had been decided. Troy’s aggressive play would not allow Arlee to establish any rhythm.

Stat of the Game

Harpole hit 60 percent of her attempts on 6-of-10 shooting from the field. She also made 62.5 percent of her free throws and finished with a game-high 17 points.

Trojans 42, Warriors 25

Saturday at Troy

Arlee (25)

Gardipe 4 3-7 11, Allaire 0 0-2 0, Haynes 1 0-0 2, Bradshaw 1 0-3 2, Apland 2 1-7 5, Nelson 0 0-0 0, Joseph 0 1-2 1, Nelson 2 0-0 4, Pablo 0 0-0 0, Burnett 0 0-0 0. Totals 10 5-21 25.

Troy (42)

Olds 5 1-5 11, Harpole 6 5-8 17, Hand 0 1-2 1, Anderson 3 1-3 7, Maestas 1 0-0 2, Cummings 0 0-0 0, Pepiot 2 0-0 4, Hines 0 0-0 0. Totals 17 8-18 42.

Three-Pointers–None. Rebounds–Arlee 45 (Apland 11), Troy 42 (Maestas 8). Assists–Arlee 3 (Haynes 2), Troy 8 (Harpole 4). Total Fouls–Arlee 19, Troy 20. Technical Fouls–None.

Bulldogs 51, Trojans 23

Friday at St. Ignatius

Troy (23)

Maestas 7, Olds 2, Harpole 11, Hand 2, Pepiot 1.

St. Ignatius (51)

Cable 3, J. Grant 6, Jensen 2, M. Grant 17, Adams 3, Gravagno 4, Mitchell 8, Larsson 2, McDonald 6.