Trojans break, cannot hold off Cougars
A hot start belied a tough shooting night for the Troy Trojans as they lost their first basketball game of the season, 40-35.
After claiming the opening quarter 13-4, the Trojans struggled at home when the Stillwater Christian defense transitioned into a 2-3 zone.
“Stillwater is very disciplined and we had a difficult time with shot selection,” Head Coach Cory Andersen said. “We just were not able to knock down shots.”
The Trojans were without two senior starters, Gabe Hickman and Luke Haggerty, after off-the-court issues. Hickman will miss one more game while Haggerty will miss three more.
The Trojans led 20-18 at halftime but dropped the third quarter 15-7.
“We missed a lot of bunnies around the basket,” Haggerty said. “We let them back in. I can’t wait to get back out and play my senior year.”
Andersen said he was pleased with his team’s defensive effort. Before the season began, Andersen said he expected his team to be strong on the defensive end. The challenge will come in developing a cohesive offensive unit. It will help when Hickman, the team’s leading scorer last season, returns.
“It is going to be a season-long goal of ours to be more disciplined offensively,” Andersen said. “To beat good teams we are going to have to work on that in practice. The fundamentals are there. If the shooting can improve, we will be able to take the next step.”
Sophomore post Sean Opland recorded a double-double, with 10 points and 10 rebounds. Senior Ryan Huffman finished with seven points and 11 rebounds. Junior Gage Tallmadge also chipped in with seven points.
“He was really good defensively,” Haggerty said of his teammate and fellow defensive stopper.
Stillwater Christian’s Jaron and Isaac Neumann each scored eight points for the Cougars.
Turnovers were an issue early for the Trojans, coughing up the ball nine times in the first half. After a few halftime adjustments, the Trojans were able to limit their second-half turnovers to only five.
“I thought we did a better job with our ball-handling in the second half,” Andersen said.
The Trojans continue action Friday when they travel to Plains for their first conference game of the young season. The team will play in Noxon on Saturday.