By Dan Truttschel
Correspondent
For several minutes at a time each game, the East Troy High School girls basketball team shows signs of improvement.
But for now, those minutes just aren’t frequent enough.
The Trojans committed 67 turnovers in the two-game Badger Holiday Tournament last week, as they fell 52-23 to Badger and 56-39 to Slinger.
East Troy opened its week with its first win of 2014-15, a 41-37 decision Dec. 30 over visiting Mayville.
“I was a little disappointed in our execution, but not our effort (at Badger),” East Troy coach Jeff Brown said. “The competition was really good.”
Slinger jumped out quickly in the Jan. 3 consolation game and held a 15-9 lead after the first quarter. The Owls extended that lead to 28-17 by halftime and gradually pulled away from there.
Katrina Santos led the way with 14 points and 10 rebounds, followed by Maddie Rosin with eight for the Trojans, who had 31 turnovers in the loss.
The story was similar against Badger the previous night, as East Troy was saddled with 36 turnovers in the 29-point loss.
Jenna Hodges led the way with seven points, 13 rebounds and two steals, followed by Katie Hodges with seven points, five rebounds and three steals and Santos with six points and five rebounds.
Despite the two losses, Brown wasn’t completely discouraged by what he saw on the court during the two-day tournament.
“We see glimpses of really good things, but not consistent enough,” he said. “(Badger and Slinger) pressured us, and we need to be stronger with the ball.”
Brown added that he and his coaches came away with one specific plan moving forward.
“We learned from the tournament that we have to keep working to get better,” he said.
The news was brighter at the start of the week, as the Trojans finally moved into the victory column with the four-point win over Mayville.
“It’s always good to win,” Brown said. “We have been working really hard, and our practices leading up to the game were excellent. The kids were excited.”
East Troy jumped out quickly and took an 8-2 lead after the first quarter. The Trojans extended that advantage by a point before halftime and then outscored Mayville 7-0 in the third.
Brown was pleased with the effort, especially in both the first and third quarters.
“The first quarter, we shot the ball really well,” he said. “In the third quarter, we shut them out with great defense and rebounding.”
Mayville didn’t go away quietly, however, as the Cardinals outscored the Trojans 20-10 in the last eight minutes, but the comeback fell just short.
“We got in the mode of trying to get the game over, hoping the clock would run out,” Brown said.
Santos led the way with 15 points and 22 rebounds, followed by Brianna Casper with eight points, four rebounds and four assists and Kayla Casper with seven points and five rebounds.
East Troy returned to action Thursday night against visiting Palmyra-Eagle, and then will travel to Beloit Turner next Tuesday, Jan. 13. Both games tip off at 7:15 p.m.
“Our goals this week remain the same as in the past,” Brown said. “We want to have good practices before we play Palmyra and just keep getting better.”
