Troy places fourth in district play

The Troy Trojans struggled in district tournament play last week, falling 68-42 to Bigfork in the semifinal game and then losing 63-39 to in-county rival Libby in the third-fourth place matchup in Polson Saturday.

The Trojans hung with the Vikings in the early part of the game Thursday night, but were unable to keep the pace with the eventual district champions. Adam Tallmadge led the Trojans with 15 points, Sean Opland chipped in another 11.

“We played with Bigfork for the first quarter and half of the second, but we did not keep up the rest of the game,” head coach Jerry Mee said. “Bigfork out-rebounded us and that led to some kick-out threes. They are the real deal and will compete for the state championship.”

The Thursday loss set the Trojans up for their third meeting with the Libby Loggers in the consolation game Saturday afternoon. The Trojans fell 63-39 against Libby, leaving them finishing fourth in the district tournament.

Opland led the Trojan effort with 22 points, Kolton Winebark added nine.

Mee credited Troy’s offensive struggles in the game to solid defense by the Logger boys.

“Libby got out to a good start and we had a hard time scoring,” he said. “We just could not put the ball in the basket, and a lot of that had to do with Libby’s strong defense. Libby played well. We cut into the lead once in the second half, but then the bottom fell out.”

The Trojans will face top-seeded Florence in the opening game of the divisional tournament Thursday morning.

“Now we are off to divisionals to play the No. 1 seed Florence Falcons Thursday at 8 a.m.,” Mee said. “If you are going to play the top seed, 8 in the morning is as good a time as any. We need to go in and compete and see what happens.”