Trojans split weekend games

The Troy boys’ basketball team took a beating at home against Bigfork Friday night, losing 33-71, but came back on the road Saturday to tally a two-point win over Ronan, 57-55.

Troy started slow on Friday, with a lone bucket by Sean Opland being Troy’s only points in the first quarter. The Trojans started a rally in the second, outscoring the visitors 14-13.

Bigfork took over in the second half, scoring 34 points to Troy’s 17.

“Bigfork is the number one team in the state and they showed it Friday,” said Troy coach Jerry Mee. “We didn’t play our best, and Bigfork had a lot to do with that.”

Gage Tallmadge scored more than half of Troy’s total points Friday night, dropping in 17 of the total 33. Tallmadge was Troy’s only double-digit scorer.

The boys managed to shake off the loss on Saturday, as they visited Ronan and came out with a two-point win. The Trojans trailed by three after the first, but poured in 16 in the second to take a five-point lead into the locker room at the half.

Troy outscored Ronan 18-10 in the third, boosting their lead to 13 before Ronan staged a fourth quarter rally. The Chiefs scored 24 in the final period, but it wasn’t enough to overcome Troy’s 13.

“The first three quarters we played our best ball of the season,” Mee said. “Gage was big again with 22 points, seven rebounds and six assists. Sean had a nice game scoring, rebounding and taking care of the ball before he fouled out. Kolten, Craig, Brennan and Mason made plays through the game to help us to the victory. It was a nice team effort.”

Gage Tallmadge added 22 points to his season total, with Sean Opland contributing another 13. Cedric Earthboy was Ronan’s leading scorer with 17.

The Trojans face Eureka at home on Friday and then travel to Mission for their final regular season game on Saturday.