The Brown Deer Falcons invaded Trojan Territory this Friday, and left a bitter taste in the Trojan Basketball Team’s mouth with a 63-81 Tosa loss.
It was a game that was expected to be riddled with challenges, and for good reason. Brown Deer is one of the conference front runners this year, and is a team with ample skills and physical gifts. The Trojans, though, were up to the task.
Dont let the final score fool you, this was not a blowout. From tipoff, Brown Deer appeared poised and confident. They immediately knocked down a number of three point shots to give themselves an early lead. And though the Trojans were underdogs this Friday night, you wouldn’t have known that from the game.
Points early came in from Junior Stephen Brown as he grinded out whatever shots he could get, and the lead was added to by an early three pointer from Senior Reggie Cason. Brown Deer had an obvious advantage, but the Trojans’ pure determination elevated their game to an easily comparable level.
Give some credit of Brown Deer’s success to luck. Many of West’s shots early on went in and out, or were called back by fouls that weren’t seen by anyone else in the crowd. As Brown Deer creeped ahead, 12-18 to end the first quarter, The Trojans were reminded how much damage fouls can do.
Still, scores by Junior Zach Veit amongst others kept the Trojan’s goal of a win in clear striking distance, as the team put on an impressive display of passing and ball handling to stay within seven. With an upswing of momentum, Junior Rashad Moore stepped into the spotlight and carried his team on his back with back to back three point shots and ample contributions to the score late in the first half. Brown Deer’s confrontative and in-your-face offense left people open down the court, and it was up to West’s long range shooting ability to keep the drives ending with scores. Thanks to the perseverance throughout the first half, the Trojans went into the locker room only trailing by a few.
Coming out of the locker room, West was back on their grind-until-we-score mentality, and made it apparent with back to back scored by Viet in order to keep the trojans to a four point deficit at 38-42. The Trojans’ knowledge of urgency was apparent as they continued to push the tempo and fight tooth and nail with a much bigger team. They had their fair share of drawn fouls and blocked attempts, but still count never muster the momentum to take and hold the lead. Amazing displays of scores from tight spots kept the Trojan crowd into the game, and left the Brown Deer sideline to put in their “A” game to keep the lead. 48-51 to end the 3rd quarter.
At the fourth quarter, the Trojans’ pedal to the metal play began falling apart. A usually stout West defense was continuously exploited while Brown Deer players’ massive wingspans and pinpoint beyond the arc acuracy allowed them to expand the lead. Determination and diligence began to fade slightly to desperation, as the the team as a whole was looking for a stop to the Brown Deer gameplan.
As the clock ticked down, it became apparent that, though it was a valiant effort by a talented Trojan team, Brown Deer was going to walk away with a win. Until the final seconds ticked off, the Trojans put in all they could to put up more points. Cason kept his usual uncanny ball handling skills and ability to maneuver through traffic in an attempt to lead his team to another win, but the Falcons were just too good.
With the hard fought battle ending 63-81, the Trojans left West with one more loss on their above average season standing. With a guaranteed appearance in the playoffs, they look ahead to Hartford Union at home this Tuesday, February 4th at 7:30. Hoping this disappointing loss is the last of an already notable season.
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