Trojans' season ends at divisionals
<p>Adam Tallmadge against Eureka defender Moe Henderson.</p>
The Trojans had a rough two games at the divisional tournament in Kalispell over the weekend, falling to Florence in the first round and then dropping to Thompson Falls in Friday’s loser-out game.
Despite the losses, head coach Jerry Mee said he was pleased with the roller coaster of a season the Trojan boys completed this year.
“High school sports is the ultimate in reality TV,” he said. “It is a roller coaster ride with a lot of ups and downs. You have success and failures and our season was no different. The guys for the most part played hard every game and we gave it all we had. We were offensively challenged and had a hard time at times putting the ball in the basket. I would like to thank the seniors Sean, Adam, Kolton and Trinity for their leadership all year. I look forward to watching Sean play for the ‘Cats next year in football.”
In the opening game of the tournament, Troy encountered the Falcons of Florence, dropping 53-29. The Trojans were never really in the game, falling behind by 15 after the first period and then by 23 after the second. It created a deficit the Trojans just couldn’t overcome.
“We had a bad second quarter,” Mee said. “We didn’t score at all. It killed us, we just couldn’t hang with them.”
Sean Opland led the Trojans with nine points, Dillon Savage chipped in another six for Troy.
The loss sent the Trojans to the loser-out bracket to face the Bluehawks of Thompson Falls. Troy’s boys didn’t fare much better in that matchup, losing 50-31. Mee said his boys played good defense in the game, but just couldn’t get the buckets to fall.
“We played good enough defense to win, but there was a lid on the basket in the first half,” he said. “The second half we matched T-Falls, even though their size got us on the inside and we did not have very many good looks in the key. We played hard but just could not score the ball.”
Opland led the Trojans with eight points, as well as five rebounds. Savage added another six, with seven boards. Adam Tallmadge contributed five points and snatched five rebouds.
Mee said overall he is proud of his team and is looking forward to what his boys will do next year, if they dedicate themselves.
“The players coming back need to spend some time in the gym and weight room,” he said. “They also need to do their best in the classroom. I would like to thank the parents and fans for their support during the season. Troy does a great job of showing up on game day.”