By Dan Truttschel
Correspondent
The East Troy High School boys basketball team continues to score points in bunches.
And that’s making life very difficult for the opposition.
East Troy added two more lopsided victories to its ledger last week, an 89-35 decision over visiting Big Foot on Jan. 31, followed by an 81-53 win at Evansville on Feb. 3.
The two wins improved the Trojans to 9-6 overall and 9-3 in the Rock Valley Conference. McFarland continues to lead the North Division standings at 11-1, followed by Evansville at 9-2, East Troy at 9-3 and Whitewater, Jefferson and Edgerton at 5-6.
East Troy will get another shot at McFarland next Friday, Feb. 10, at home.
In the win at Evansville, the Trojans built a 44-30 halftime lead and never looked back. East Troy outscored the Blue Devils 37-23 in the final 18 minutes.
“This was a statement game on the road,” East Troy coach Darryl Rayfield said. “Evansville is a high-quality team. It was just what our young team needed right now.
“Our backs were a bit to the wall, so it was nice to see some of the work come together at the same time. We had really good balance on both ends.”
East Troy fell behind 8-0 before it put together a 24-12 scoring run of its own to take control.
While the offense was doing its thing, the defense was shutting down Evansville’s Brennan Banks, who entered the game averaging 24.6 points a contest, but was held to just 10.
Rayfield credited both Logan Mitchell and Jared Brehm – but added stopping a player like Banks truly was a team effort.
“It absolutely was this team’s best effort up to this point,” Rayfield said.
Jonathan Ciriacks and Nick Bourdo each scored 20 points to lead the way, followed by Michael Polakoski with 13 and A.J. Vukovich with 12.
“It was a big-time game with a big-time crowd,” Rayfield said. “These are the fun ones. I hope it is a sign on where are going.
“This game is what (the players) deserved. It has been a lot of work and trust in each other. I’m not sure where this takes us. We are still very young, but I will admit there is nothing like time and game experience.”
Trojans roll past Chiefs
The story was similar against Big Foot to open the week, as the Trojans took early control.
East Troy rolled out to a commanding 54-19 halftime lead. The Trojans allowed just 16 second-half points to cruise to the 54-point win.
Ciriacks, who leads the Trojans at 21.9 points per game, again led the way with 23 points, followed by Vukovich with 21, Bourdo with 18 and Polakoski with 15.
Vukovich is second in scoring behind Ciriacks at 16.6 points a game.
“We really got off to a good start,” Rayfield said. “Polakoski was the spark plug. His energy is always good.
“Logan Mitchell was just awesome again defensively. He’s such a competitive kid. He leads just with his confidence and energy. The defensive end led to almost all our offensive output.”
East Troy has a busy stretch ahead, as it traveled to Jefferson Thursday night, followed by a nonconference road game at Division 1 opponent Kenosha Indian Trail on Saturday. The Trojans finish out their week against visiting Edgerton Monday, Feb. 13 at 7:15 p.m.
