By Dan Truttschel
Correspondent
The calendar is about to turn to February, and for boys and girls basketball teams, that means the games soon will take on greater significance.
And that’s why, even in defeat, there were plenty of positives that came out of the East Troy boys basketball team’s non-conference game Saturday with visiting Racine Case.
East Troy led 51-49 heading into the fourth quarter but Case rallied and eventually sealed the win at the free-throw line in a hard-fought 73-69 non-conference victory.
The loss dropped the Trojans, ranked fifth in the latest wissports.net Division 3 poll, to 12-3 overall, while Case improved to 13-3.
East Troy took its 10-0 Rock Valley Conference record into a tough road game Tuesday night at Clinton. The Cougars entered that matchup at 12-4 overall and 9-2 in the RVC, good for first place in the South Division.
Results of that contest were unavailable by press time.
Despite the loss to Case, East Troy coach Darryl Rayfield said he came away from the game with plenty of positives.
“We learned a great deal about our team and got a lot out of this game moving forward toward the tournament,” he said. “I felt as happy about this game (as others) in terms of learning opportunities to get where we need to get to.”
The game was tight throughout. Case held a 22-20 lead after the first quarter and expanded that advantage to 38-32 by halftime.
In the third quarter, however, the Trojans made their run, as they outscored Case 19-11 to take the two-point lead into the final eight minutes.
Case’s James Trice iced the win with a pair of free throws with 1:30 left in the contest. For the game, Case made 12 of 17 attempts from the line, while East Troy was 15 for 20.
Nate Dodge led the way with 26 points, followed by Brett Prahl with 25, Alex Prahl with 10 and 10 rebounds and Will Illoncaie with eight.
Along with the balanced scoring, Rayfield also was pleased with the defensive efforts of both Illoncaie and Connor Mitchell.
Stopping Case was easier said than done, Rayfield said, because of the Eagles’ depth. Nine players scored for the visitors, led by Trice’s 19.
“Their depth was very good,” Rayfield said. “There was not very much drop off. Connor and Will gave an absolutely great defensive effort.”
Following Tuesday’s contest at Clinton, the Trojans will host Edgerton Friday night at 7:15 p.m. The Tide entered play this week at 11-5 overall and 8-3 in the RVC. East Troy beat Edgerton 64-52 back in late November.
As for the latest Division 3 poll, Wisconsin Dells continues to lead the way at 16-0, followed by Little Chute at 14-1, Lodi at 14-1, La Crosse Aquinas at 13-2 and the Trojans.
