Trojan boys, girls drop two hoops games

The Troy Trojans (3-6) basketball team was outrun on the road at Mission (5-5), falling 64-46.

Down 32-23 at halftime, the Trojans cut the deficit to six before dropping the fourth quarter 20-8.

“We wore down in the fourth,” Troy Coach Cory Andersen said. “With our loss of depth, most of the guys were exhausted at the end of the game.”

The Trojans played the weekend without senior post Bruce Metz, who at 6-foot-3-inches is the team’s tallest player. Metz had the flu.

Stuart Grant and Jared Brown scored 21 points each for the Bulldogs. Gage Tallmadge led the Trojans with 14 points. Gabe Hickman scored 13 for Troy.

Despite Troy’s slow start, Andersen is optimistic.

“If we can get our health and all the guys back we should be much better,” Andersen said. “We play well at times, but we need to do it for four quarters. We continue to struggle at the free-throw line. That hurts us. We have also struggled to make shots we normally make under the basket.”

No player’s season better represents his team’s struggle than sophomore Sean Opland. A menacing linebacker on the football field, Opland plays with comparable abandon on the hardwood. He is almost always the most athletic player on the court. High school basketball coaches of Montana, beware: Opland will become an All-State player the day he starts making his layups.

“Football really is his sport,” Andersen said about Opland. “That’s the way he plays, relentless. I want to encourage him to keep his head up because he is capable of making a lot of the shots he misses.”

Several Trojans shoot with a football player’s touch. Their coach admits it is hard to try to outscore opponents. Good thing the gridiron tenacity translates well on the defensive end.

The Trojans flashed signs of a winning team in the season’s first half. The key to realizing that potential may be as simple as finishing a layup.

Eureka 60, Troy 45: At Troy, the Trojans jumped out to a 9-4 lead with 1:39 left in the first quarter when Tallmadge assisted the trailer Opland in transition for a layup and the foul. But four Dalton Smith free throws in the closing minute made it a 10-9 for Eureka (3-1, 5-4) at the end of the first quarter.

The Trojans reclaimed the lead with 4:04 remaining in the second quarter when Hickman made a free throw, pushing the score to 13-12.

The Lions responded by closing the first half on a furious 13-2 run that included three made three pointers, the last of which was converted by five-foot-six-inch freshman point guard Chase Bohne. Starting junior guard Trey Bohne’s younger brother and assistant coach Rich Bohne’s son, Chase displayed impressive ball-handling skills and spatial understanding.

Part of the Trojans’  problem was Tallmadge’s inability to make his corner threes. He was getting the looks. The shots just were not falling. But Tallmadge is a shooter. And good shooters keep shooting.

Teams traded baskets through the third quarter until Tallmadge connected from three and cut the deficit to 30-25 with 3:20 remaining. One minute later Tallmadge made it two straight from deep to bring Troy within two points. Three rapid layups from Eureka stretched the lead to eight with 40 seconds in the third quarter. Tallmadge responded with an electrifying final 24 seconds, nailing two more threes to make it a 36-34 lead for Eureka.

The crowd was beside itself when Tallmadge stroked his fifth three pointer in less than four minutes with 7:36 to go in the fourth. Troy was down, 38-37. While the junior guard’s shooting brought his team within a single point, it was as close as Troy would get.

But the spirit of Larry Bird would leave Tallmadge and his shot went awry. The Lions got out in transition and finished at the rim. Midway through the fourth quarter it was 53-37. The rest of the game was a formality.

“Eureka really improved,” Andersen said. “They have good young shooters. Gage really helped us but we couldn’t seem to get out of our own way at times. We were right there, but just couldn’t get over the hump.”

Mission 38, Troy 34:  At Mission, The Lady Trojans (1-8) led 23-21 heading into the fourth quarter, but the the Bulldogs exploded for 17 fourth-quarter points. Carley Elverud led the seven Mission scorers with 11 points on Saturday.

Troy won the first quarter 8-2. Johnston led the Lady Trojans with 14 points. Makaylin Randall scored seven points.

Eureka 50, Troy 34:  Had it not been for a 13-0 second quarter stumble, the Trojans may have picked up their second win of the season on Friday. Caitlin Johnston led the Lady Trojans scorers with 12 points.