Lady Loggers win 41-14 vs. Troy
Libby junior Emma Gruber knocks the ball away from Troy junior Annie Day halfway through the first period of the 41-14 Logger win over the Trojans Thursday, Jan. 25. (Ben Kibbey/The Western News)
Libby’s Alli Collins powers past Troy’s Talise Becquart Thursday, Jan. 25. (John Blodgett/The Western News)
Lady Logger Syd Gier passes while being guarded by Troy’s Annie Day Thursday, Jan. 25. (John Blodgett/The Western News)
Libby’s Brooklyn Rainer is fouled by Troy’s Kaitlyn Downey Thursday, Jan. 25. (John Blodgett/The Western News)
Troy’s Allie Coldwell and Libby’s Jayden Winslow keep an eye on one another in Thursday’s matchup in Libby. (John Blodgett/The Western News)
Lady Logger Emma Gruber fires off a pass as Troy’s Emily Ramirez defends Thursday, Jan. 25. (John Blodgett/The Western News)
The Libby High School girls varsity basketball team on Thursday took down Troy High School at Libby, 41-14.
The Lady Loggers took an early lead, and with Lady Trojan senior starters Aurora Becquart and Grace Dolan not playing, Troy Head Coach Justin Young knew from the start they were facing a tougher battle than he had planned for.
Young said he knew the team would be weak on offense, and was pleased with how well his team played defense through the first half. But, the younger girls who were called on to fill in for their more experienced teammates simply ran out of steam.
Still, Young felt like the whole team fought hard throughout.
Libby Head Coach Wally Winslow said that his girls were facing a quality team going up against Troy, even with two of the most experienced Trojans missing from the game.
“I expected the Troy girls to play really hard, and that expectation was met,” he said.
Winslow said he felt his Lady Loggers performed well both individually and as a team.
“We executed our defensive gameplan well,” Winslow said. “Offensively, I thought we were kind of stagnant.”
Despite the win, Winslow said he wants to look over the film and work out ways the Lady Loggers can improve their offense, especially against zone defense, in the rest of the season.
The desire to win is always there in a rivalry game, but there’s more to it than that, Winslow said. More than anything, the rivalry is about respect.
“You have respect for the things the Troy kids are trying to do, and the Troy coaches and the Troy schools, trying to teach kids lessons about themselves through athletics,” he said.
“I hope they’d feel the same way about us, because we have a lot of respect for what they do, and the way they play, and it’s fun to play them.”
Libby 5 13 9 14 — 41
Troy 1 5 1 7 — 14