Loggers and Trojans square off on the hardwood: Troy girls defend home court
The Lady Loggers started Friday night’s game against the Lady Trojans with a seven-point run, but basketball is a game of streaks and the Lady Trojans responded with a streak of their own, pouring in eight straight to take a lead they would not relinquish. The Lady Trojans successfully defended their home court and sent the Lady Loggers home with a 53-38 loss.
After their initial seven-point run, the Lady Loggers were only able to put up three more points in the first quarter, while the Lady Trojans muscled in a total of 18 to take a solid lead after the first period of play. The Lady Loggers drew first blood in the second quarter on a pair of Madisen Monigold free throws. Troy responded, however, with a run of seven points to push their lead to 13. The girls fought back and forth for the rest of the quarter, and Libby went into the locker room at the half trailing 32-19.
The Lady Trojans came out of halftime fired up and ready to play. They poured in 13 more points and held the Lady Loggers to just eight, extending their lead to 18 as the game entered the final quarter. The Lady Loggers tried to rally in the fourth, but never got closer than 15 points to the rampaging Lady Trojans.
Libby head coach Jim May said the Troy girls really stuck it to his team.
“The Troy girls played a great game,” he said. “They came out after the first half of the first quarter and really stuck it to us. Our execution on both ends of the floor needs to be more consistent.”
Troy head coach Justin Young was thrilled with his team’s performance.
“The Libby game was a good contest for us,” he said. “Kaitlyn Downey made some huge threes to swing momentum our direction in the first quarter. I was thrilled to see the girls respond to the energy and let it carry them to a big run in the first half. I was also pleased with the way we ran our offense against Libby. The execution was sloppy, but we were much more aggressive attacking their defense then we were the first time we played them. Allie Coldwell had a solid performance for us. Not only was her shooting solid, but she played her best game defensivly as far as defensive rotations are concerned Libby is a solid team and Reny absolutely killed us, she is a fun player to watch. Win or lose it is always a fun time playing against Libby. I was just happy for the girls that they got one against their friendly rivals.”