Troy boys take win against Mullan Tigers

It was a tale of two halves in Troy last week.

The Troy Trojans dominated the first half of the matchup with the Mullan Tigers on Jan. 20. Over the course of two quarters, they racked up a 36-11 lead.

But the Tigers roared back in the second half, racking up 36 points to Troy’s 21. It wasn’t enough to overcome the Trojan’s lead. The boys from Troy came away with a 58-47 win.

The Trojans started the game on a roll. With both teams primarily playing man defense throughout the game, Troy was able to get good looks at the basket. They converted several of those looks into successful shots.

The Tigers were content to try for three pointers for much of the first half — but with limited success. Together, that added up to a hefty Troy lead by halftime.

The second half saw the Tigers put the Trojans, perhaps feeling safe given the size of their lead, on their back feet. Mullan’s players gave up on the three point shots and began driving at the basket and ended up with several uncontested shots. At the third quarter’s end, they had narrowed Troy’s lead to 45-30.

The Tigers continued to work on a rally in the fourth quarter. A Mullan full court press led to several Trojan turnovers. At the six-minute mark, the Trojan lead was 50-36.

In response, Troy worked to slow the game down — a successful strategy.

“At times in the second half we didn’t hold onto the ball as long as we wanted to and perhaps we were playing not to lose with the big lead we had,” said coach Justin Young. “That’s something I and the team need to work on. We seemed to lack the energy on defense we displayed in the first half.”

Young credited senior Michael Foote with rallying his teammates on the floor and encouraging younger players to keep fighting.

“…Some of our younger players were thrown into the fire for the first time and responded well,” Young said.

Trevor Grant led the Trojans in scoring, coming away with 22 points, while teammate Paxton Fisher earned 13 points. Foote racked up 8 points.

For the Tigers, Alex Trogden netted 14 points while Austin Zingler took home 13 points.