Friday’s game rescheduled for Jan. 21
By Dan Truttschel
Correspondent
A tough first half last Thursday at McFarland put the East Troy High School girls basketball team in a precarious situation.
But in the second half, the Trojans started to get back on track – unfortunately, it just wasn’t quite enough.
In a battle of Rock Valley Conference co-leaders, the Spartans held a 41-28 halftime lead and made that stand in a 60-52 victory to salvage a regular-season split with the Trojans.
East Troy (9-4, 7-3) opened its conference schedule with a 57-45 victory over McFarland in November.
McFarland now leads the RVC at 8-2, followed by East Troy and Evansville, Big Foot and Whitewater at 6-4.
While the loss was disappointing, the effort was right where it needed to be, East Troy co-coach Maurya Lomen said.
“We did not shoot well, but they shot unbelievably in the first half,” she said. “… We beat them in the second half, but our shooting was not good. … It was a great game.
“The refs allowed the girls to play. (Co-coach) Jarrett (Church) and I both said, ‘You battled hard, they battled hard. That’s what people want to see. They want to see you working hard and playing aggressively.’ We told them they got better.”
For the game, East Troy was 20-of-57 overall, including just 4-of-32 from behind the 3-point arc.
Sometimes, the round ball just doesn’t find the basket, Lomen said.
“It was a learning experience,” she said. “You have to keep working hard when your shot isn’t going in and (the other team’s) is. We did win the second half, but overall, we didn’t pull it together (enough).
“I’ll take a loss like that any day. Both teams played hard. It was good competition. It was a good night.”
Grace Lomen led the Trojans with 21 points, 12 rebounds, three assists and three steals, followed by Erin Rice with 13 points and five rebounds.
East Troy’s Friday night game at Edgerton has been rescheduled for Monday, because of the weather.
For Lomen, the key word this week is balance, as the Trojans also are dealing with first semester exams.
“We’re just trying to keep the kids fresh,” she said. “It’s exam week this week. We’re working on shooting. We try to focus on playing to win and not to lose. We’ll continue to work on the things that we think we do well.”
Trojans win at Central
East Troy opened play this week with a 67-55 non-conference win last Tuesday at Westosha Central.
Mackenzie Lindow led four Trojans in double figures with 18 points, nine rebounds and five assists, followed by Grace Lomen with 17 points, eight rebounds, six assists and six steals. Rice added 12 points and 11 rebounds, while Gracie Moker had 10 points and six rebounds.
After a bit of a slow start, East Troy got on track, Lomen said.
“For us, it was a teachable moment,” she said. “You have to come out ready to play. We just kept working despite the fact that our shots weren’t falling again and pulled out the win.”
