Troy boys lose nailbiter to Mission
The Troy Trojans found themselves in another battle at home on Saturday night. One week after nearly coming back from a large deficit to Ronan, the Trojans lost another close game on their home court to the Mission Bulldogs, 48-50.
This time the Trojans didn’t need a comeback, with the game remaining close through all four quarters. However, the battle of 32s, Troy’s Gage Tallmadge and Missions’ Aaron Ahenakew, went in the Bulldogs’ favor. Tallmadge led all scorers with 30 points and Ahenakew led Mission with 28 points.
Troy Coach Jerry Mee identified Ahenakew as one of the reasons Troy lost the game. “That 32, he just had too many second chances. He did a great job inside and we didn’t have an answer for him.”
After leading 12-8 after the first quarter, Troy extended their lead to 15-10 behind an aggressive 2-3-zone defense and some nice drives to the basket resulting in and-1 opportunities for Tallmadge. Mission decided to engage their full-court defense a couple minutes into the second quarter, which Troy struggled against, turning the ball over several times.
Ahenakew scored six points over the last three minutes of the second quarter, two from the free throw line, two after an offensive rebound and two after a Mission steal and pass inside to the big man. Mission led 20-18 at halftime.
It took only nine seconds in the third quarter for Mission to work the ball to Ahenakew in the paint, which he turned into two points. The bucket allowed Mission to apply their full-court defense.
Troy answered by driving the ball to the hoop and drawing fouls. Unfortunately, the Trojans left a handful of points on the foul line by missing those opportunities.
The 32s showcased contrasting styles of play that were equally effective in the first several minutes of the third quarter. Tallmadge was fouled on a 3-pointer and made all of his free throws. Then he had a nice drive, hung in the air, and scored the layup while getting fouled in the process, adding one point from the free-throw line. Ahenakew answered by making a nice baby-hook down low and then getting two more points off an offensive rebound in the paint.
Mission hit two 3-pointers to take their largest lead of the game, 36-27 with a few minutes left in the third quarter. Mason Chapel sunk two free throws and Tallmadge took a steal the length of the court for two points to bring the score to 31-36, Mission.
Adam Tallmadge had numerous rebounds in the game and scored five of his nine points in the beginning of the fourth quarter, adding some balance to the Trojan’s attack. Ahenakew responded to each bucket with one of his own on the other end of the court.
With just over two minutes left in the game Troy held a 45-44 lead. That’s about the time the Bulldogs coach, James Lozeau, noticed some blood on Gage Tallmadge’s jersey. “In a game like that where it’s hard fought you’re going to have blood here and there,” Mee said.
As the rules would have it, that required Tallmadge to get another jersey and sit out until the next time out. Mee wasted no time getting another jersey and calling a timeout so Tallmadge could immediately get back in the game. Tallmadge was now 44.
The bleachers were rocking. “Trojan Power” was being countered by the Mission crowd hollering “Here we go Bulldogs.” The battle had worked its way into the crowd.
Down 45-49 Gage Tallmadge hit a 3-pointer bringing the score to 48-49 with 5.1 second to play. Sean Opland fouled out of the game fouling Ahenakew with 4.3 seconds left. Ahenakew made his first attempt and missed the second. Troy saved the ball as it headed out of bounds to a Mission player; game over.
Mee and Lozeau both felt Mission’s rebounding edge made the difference in the game. Lozeau was also pleased with the composure of his young guards in the fourth quarter. “Our patience was great, that’s a big step for us,” Lozeau said.
The Trojans have made it through the first half of their season and will now see conference foes for a second time. “It’s a work in progress; every game had a new twist to it. The teams we play, we’ve already played once so hopefully we figure some stuff out,” Mee said.
The Trojans dropped to 3-6.
On Friday, The Troy Trojans ran into a hot shooting Eureka team on the road. The Lions made 11 3-pointers on their way to a convincing 64-40 win over Troy.
Gage Tallmadge paced Troy with 12 points. Kolten Winebark added 8 points and Sean Opland provided 7 points in the losing effort
St. Ignatius 50, Troy 48
St. Ignatius 8 12 14 16_50
Troy 12 6 13 17_48
ST. IGNATIUS – Dennis Ahenakew 7, Tate Weihgart 2, Gentry Brown 2, Nick Durglow 9, Aaron Fisher-Ahenakew 28, Will Powell 2.
TROY – Adam Tallmadge 9, Brennan Olds 2, Sean Opland 4, Mason Chapel 2, Gage Tallmadge 30, Kolten Winebark 1.