Trojans fall in pair of close weekend games
At Troy on Friday, Eureka outscored the Trojans 21-12 in the fourth quarter to steal a victory from the Trojans on their home court 58-53.
Trojans’ coach Jerry Mee said Chase Bohne hit some 3s to give Eureka the early lead. Bohne scored 16 points in the first half, but was held to six in the second.
Troy battled back to keep the score close and trailed 26-32 at halftime.
The Trojans played an exceptional third quarter, outscoring the Lions by 10 points. But with several Troy players fouling out in the fourth quarter and Eureka converting their free throws, the Lions were able to control the final stanza. Brennan Olds, Sean Opland, and Kolten Winebark all fouled out of the game.
With Troy losing some of their primary players, Eureka’s RJ Glover was able to open things up on the offensive end.
“We battled, but we just fouled too much,” said Mee.
Glover led all scorers with 24 points for Eureka, which improved to 4-4 in conference, 8-10 overall. Chase Bohne added 22 for the Lions.
Gage Tallmadge scored 19 points, Sean Opland and Kolten Winebark each added 10, but Troy remained winless in conference.
On Saturday, the Trojans visited St. Ignatius for a matchup against the Bulldogs. Led by senior forward Aaron Fisher-Ahenakew’s career-high 36 points, Mission defeated Troy 63-56.
Coach Mee said the first half of play with the Bulldogs was very physical. “We didn’t do a very good job of adjusting to the that, but in the second half we got more comfortable,” he said.
Fisher-Ahenakew was on fire in the fourth quarter, scoring 20 of his teams 23 points and hitting four 3-pointers. “He’s a really good player,” Mee said.
Troy’s one-two punch of Tallmadge and Opland provided the offensive firepower for the Trojans. “Gage and Sean both had a good game,” Mee said, “all of Gage’s points came in the second half.” Tallmadge tallied 22 points in the game and Opland added 17.
Down two points in the fourth quarter, Mission snagged an offensive rebound and turned it into two points. “Then we had to scramble and foul them a little bit and they were able to convert their free throws to seal it,” Mee said.
“When you’re playing from behind and exert all that energy when you get into striking distance you just fall short sometimes. That’s what happened,” Mee said.
Finishing out the season at 6-12, Mee said his team was within striking distance for almost every game throughout the season. “We battled and we fought in every game,” Mee said. “Some injury and illness got us a little bit, but we did the best we could. Our team competed and came out on the short end of the stick in some and won a few.”
Troy has a play-in game against Plains on Tuesday, Feb. 17 at 7 p.m. If they win, they’ll travel to Bigfork on Thursday to face the Vikings. Regardless of the result against Bigfork, Troy will then play in Columbia Falls to earn their seed for the divisional tournament held in Kalispell on Feb. 25.
The top two teams from the Kalispell tournament, which will include the Class B schools from the Missoula area, will then advance to the state tournament in Great Falls.
Mee said Bigfork is the team to beat in the division with Florence, Thompson Falls and Missoula Loyola also boasting competitive units.
Troy Trojans (56)
Gage Tallmadge 22, Brennan Olds 6, Sean Opland 17, Mason Chapel 6, Kolten Winebark 7.
St. Ignatius (63)
Dennis Fisher-Ahenakew 6, Robbie Erickson 3, Tate Weingart 2, Nick Durglo 8, Aaron Fisher-Ahenakew 36, Will Powell 6, Bill VonHoltum 2.
Troy 12 7 14 23_ 56
Mission 16 15 9 23_ 63
Friday, Feb. 13
Troy Trojans (53)
Craig Helmrick 5, Gage Tallmadge 19, Brennan Olds 3, Sean Opland 10, Mason Chapel 3, Kolten Winebark 10.
Eureka Lions (58)
Brandon Conard 6, Brad Stein 1, RJ Glover 24, Michael Peterson 1, Chase Bohne 22, Branden Thier 4.
Troy 12 14 15 12_ 53
Eureka 13 19 5 21_ 58