Trojans beat Loggers on road, win four straight
<p>Collin Johnson, rough game vs. Columbia Falls. Loggers 31, Cats 76.</p>
<p>Luke Haggerty, left, and Gage Tallmadge after defeating the Loggers 60-48 Friday night at Ralph Tate Gymnasium.</p>
<p>Jared Winslow, right, guarding Gage Tallmadge second quarter.</p>
<p>Genia Haflich cheering the Trojans to a 60-48 win over the Loggers Friday night.</p>
The Troy Trojans (3-3, 7-6) won their fourth straight hoops game Saturday when they beat Thompson Falls (1-4, 5-9) at home, 55-47.
The Trojans jumped to a 20-9 first-quarter lead behind outstanding defensive hustle from Luke Haggerty. The senior scored eight of his 10 points in the first quarter.
“His defense got everyone else going,” Troy Coach Cory Andersen said. “He gave us a lot of hustle and extra effort.”
Five Trojans scored in double-digits. Gabe Hickman, Haggerty and Bruce Metz each scored 10 points. Sean Opland scored 11 points, and Gage Tallmadge scored 12.
“We’re tougher to beat when teams can’t just stop one guy,” Andersen said.
Trais Hoisington, a 6-foot-4-inch sophomore, led all scorers with 16 points.
Columbia Falls 76, Libby 31: At Libby, the Loggers struggled against one of the best teams in Northwestern A basketball on Saturday.
The Wildcats (4-1, 10-3) beat the Libby Loggers (0-4, 1-11) behind outstanding depth and defense. Columbia Falls led 19-5 after the first quarter and 36-14 at half.
Jared Winslow led all scorers with 15 points, but 11 Columbia Falls players scored a point, compared to only five Loggers. Alex Presnell led the Wildcats with 13 points.
“Columbia Falls is a top-three team year-in and year-out,” Libby Coach Wally Winslow said. “They are a quality team with a lot of numbers and great players. On our best night we can play with them, but we did not play our best. We need to learn from our mistakes. We played on our heels. We capitalized against pressure early, but they made our (passing) vision short.”
Troy 60, Libby 48: At Libby, turnabout was fair play Friday night when the visiting Troy Trojans beat the Libby Loggers on the hardwood.
After eking out a road win in Troy earlier this season, the Loggers faded late.
Libby led 9-8 at the end of the first quarter. Winslow, a reigning All-State guard, played a part in all nine points, scoring seven and assisting Collin Johnson’s layup.
Opland’s layup early in the second quarter tied the game, 10-10. Opland scored eight of Troy’s first 10 points.
The game shifted midway through the second quarter when Hickman’s transition layup following an Opland block gave Troy a 16-15 lead. With 2:59 remaining in the half, Hickman hit a long three-pointer. Thirty seconds later Hickman responded to a Johnson layup with another three-pointer from the exact same spot as his previous attempt. A third bucket from downtown with 31 seconds in the half made it 27-23 at the midway point.
After a quiet second quarter, Winslow assisted senior forward Quinn Sullivan for the opening basket of the second half. Teams would trade points throughout the quarter and Metz, would pick up his fourth foul after sitting much of the first half with three. Winslow’s jumper with six seconds remaining in the third narrowed Troy’s lead to 39-35 heading into the final frame.
Hickman and Opland made shots early in the fourth quarter and Winslow’s jump hook with 6:02 remaining brought Libby within six. But a 2:20 scoreless stretch culminated in a Haggerty layup, assisted by Opland, on a second-chance possession following a Haggerty offensive rebound. Up by eight, the Trojans saw the game within reach.
A Haggerty steal and assist to Hickman, who converted a transition layup thanks to a nifty Eurostep around sophomore Logger guard Jonny Cielak, sealed the game for the Trojans, making the score 49-37.
Amid a dragging free-throw contest and a couple of uncontested layups, the game ended fiercely in the stands. Large cheering sections for both sides competed for “loudest chant.”
Winslow scored the last of his 24 points in the final seconds of the game on a casual trot through the lane. Johnson finished with 15 points. Hickman led all scorers with 25 points. Opland scored 14, and Tallmadge scored 13.
“Troy has a nice group of athletes who are tough to beat when they play together and work hard,” Coach Winslow said. “Sometimes, the ball doesn’t fall. The game got away from us in the fourth when we had to take some chances on defense. Troy is a good team. Our chances of them walking into a mistake are not good. They spread the court well in the fourth quarter.”
Troy never looked back after grabbing the lead in the second quarter. The second was also Jared Winslow’s only scoreless quarter.
“Gage and others did a good job of rotating on (Jared),” Coach Winslow said. “We’ve seen a lot of junk defenses against us. Defenses designed to just take away one guy. Troy did a good job of playing strong, man-to-man defense. Jared struggled from deep and spent more time trying to get to the basket.”
Coach Andersen saw his practices pay off.
“Sean settled and made some shots he was missing earlier,” Andersen said. “We worked on angles under the basket. He was better at the free-throw line, too. The team is playing more fundamental ball. We’re realizing how to have success with patience and get shots instead of forcing things.”