Lady Loggers defeat Trojans

Through the first 16 minutes of action,

it appeared that Troy had a chance at sticking with Libby in a

nonconference girls basketball game on Thursday night.

The winless Lady Trojans had played

exceptional defense and the home team Loggers seemed to be a little

out of sync. Still, Libby took a 19-3 lead in at the break.

Following intermission, the Lady Loggers intensified their attack

and ended up with a 45-11 triumph.

“They gave us some problems in the

first half with us trying to score,” Libby coach Jim May said.

“They should be proud at how much they’ve improved over last

year.”

Troy took a 2-0 lead 48 seconds into

the contest on a basket by Jackie Pepiot. But the Lady Trojans

would not score another field goal over a span that equates to more

than three full quarters. Libby went on a 41-1 run over 24:14 of

clock time – the lone Troy point coming on a free throw late in the

second quarter.

Libby’s offense sputtered in the first

half as well. Alysha Martin scored the team’s first hoop to tie the

game and Jaime Gilden followed with a steal and basket for the

lead. Another Gilden hoop a few seconds later gave Libby six points

in just 29 seconds.

Gilden was a difficult player for the

Troy defense to stop. The Logger senior netted 22 points on 10

field goals, including a three-pointer with 2:59 left in the first

quarter for a 9-2 lead.

In the final minute of the opening

quarter, Logan Best also hit a three-pointer to give her team a

14-2 lead.

Neither team could do much of anything

offensively in the second quarter. In fact, no points were scored

over the first 5 minutes. Finally, Troy’s Alyssa Olds hit a free

throw with 2:56 left in the half to cut the Libby lead to 14-3.

“We played a great defense in the first

half,” Troy coach Neil Newton said. “They played a tough defense,

too, and we couldn’t handle the pressure.”

Over the rest of the second, Best hit a

pair of jumpers and Ashley Shaw made a free throw for a 16-point

lead at halftime.

In addition to turnover problems,

Newton admitted that Gilden was a player that was difficult to

stop. Plus, the shots just would not fall for the Trojans. A bright

spot was the defense.

“That was the best defense we’ve played

all season long,” Newton said.

The Trojan defensive strategy also

caught the eye of Libby’s May.

“I think Troy should be real proud of

the fact that they played man-to-man defense the whole game trying

to get those kids to learn the fundamentals on defense,” May said.

“It’s real smart on their part to do that no matter what the

outcome is.”

Libby played very well in the third

quarter with a 19-0 run. Gilden scored 11 points over a stretch of

just over three minutes. Along with a fast-break basket by Best and

a hoop by Martin, the Lady Loggers led 34-3 with 3:17 left in the

quarter.

Taylor Barton and Best also scored

before the end of the quarter for a 35-point lead.

Martin opened the fourth quarter with a

three-point goal and a 41-3 lead. Trojan sophomore Jordan Williams

then hit a three-pointer of her own to break Libby’s 27-0 run that

started back in the second quarter.

Williams hit another three-pointer just

46 seconds later and Megan Cummings sank a free throw at the 5:25

mark to get Troy into double figures. Michaela Curry later hit a

free throw to account for the team’s final total. Troy outscored

Libby, 8-7, over the final eight minutes.

Libby’s Kim Tangen had a strong finish

with a basket and blocked shot in the final two minutes.

Besides the 22 from Gilden, the Loggers

also got 11 points from Best.

The two teams will play again on Feb.

10 in Troy.

Libby 45, Troy 11

Thursday at Ralph TateGymnasium,

Libby

Scoring by Quarters:

Troy     2 1 0 8—11

Libby 14 5 19 7—45

TROY (11)

Olds 0 1-3 1, Klin 0 0-0 0, Williams 2

0-0 6, Curry 0 1-2 1, Pepiot 1 0-0 2, Cummings 0 1-2 1, Hines 0 0-3

0. Totals 3 3-10 11.

LIBBY (45)

Good 0 0-0 0, Martin 3 0-0 7, Gilden 10

0-0 22, Best 5 0-0 11, Barton 1 0-0 2, Shaw 0 1-4 1, Tangen 1 0-0

2. Totals 20 1-4 45.