With Foote leading the way, Troy blisters Plains

Troy’s 6-foot-1 senior Michael Foote was the story of the first quarter in Saturday’s matchup against Plains.

Foote scored Troy’s first 11 points and ended the quarter with 13. Included in his scoring spree were two 3-pointers. Foote finished the game with 23 points.

With Foote leading the way, the Trojans lead 17-9 at the close of the quarter and never looked back. They finished with a 59-34 victory over the Horseman.

As their lead was never seriously threatened, the Trojans were able to empty their bench early and often. Coach Justin Young said he was pleased with how the team played with — and maintained — a high level of energy throughout the game and avoid foul trouble.

“Foote got us of to a great start and we were able to give the bench some valuable playing experience,” he said.

Young praised juniors Trevor Grant and Paxton Fisher for helping their younger teammates on the floor. That is, when they weren’t busy making an impact themselves. Grant netted 18 points during the game while Fisher came away with seven.

“Freshman Barocko Garcia played his best game of the year,” Young said. “[Garcia] also pulled down a few rebounds and played hard on the defensive end.”

Garcia scored 10 points with eight coming in the final quarter of the game.

Looking ahead, Young stressed the need to improve on situational awareness.

“We still need to get better at reading situations — when to slow down, when to speed up,” he said. “We also need to improve our rebounding on the defensive end. Especially at the close of games.”

The win served a salve of sorts following the Trojan’s Jan. 21 loss to the St. Ignatius Bulldogs. Although the final score proved a lopsided 64-14 Bulldog victory, Young found a few positives to take from the defeat.

“During the first quarter, I thought we ran some of our best offensive sets of the season,” he said. “Unfortunately, St. Ignatius dropped 26 points on us.”

Young described the Bulldogs as “a very good ball team” and pointed out that they were led by Zoran LaFromboise, an all-state point guard. LaFromboise came away from the court with 27 points, leading his teammates.

Despite the stiff competition and lopsided score, Troy never stopped fighting.

“The boys never quit,” Young said. “They kept up their competitive energy despite the score.”

The freshman quartet of Brody Kelso, Konnor Mischenko, Cody Todd and Garcia played the majority of the second half.

“It was good for them to gain some valuable varsity experience,” Young said.