Basketball team opens season with pair of wins
By Dan Truttschel
Correspondent
It’s certainly just a small sample size, but things are starting off on a high note this season for the East Troy girls basketball team.
And as the old saying goes, it’s always better to win than to lose.
East Troy accomplished the former twice last week, both in dominating fashion, as the Trojans opened the year with a 66-24 victory last Tuesday night over Bradley Tech, followed by a 59-36 win Friday over Brown Deer.
The Trojans, 2-0 overall, were back in action Tuesday night against visiting Delavan-Darien for a nonconference matchup with the Comets.
“Any time you’re successful, you feel a little better about yourself, and you can use that to catapult you later on,” East Troy coach Jeff Brown said. “Then you do have a little faith in yourself that you might be able to succeed.
“Obviously, the games will get tougher as we get into conference. But as least you have a good feeling about yourself that you might be able to pull some things off.”
Against Brown Deer, the Trojans jumped out to a 34-18 halftime lead and never were challenged from there.
“We mixed up defenses a little bit, and that helped us get going with some steals,” Brown said. “And then we were really able to get the ball inside a lot.”
Through two games, the Trojans’ defense also has been doing its job, Brown said.
“I like defense better than offense, and usually the kids like offense better than defense,” he said. “Right now, the kids are doing a good job of communicating, maybe better than any of the teams I’ve had. I think that’s helping them.”
Kayla Casper led the way with a career-high 19 points and 11 rebounds, followed by Mackenzie Lindow (14 points, five rebounds, five assists, five steals), Erin Rice (nine points, 10 rebounds, four assists, three steals), Maddie Rosin (five points, six rebounds, six assists, three steals) and Samantha Betley (eight rebounds).
Easy opener
The story was a similar one in the opener, as the Trojans rushed out to a 40-7 halftime lead over Bradley Tech and cruised to the opening-night victory.
“Everybody contributed,” Brown said. “I think we had every kid score except one.”
Casper again was the scoring leader with 13 points and seven rebounds, followed by Rice (12 points), Lindow (nine points, four steals, 11 assists), Rosin (six points) and Betley (six rebounds).
Lindow’s 11 assists tied a record during Brown’s tenure with the school with former standout Alicia Oleson.
Following Tuesday’s contest, the Trojans will be idle until next Tuesday night, Nov. 29, when they travel to Evansville to open up the Rock Valley Conference season.
“I like where we’re at,” Brown said. “The best thing these kids do is they really get along well. They’ve done a great job of just coming to work every day.
“They really work hard and like being with each other. That’s such a huge thing in such a long season. It’s been a pretty interesting dichotomy so far.”
