By Dan Truttschel
Correspondent
There wasn’t anything easy about how the East Troy High School boys basketball team started its season last week.
The Trojans opened play against one of the heavy favorites in the Rock Valley Conference, Evansville, and then two days later faced off with an always tough and talented Monona Grove squad in a non-conference matchup.
And while neither turned out in the Trojans’ favor, there were positives from both.
East Troy battled Evansville right to the end before it fell 76-73, followed by an 89-55 setback to Monoa Grove to fall to 0-2 and 0-1 in the RVC heading into a home game Tuesday night against Jefferson.
Results of that matchup were unavailable by press time.
Monona Grove jumped out quickly Saturday, led 54-29 at halftime and never looked back.
“Monona Grove came out and jumped on us and didn’t us up for air,” East Troy coach Darryl Rayfield said. “Coming into a first varsity road game for most (of the players) after just a very tough conference loss (two days) later seemed to be a recipe for disaster and showed our young vulnerabilities.
“Being ready to play against a very good, older, stronger team doesn’t afford you room to not play through fatigue. Monona basically plays like we do, but on this day, it was only them who played well.”
Even with an early lopsided score, Rayfield said there wasn’t any change in how his team was going to attack the rest of the game.
The Trojans continued to run their stuff in an effort to improve for down the road, he said.
“The way we both play, the score was irrelevant,” he said. “We were going to keep playing up-tempo. Shots were not going in and (our) transition defense was exposed.
“This is why you play these type of teams on the road early and often. We had a chance to play some kids more minutes in a very tough situation.”
Rayfield said the game turned during a stretch halfway through the first half. East Troy trailed by 10 points and missed two wide-open 3-point attempts and two bonus free throws.
Monona Grove answered with a 10-3 run to extend its lead. For the half, East Troy was just 1-for-17 from behind the 3-point line.
“Too many quick threes on the road and that led to easy transition buckets for Monona,” Rayfield said. “They have a nice team. They will make some noise I’m sure.
“They have a lot of everything, (are) deep and are really well coached. Our kids will learn from this. Sometimes you learn a bunch about a team after a loss like this. I was impressed after the game.”
Jonathan Ciriacks led the way with 15 points, followed by A.J. Vukovich with 14 and Michael Polakoski with 12.
Monona Grove had five players in double digits.
Tight opener
East Troy had its chances late against Evansville, as it led by two with seven seconds left – but it was a buzzer-beating 3-pointer by Evansville that turned out to be the difference.
Just before that game winner, the Trojans had a chance to take the lead, but missed a 10-foot jumper that gave the Blue Devils possession.
“It was a great high school basketball game with actually a lot at stake,” Rayfield said. “Our young kids played well, and it surprised a few people I’m sure.”
Vukovich led the way with 32 points and 10 rebounds, followed by Ciriacks with 19, Nick Bourdo with 10 points and 10 rebounds and Jared Brehm with seven.
Evansville’s Brennen Banks, widely considered one of the top players in the area, led three Evansville players in double figures with 38.
“It’s just going to take a little time to learn how to close (these games) out,” Rayfield said. “I told the kids this is why you put all the time in, is to play in games like this. It was just a great atmosphere, a packed gym and a big game.”
