By Dan Truttschel
Correspondent
Opponents of the East Troy girls basketball team oftentimes find themselves stuck between a rock and a hard place.
Play zone and the Trojans can light it up from the outside – stick to man-to-man defense, and East Troy is just too quick to guard.
Visiting Parkview found both out the hard way last week.
The Vikings’ man defense was shredded early by East Troy, which jumped out to a 21-4 first-quarter lead and never looked back in a
dominating 67-19 victory.
East Troy, ranked second in Division 3, improved to 12-0 overall and 9-0 in the Rock Valley Conference heading into non-conference home game against Westosha Central Monday night.
Results of that matchup were unavailable by press time.
“(Parkview) came out in man, and were able to steal a lot of passes and were able to get down the floor (and score) before we had to run any (offense),” East Troy coach Jeff Brown said.
Another factor again was the Trojans’ suffocating defense, which refused to let the Vikings get into any kind of flow, Brown said.
That tough defensive mindset has been the story since a bit of a struggle against Edgerton earlier this season.
“I really think after the first quarter against Edgerton, for whatever reason, our defense has been real outstanding,” Brown said. “If you don’t have guards who can handle our guards at the top, you’re in for a rough night.
“You might have some size, but if you don’t get the ball to them, it doesn’t really matter.”
East Troy led 30-5 at halftime, and as the third quarter began, Parkview switched to a 1-3-1 zone defense in an effort to slow down the Trojans.
“We just shot them out of it right away,” Brown said.
Rachel Atchison, who led the Trojans with 19 points and had five steals, drained three 3-pointers in the quarter.
From there, Brown went to his bench, which was led by freshman Katrina Santos, who scored all 10 of her points in the fourth quarter.
“We see a lot of improvement out of her,” he said. “Hopefully, we can use her by the end of the year in a situation here and there.”
Breanna Gaspervich added 13 points and 10 steals for the Trojans, followed by Santos with 10, Alicia Oleson with nine points and six assists, Andrea Olsen with seven points and Alee Schahczinski with four assists.
Following Monday’s contest, the Trojans will be back in action Friday against visiting Evansville at 7:15 p.m.
The focus continues to be down the road, Brown said, as his team has its sights set on not only a RVC title, but also another trip to Madison and the state tournament.
East Troy just has to keep its eyes on the prize, he said.
“We keep telling them good teams really improve in January to where they want to get to at the end of February, and I think they’ve really bought into that,” Brown said.
“(For) these seniors, it’s their last ride. What else do they have to look forward to?”
Entering action this week, Neillsville continues to hold the top spot in the Division 3 rankings at 11-0, followed by East Troy, Kewaunee at 10-1 and RVC rival Brodhead at 12-0.
Brodhead travels to East Troy for the teams’ only meeting this season Feb. 11.
