Troy outlasts Eureka in 7-B boys thriller
During a timeout with 43 seconds
remaining and his team clinging to a 65-64 lead over Eureka, Troy
High School boys basketball coach Cory Andersen stressed to his
players, “we don’t need a shot.”
Troy came out of that chat and moved
the ball around effectively to run the clock down to 12 seconds
before Eureka felt it needed to foul. But the Lions dodged a bullet
when the Trojans missed on the front end of a one-and-one
opportunity.
The Lions sprinted downcourt to try for
the win. Ryan Holder, Eureka’s 6-foot-1 junior guard who had scored
21 points, went up for what he hoped would be the game-winner.
Instead, he found nothing but rejection
– in the form of a block from Troy junior Cory Orr with 2 seconds
remaining.
“That kid usually scores from there,”
THS coach Cory Andersen said. “Cory, he just made a good play on
the ball … it could’ve gone either way tonight, really. We’re lucky
to get out of here with a win.”
The two schools played close throughout
the first half with the biggest lead by either team being five
points. Troy entered the fray without starting point guard Trent
Cratty, who had suffered a sprained wrist the previous game against
Libby. Mikey Ormiston stepped up big and began pumping in
three-pointers during the first.
“To beat a good team without one of
your starters, I’ll take that anytime,” Andersen said.
Nine of Troy’s first 11 points over the
first five minutes of the game came on Ormiston three-pointers. But
the score remained close and the Trojans led, 16-14, heading into
the second.
The two schools continued to trade
baskets through much of the second. Late in the quarter, Troy
started to flex a little offensive muscle. Cody Orr, who has been
getting over an injury of his own, hit a jumpshot with 1:11 left in
the half for a 30-27 lead.
Ormiston followed up 13 seconds later
with a pair of free throws and the Trojans held a five-point
advantage.
But this game’s script seemed to be
destined for a close finish. Eureka scored five points in the final
28 seconds to tie the game at the half.
“Mikey had a big game tonight,”
Andersen said. “Without Trent, we lost a lot of quickness of
pushing the ball. We told them before the game that when you lose a
starter, the other guys have to step up, and they did.”
Midway through the third quarter,
Eureka began to create some breathing room for itself. Tanner
Blankers hit a three-pointer at the 5:23 mark and Holder continued
to pile on more points. Holder’s hoop with 2:03 left in the quarter
gave Eureka a 50-43 advantage – the biggest lead by either team in
the game.
Troy answered in the final two minutes.
Ormiston sank a bucket at the 1:38 mark and followed up with a
three-pointer just 28 seconds later to cut the Eureka deficit to
two points.
Ormiston scored again with 52 seconds
left in the third on a fast-break bucket on a pass from Ryan
Rayson. Cory Orr then made 1-of-2 free throws to give the Trojans a
51-50 lead heading into the fourth.
Neither team led by more than three
points the rest of the game. Eureka took a 59-58 lead with 5:19
left on a Holder basket. Troy responded with a Cory Orr jumper just
4 seconds later. Holder had an answer with a three-pointer a little
more than a minute later.
That type of back-and-forth battle
entertained fans in the final minutes. Rayson scored with 3:50 left
to tie the score, 62-62, and then Troy got a huge three-point goal
from Cory Orr at the 2:48 mark. The Trojans would then need to hang
on the rest of the way.
Eureka missed an opportunity with 2:32
left when Bryton Guckenberg missed a pair of free throws. Andrew
Derby, the team’s lone senior, hit with 1:19 left to cut the Troy
lead to 65-64.
That set up the final thrilling minute
that included Troy’s missed free throw, Eureka’s chance at the end
and Cory Orr’s blocked shot.
“We got everybody their price of
admission for excitement anyway,” Andersen said. “We play a lot of
those games. You know, the last couple of times we struggled in the
fourth quarter and missed some opportunities to beat some good
teams. Tonight, I thought we took advantage when we had to, we made
plays.”
Eureka’s Holder was tough to stop. He
scored his 21 points on 10 field goals and 2-of-6 free throws.
“Eureka’s a tough team and they’re
going to be even tougher next year; they’re going to have a lot of
wins,” Andersen said. “Holder, he’s got great body control and is
good at creating space.”
Four players scored in double figures
for the Trojans. Besides the 23 from Ormiston, Troy also got 19
points from Rayson, 13 from Cody Orr and 10 from Cory Orr.
“To not have ever played a game with
everybody healthy, to be 6-3 and 4-1 in our division, we can’t ask
for anything more than that,” Andersen said. “The hope is to get
fully healthy during the backstretch of our schedule. If we can do
that, I think we’ll be tough come tournament time. We’ve just got
to get healthy.”
Troy remains one game behind 7-B
frontrunner Bigfork in the standings. The Trojans head to Bonners
Ferry on Thursday, host Thompson Falls on Friday and then hit the
road again on Saturday at Superior.
Troy 65, Eureka 64
Saturday at Troy Activity Center
Scoring by Quarters:
Eureka 14 18 18 14—64
Troy 16 16 19 14—65
EUREKA (64)
Peterson 3 0-0 6, Holder 10 2-6 21,
Blankers 8 1-2 19, Derby 2 0-0 4, Guckenberg 6 2-4 14. Totals 28
5-12 64.
TROY (65)
Cory Orr 3 3-5 10, Rayson 7 5-6 19,
Cody Orr 6 1-2 13, Ormiston 9 0-1 23. Totals 25 9-14 65.