Girls fall to Big Foot, 69-38
By Dan Truttschel
Correspondent
The Big Foot High School girls basketball team entered the season considered the favorite in the race to the Rock Valley Conference title.
And last week, the East Troy High School team had its first up-close-and-personal look at the Chiefs.
Big Foot lived up to its billing.
The Chiefs raced out to a 35-14 halftime lead and never looked back in a 69-38 RVC victory that dropped the Trojans to 0-2 overall heading into a road game Tuesday at Edgerton.
Results of that matchup were unavailable by press time.
“Big Foot is a really good team,” East Troy coach Maurya Lomen said. “They’ve been playing together and in their system for many years. Hats off to them for a well-played game.
“Our kids made a lot of little mistakes that added up in the end. We are working on our fundamentals, and we will get better.”
One factor that jumped off the page was shooting, as East Troy was just 15-for-59 from the field, including a 4-for-30 effort from behind the 3-point arc.
Lomen was pleased with her team’s overall shot selection – it was just one of those nights where the ball didn’t find the basket consistently enough.
“I believe we took good shots,” she said. “We just were not knocking them down. These girls are learning a new system and a new defense. Their effort is always there, and I really appreciate who they are as young women.”
The offensive struggles were a combination of two key factors, Lomen added.
“(They were) switching up their defenses, and our kids are still working a lot of shot fundamentals,” she said. “My goal is to have them all confident and prepared to shoot. We do a lot of shooting at practice, so hopefully, that does get better.”
Erin Rice led the Trojans with nine points, followed by Mackenzie Lindow with eight and Katie Winkler and Addy Lomen each with six. Lomen knocked down two 3-pointers in the contest.
But it was early foul trouble from Rice that hurt, especially in the opening half, Lomen said. With Rice back in the mix in the second half, the Trojans put 24 points on the scoreboard.
“We need her on the floor, as she is an offensive threat,” she said. “In the second half, we had Erin back on the floor. She certainly adds another dimension to what we can do. We also took care of the ball a little better.
“I want everybody to be able to bring the ball up the floor, and right now, some of my girls are still learning what that means.”
Following Tuesday’s Edgerton game, the Trojans are back in action Friday when they travel to Clinton to face the Cougars at 7:15 p.m.
The goal this week is the same as the last – and that’s just to keep moving forward, Lomen said.
“Our focus again this week is on fundamentals and defense,” she said. “We work on that for the majority of practice along with shooting. I’m not too concerned with what other teams are doing. As long as we take care of the ball and take good shots, our defense should keep us in games.”
