Girls Basketball: Lady Loggers post 49-point win over Class B Trojans

Over the first minute of Thursday night’s game at Class B Troy, the Libby High School girls committed turnovers on their first two possessions and gave up a hoop to fall behind, 2-0.

Lady Trojans junior Alyssa Olds found the net 42 seconds into the contest to give the Troy Activity Center crowd some early excitement. But this would not be a night when the inexperienced Troy club could pull off a shocker. Libby scored 55 straight points and the high-school mercy rule kicked in during the Loggers’ 55-6 victory.

With a starting lineup that includes multi-talented 6-foot-1 senior Jackie Mee, the Lady Loggers simply have a more seasoned group. Still, going on a 55-0 run is a basketball feat rarely witnessed.

“Things went well for us early and the Troy kids got down,” Libby coach Jim May said.

Troy senior Allie Mastas had to ride the bench for much of the game after committing three fouls in the first five minutes. And the Lady Trojans just couldn’t make the shots drop. After Olds’ game-opening hoop, the team didn’t find the net again until scoring the final four points of the game.

“They didn’t quit and kept plugging away and playing hard,” May said of the Lady Trojans. “That’s a credit to their coaches and the kids.”

Libby held leads of 24-2 after the first quarter and 48-2 at halftime. The Loggers shot 65 percent from the field with Mee throwing in 25 of her 27 points over the first two quarters.

May was especially happy with his team’s performance on the boards.

“We wanted to execute and I’m happy with a lot of our defensive execution,” May said. “We boxed out better and rebounded great.”

Mee had a game-high eight rebounds to go along with her offensive output, which included a trio of 3-pointers. Jaime Gilden also hit double digits with 10 points.

A rarely-seen Montana high-school basketball mercy rule went into effect because Libby held a lead of 40 or more points by halftime. As a result, the game clock ran non-stop during the third and fourth quarters.

Libby played a lot of its younger athletes beginning midway through the third and in the fourth.

“We ask them to do a lot in practice so it’s nice to see them get a quarter-and-a-half,” May said.

Olds, Kimmy Klin and Nastassja Hines scored baskets for the Trojans.

Libby 55, Troy 6

Thursday at Troy

LIBBY (55)

Luscher 1 0-0 3, Martin 1 0-0 3, Gilden 4 2-6 10, Best 2 2-4 6, Mee 10 4-4 27, Kulbeck 2 2-3 6, Good 0 0-0 0, Tangen 0 0-0 0, Walker 0 0-0 0, Sullivan 0 0-0 0, Forster 0 0-0 0, Johnson 0 0-0 0. Totals 20 10-17 55.

TROY (6)

Maestas 0 0-1 0, Olds 1 0-0 2, Klin 1 0-0 2, Pepiot 0 0-2 0, Hand 0 0-0 0, Hines 1 0-0 2, Bonifas 0 0-0 0, Williams 0 0-0 0, Curry 0 0-1 0. Totals 3 0-4 6.

Scoring by Quarters:

Libby (5-3)    24    24    5    2—55

Troy (0-9)       2       0    0    4—  6

Note: The mercy rule was in effect during the second half with a continuously running game clock (40-point halftime lead).

Three-Pointers–Libby 5 (Mee 3, Luscher, Martin), Troy 0. Rebounds–Libby 25 (Mee 8), Troy 20 (Maestas 3, Olds 3, Klin 3, Curry 3). Assists–Libby 13 (Luscher 4, Gilden 4), Troy 1 (Maestas). Total Fouls–Libby 11, Troy 11. Fouled Out—None. Technical Fouls–None.