Lady Lions pull away in 2nd half to beat Troy

Entering a District 7-B battle against

Eureka on Saturday, it appeared that the Troy High School girls

basketball team might have a good chance to stop a 31-game losing

streak.

Eureka entered the game with just one

victory this season and the Lady Trojans had the home crowd. But

Lady Lion scoring runs late in the second and third quarters were

too much for Troy to handle in a frustrating 63-27 loss.

“There was a stretch there where their

shots were falling and ours weren’t,” THS coach Neil Newton said.

“To their credit, we had a hand in their face and they still made

the shots.”

Troy led 2-0 early when Jordan Williams

scored with an assist to Kimmy Klin. But by the end of the quarter,

Eureka had built a 10-5 advantage. Alyssa White’s three-pointer

with 2:16 left in the quarter gave the Lady Lions a big boost.

Eureka went up 12-5 early in the second

on a Carli Allen hoop before the Lady Trojans put together a

five-point run. Kellie Lundin hit a jumpshot, Alyssa Olds sank a

free throw and Klin scored on a jumper to cut the Eureka lead to

12-10.

However, the Lady Lions had an answer.

Eureka ended the first half with a 10-0 run to take a 22-10 lead in

at the break. White scored eight of those points to give the Lions

momentum.

In the third quarter, Troy tried to get

back into the game but could get no closer than nine points of the

lead. On three occasions, the Trojans got the deficit to single

digits. Olds got a steal and layup with 5:06 left in the third to

cut the lead to 26-17. The two teams traded free throws and then

with 3:23 left in the third, Jackie Pepiot scored to pull to within

29-20.

Again, the Lady Lions had answers and

pulled away for good with a 13-0 run over the final 3:11 of the

quarter. Cassidy Morgan scored eight points and Mikala Grove buried

a three-pointer during that stretch.

The Lady Lions continued to pour it on

in the fourth – outscoring Troy, 41-17, in the second half.

“The girls worked hard. Their quickness

hurt us,” Newton said. “We played some great defense in the first

half of the Libby game. We just couldn’t get up to that level in

this game.”

Williams scored seven points to lead

the Lady Trojans offensively.

Morgan finished with 17 and White had

16 for Eureka, which improved to 2-3 in the league and 2-6

overall.

The Lady Trojans (0-5, 0-9) head to

Thompson Falls on Thursday for another 7-B meeting. Troy then comes

home to play Superior on Saturday.

Eureka 63, Troy 27

Saturday at Troy Activity Center

Scoring by Quarters:

Eureka 10 12 20 21—63

Troy       5 5 10 7—27

EUREKA (63)

Grove 3 0-0 7, White 5 3-6 16, Morgan 7

3-6 17, Chupp 1 2-4 4, Allen 3 0-0 6, Williams 1 0-0 2, Holland 2

0-0 4, Krause 1 0-2 2, Gray 2 0-0 4, Larson 0 1-2 1. Totals 25 9-20

63.

TROY (27)

Pepiot 2 1-2 5, Williams 3 0-0 7, Olds

1 2-4 4, Klin 2 0-0 4, Curry 1 0-0 2, Kellie Lundin 2 1-2 5,

Cummings 0 0-2 0. Totals 11 4-12 27.