Troy girls place third at district tourney

The Lady Trojans fought off a 47-33 Thursday loss to the eventual district champion Bigfork Valkyries, but bounced back to beat the Lady Lions of Lincoln County High, 32-31, to place third at the District 7-B championship Saturday in Polson.

The Lady Trojans opened tournament play Thursday in Bigfork, where they suffered a 47-33 loss at the hands of the rampaging Vals, who went on to claim the district title with a win over the Lady Loggers of Libby.

“We lost the game 47-33,” said head coach Justin Young. “I was proud of the way the girls never quit fighting against Bigfork. We were down by 14 early in the third, but the girls never gave up and were able to pull within four with a few minutes to play. A couple of turnovers helped spark a run for Bigfork, which forced us to press more than we would have liked, which helped contribute to them running away with it at the end. Overall I was happy. The girls played solid defense and were aggressive with the basketball the second half. Hopefully we get one more shot at them this season.”

The loss dropped the Lady Trojans into the consolation round of the tournament Saturday in Polson, where they encountered the Lady Lions of Lincoln County High School. The Troy girls fought a tough battle with their Eureka counterparts and came out on top, 32-31, to claim third.

“I was pleased with the girls’ defense,” Young said. “Even though we were sluggish from a long week, the girls gave everything they had on the defensive end. The game was closer than what we liked, but the ending made it all worthwhile. Sami Rohrich nailed two clutch free throws when we were down by one with 1:20 left, then Allie Coldwell hit a go-ahead bucket with just 10 seconds left and we ended the game by forcing a turnover with strong team defense. It was a fun game to watch and  a fun moment to be part of. Hopefully we can use this as a launchpad to go get a couple of wins at divisionals.”