Trojans show hunger to win
The Troy High School boys basketball team faced two tight losses before taking down Valley Christian Saturday, 61-41, over a busy three-day weekend.
Libby Head Coach Justin Young said that the boys weren’t discouraged by opening their season with back-to-back games, and would have likely welcomed another game Sunday if they could have.
After the Trojans’ 47-42 loss to Clark Fork last Thursday, Young said that he loved how aggressively the team played in their first game of the season, but would have liked to see a few more passes before the attack.
Young said the team is already responding better to one another.
“We just need to be a little bit more patient and work the ball around a little more to create those gaps by shifting the defense, and then attacking,” he said.
The game against the Mountain Cats was close, with the teams trading off who had the lead repeatedly. But there was nothing to compare to their Friday night showdown with Stillwater.
Near the end of the third quarter, Troy was up by 12, Young said. But they let that lead slip away.
The teams were tied at the end of the final quarter, and with five seconds left, Stillwater made a final basket for the win.
“So, it was an exciting game with Stillwater,” Young said.
On Saturday, Troy ended on a high note with their 61-41 win over Valley Christian.
Young said he was happy with the performance the team put forward in their first weekend of competition.
“I think they kind of proved it this weekend, that they’ll play anybody, anytime, anywhere, and compete for 32 minutes,” he said. “I didn’t think we’d get there until mid-season, and we’re already there as far as wanting to compete.”
Young said that he takes the season one game at a time, but that he sees good things for the team if they can maintain the trajectory they started the season with.
“We’re going to be kind of that reckless team that has nothing to lose, so that’s going to make us a little bit scary for our conference opponents,” he said.
After their first loss Saturday, Young said the Trojans wore their disappointment openly, and that’s not a bad thing.
“They shouldn’t be satisfied. They should be wanting to get a little bit more,” he said. “I couldn’t be more proud of them.”
While Young said he was proud of how well Troy competed last Thursday, the Trojans knew they could do better, and Young welcomes their determination to prove it.
In their win against Valley Christian, things really clicked.
“We were pretty tired after playing two games, but I was happy with the way we executed. That was the best we executed all weekend,” he said.
With each game, they got a little better and a little more in their groove.
“If we can just keep grinding, keep improving like we did this weekend, we should be pretty fierce by the end of the season,” he said.
The Trojans play at Mission on Saturday at 1 p.m. Their next home game is against Libby on Tuesday, with the first game at 3 p.m.
Thursday, Dec. 6
Clark Fork 47, Troy 42
CF: 11 14 13 9 - 47
T: 13 7 11 11 - 42
Clark Fork: Danner Haskins 7 points, 1-3 FT; Bryan Mask 8 points, 0-1 FT; Carson Callison 19 points, 9-11 FT; Aaron Waddle 4 points, 0-1 FT; Michael Spence 6 points, 2-3 FT; Korey Radford 3 points, 1-2 FT
Troy: Alex Freund 8 points; Dylan Cummings 4 points, 0-1 FT; Hunter Leighty 11 points, 1-2 FT; Jaymin Stever 3 points; Logan Milde 5 points; Trevor Hoagland 8 points, 1-4 FT; Ricki Fisher 1 points, 1-4 FT; Moxley Roesler-Begalke 2 points, 0-2 FT
Friday, Dec. 5
Stillwater 57, Troy 55
S: 18 11 12 16 - 57
T: 10 17 23 5 - 55
Stillwater: Josh Venoman 5 points; Blake Prewitt 4 points, 1-5 FT; Nick Sulebacher 18 points, 1-2 FT; Elijah Chuang 4 points; Jeremiah Honker 6 points, 3-4 FT; Colten Johnson 9 points, 3-5 FT; Caleb Cole-Tinisham 4 points, 2-2 FT; Stephen Thompson 2 points; Eric Anderson 5 points, 1-2 FT
Troy: Alex Freund 4 points, 2-4 FT; Dylan Cummings 7 points, 7-12 FT; Hunter Leighty 9 points, 3-5 FT; Jaymin Stever 11 points, 0-1 FT; Logan Milde 1 points, 1-2 FT; Trevor Hoagland 16 points, 4-6 FT; Tyler Gromley 2 points; Moxley Roesler-Begalke 3 points, 1-2 FT; Cy Winslow 2 points, 2-2 FT
Saturday, Dec. 6
Troy 61, Valley Christian 41
T: 18 9 10 24 - 61
VC: 6 13 6 16 - 41
Troy: Alex Freund 8 points; Dylan Cummings 4 points, 4-5 FT; Hunter Leighty 11 points; Jaymin Stever 16 points, 3-4 FT; Logan Milde 3 points, 3-4 FT; Trevor Hoagland 3 points; Tyler Gromley 2 points; Ricki Fisher 8 points; Moxley Roesler-Begalke 3 points, 1-2 FT; Cy Winslow 3 points
Valley Christian: Riley Reimer 12 points, 2-5 FT; Branson Becker 5 points; Ty Messner 3 points, 1-3 FT; Eyan Becker 3 points; Cameron Fritz 1 points, 1-2 FT; Micah McCloy 2 points; Casey Reimer 15 points, 5-9 FT