Boys lose to McFarland
By Dan Truttschel
Correspondent
The early-season theme for the East Troy High School girls basketball squad is the Trojans have the ability to hang with the opposition.
But East Troy isn’t quite at that spot where it can finish the deal – yet.
In both games last week, the young Trojans battled before they came up short in a pair of Rock Valley Conference setbacks. East Troy opened the week with a 43-26 loss Dec. 2 at Jefferson, followed by a 49-29 loss Dec. 5 to visiting Brodhead.
The Trojans now are 0-4 overall and 0-3 in the RVC.
Despite the rough start, East Troy coach Jeff Brown said his team continues to battle and compete every day.
“They’re fine (mentally),” he said. “They’re pretty tough kids, they’re pretty resilient. I think they’ve done a really nice job of not pointing fingers at each other. Their goal is to keep getting better, and we’ll do that.”
After a slow start against Brodhead that saw East Troy fall behind by points at 17-7, the Trojans put together a mini-rally in the second period.
By halftime, East Troy had cut the deficit to nine points, which was an encouraging sign, Brown said.
“We had a run in the second quarter that was maybe our best run of the year,” he said. “We had eight points in a row and cut (the deficit) down to two or three points about halfway through. … I thought the kids really busted their butts and had a really good second quarter.”
Brown said his team’s offense led to solid defense during the second-quarter rally.
“We made a couple shots and were able to get into our press after that,” he said. “Our press bothered them, because their best point guard was out. We were able to pick on their second group a little bit.”
However, the second half clearly belonged to the Cardinals, a Wisconsin Interscholastic Athletic Association state qualifier last year.
Brodhead outscored East Troy 12-4 in the third quarter and 11-8 in the fourth to put the finishing touches on the 20-point victory.
“They got the free-throw line little bit more (in the second half) then we wanted them to,” Brown said. “They made a few shots and got to the free-throw line.”
Katrina Santos led East Troy with 12 points, 12 rebounds, two steals and two blocked shots.
The two steals were impressive, especially for a 6-foot-2 post player, Brown said.
“(Both steals) were right in a row during that stretch in the second quarter,” he said. “One she took, dribbled the whole length of the court and made the layup. I thought it was going to be the first breakaway dunk of the year. It was a pretty impressive play for a 6-2 kid.”
Katie Hodges added eight points and three steals, while Jessi Spaight added four assists.
The story was similar in the opener at Jefferson.
Jefferson rushed out to a 13-5 first-quarter lead before the Trojans rallied in the second to cut the deficit to just five points by halftime.
But again, the second half was the Trojans’ downfall.
Jefferson put the game away with a 15-2 run in the third quarter. East Troy outscored the Eagles 7-6 in the fourth, but it wasn’t nearly enough.
Santos had eight points, six rebounds, four steals and two blocks, while Maddie Rosin added seven points.
“Jefferson is one of those teams that plays man, gets right in your grill and will wear you down,” Brown said.
East Troy was back in action Thursday night at Clinton. The Cougars improved to 5-0 overall and 3-0 in the RVC South with a 48-45 win last week at McFarland.
East Troy boys fall
The Trojans’ boys basketball team jumped out to a five-point lead after the first period but couldn’t make it hold up in a 75-62 loss Dec. 4 to visiting McFarland.
East Troy took a 0-1 overall record into a home game Tuesday night against Jefferson. Results of that matchup were unavailable by press time.
Matt Kaminski led the Trojans with 15 points, including two 3-pointers, followed by Will Iloncaie with 13, Jake Remsza with 12 and Connor Mitchell with 11.
Mitchell also made a pair of 3-pointers.
Following Tuesday’s contest, the Trojans travel to Brodhead Friday night for an RVC contest with the Cardinals.
