By Dan Truttschel
Correspondent
A 13-point loss back in early December put the East Troy High School boys basketball team behind in its quest for a Rock Valley Conference North Division title.
But since then, the Trojans have held serve – and now with a rematch at undefeated McFarland set for Friday night, they can stake their claim to at least a tie.
It’s all come down to this.
East Troy, which hosted Big Foot Tuesday night, should enter Friday’s contest at 9-1, one game behind the 10-0 Spartans.
Results of the Big Foot contest were unavailable by press time. McFarland hosted Parkview.
“Friday’s game is really all that you can ask for in a conference game,” East Troy coach Darryl Rayfield said.
“Basically, for the most part it is very simple. We win, it helps us win a championship. If we lose, the conference championship is gone.”
McFarland beat East Troy 75-62 in the first meeting, but the deficit was just three points with less than two minutes to play.
“We had a war in the first game and got into extremely deep foul trouble,” Rayfield said. “We failed to make a couple big plays and it cost us.
“But we are really playing well right now. They are big, we are not. They made 33 foul shots last game, and we missed and took too many threes. You cannot win championships jacking just threes.”
Entering play this week, McFarland (13-3 overall) is led in scoring by 6-foot-4 senior Sean Chisolm and 6-6 junior Benjamin Rounds at 17.4 and 15.5 points per game, respectively. Chad Herbst, a 6-foot senior, is next at nine points per game.
East Troy has four players who average double digits, led by 6-foot senior Connor Mitchell and 6-foot sophomore Joseph Ciriacks at 11.4 points per game, 6-foot senior Will Iloncaie at 10.7 and 5-11 senior Matt Kaminski at 10.4.
Rayfield knows Friday’s matchup will be a back-and-forth affair – and he and the Trojans can’t wait to get to the tipoff to settle the score.
“It will be a rollercoaster-type of situation,” he said. “The run good half-court offense and play very good half-court pack defense.
“They had some hiccups in the middle of the year with a couple issues but are back a full strength and are playing at the level that got them to the sectional finals a year ago with the same team back.”
Rayfield doesn’t expect the issue to be settled until right at the end of Friday’s game.
“They are very good right now, and we know it,” he said. “We know each other really well, and these (games) are the fun ones. We are ready and suspect they are, too. It will come down to who can sustain toughness for 32 minutes.”
Trojans split two
East Troy opened play last week with a 57-48 non-conference loss Jan. 27 to visiting Oconomowoc, followed by an 89-46 RVC win Jan. 29 at Parkview.
In the win, the Trojans held a 50-22 halftime lead and then exploded for 36 points in the third quarter.
Mitchell led the way with 23 points, followed by Ciriacks with 15, Jake Remsza with 13 and Jonathan Brehm with 11.
Having a balanced scoring attack is key to what the Trojans try to do offensively, Rayfield said.
“We are a team and a program that stresses multiple skill development, and it gives us opportunities to score in several ways,” he said. “It was on display against Parkview.”
East Troy held a one-point lead over Oconomowoc at halftime but was outscored 32-22 in the last two quarters.
Mitchell had 13 points to lead the way, followed by Remsza with 12, Iloncaie with nine and Kaminski with eight.
