By Dan Truttschel
Correspondent
Another tough non-conference game last week showed East Troy High School boys basketball coach Darryl Rayfield just what he hoped it would.
But Rayfield was even more pleased with how his team responded.
Fresh off a 76-50 loss to a talented Division 1 Milwaukee Riverside squad last Tuesday, the Trojans responded with a 102-48 Rock Valley Conference victory two nights later at Palmyra-Eagle.
The split left East Troy at 5-5 overall and 5-2 in the RVC heading into a home game Tuesday night against South Division foe Beloit Turner.
East Troy raced out to a 57-26 halftime lead against Palmyra and cruised from there.
“Palmyra was a victim of playing a team who came out and had its best shooting night of the year,” Rayfield said. “We bounced back from Riverside, (went) back on the road and came out on fire.”
Jon Ciriacks led five players in double digits with 21 points, followed by Michael Polakoski with 19, Logan Mitchell and Nick Bourdo with 16 and 19 rebounds and Jared Brehm with 15.
Freshman A.J. Vukovich chipped in with eight points and eight assists.
Rayfield continues to be pleased with Ciriacks’ effort, not only in his production, but with his leadership.
“(He’s) the only senior and has shown his leadership,” Rayfield said. “We have leaned on him being our coach on the floor.
“He carries himself tremendously. Our guys really look up to him, knowing he has played in a lot of (big) games.”
The Riverside game ended up in a lopsided loss, but Rayfield said his team competed into the second half.
East Troy trailed 35-24 at halftime and was outscored by 15 in the final 18 minutes, including an 8-0 run about midway through the second half.
“Milwaukee Riverside is loaded, but we played pretty well for about 25 minutes,” he said. “Just an awesome competitive game (played) at a very high level.”
East Troy had trouble getting into a rhythm offensively, Rayfield said, as it didn’t shoot the basketball at a high percentage from the field.
But he was pleased to see his team compete.
“To beat good teams, our consistency has to and must get better,” Rayfield said. “Playing tough teams and competing is a step in the right direction.
“We did not shoot it well. A cold shooting night on the road hurts. There’s no room for error playing one of the best teams out of (Milwaukee).”
Vukovich and Ciriacks led East Troy with 18 and 17 points, respectively.
Riverside’s 6-foot-6 senior Terrence Lewis, who is headed to NCAA Division I Iowa State, had 21 points – a far cry from the 43 he scored against the state’s top-ranked Division 1 squad, Oshkosh North.
“Polakoski and Mitchell were just outstanding on him,” Rayfield said. “Guarding high-level Division 1 guys makes you pay attention, gets the juices flowing, and it was just what we needed moving forward.”
The Trojans travel to Whitewater tonight to face the Whippets at 7:15 p.m.
