Trojans Sweep Darby in Drummond
DRUMMOND – John Parke put the exclamation on his game on his team’s first possession, taking the ball the length of the floor and jamming it home for a 2-0 lead.
That play set the tone for most of the night as the Trojans beat the visiting Darby Tigers 60-45 Saturday night.
Following Parke’s theatrics, the Trojans put on a relentless offensive display that led to a 21-9 first quarter advantage. Parke had 14 of his game-high 30 in the period, while Riley Allen pounded away inside for the other seven. But early into the second period Allen found himself in trouble, collecting his fourth foul. That sat him on the bench and took half of the Trojans’ inside game, leaving a recovering Wyatt Rigby to shoulder the burden.
The Tigers seized the opportunity and played the locals even in the second to trail 30-19.
“I told the kids at halftime,” reflected Trojan Head Coach Levi Parsons, “we’d make a bunch of really great plays and then follow it up with a bunch of really stupid plays. In that fourth quarter we got out of that.”
But until that final period, Drummond struggled to keep the visiting Tigers at bay. Darby outscored Drummond 20-12 in the third and pulled within one early in the fourth 42-41 with 7:27 to play. And when Cole Kayser grabbed an offensive rebound and put it back in with 6:16 to go, the Tigers had their first lead of the game.
“We had a mental breakdown there for a little bit. We got tired and labored really bad and it hurt us there for awhile. But in that fourth quarter we got a couple of timeouts and made a couple of changes and they dug down and pulled it off good. They played hard when it mattered.”
And play hard they did. The changes made by Parsons gave the Trojans the tools they needed to right their ship and retake the lead. One of those changes was finally reinserting Allen back into the lineup after his foul-induced exile. The senior post came in and grabbed a couple of rebounds and scored a bucket to give Drummond back the lead before he collected his fifth foul and left the game for good.
From there point guard Damian Pool asserted himself, taking the ball and pushing it down the center of the Darby defense, scoring once and drawing a number of fouls. Pool scored six points in the period, going four of nine from the free throw line.
As time started to wane the Tigers were forced to commit fouls to try and stop the bleeding, but it was to no avail.
Parke’s 30 were the most in the game for either team, followed by Allen with 10 from Drummond. In all, seven Trojans found their way into the scorebook.
Drummond’s teams will host Victor on Tuesday.
SCORING
DARBY – 9/10/20/6 - 45
DRUMMOND – 21/9/12/18 – 60
Darby – DyParks 13, Winters 5, NSmith 4, GSmith 10, Muir 7, PSmith 3, Kayser 3
Drummond – Pool 8, JParke 30, CParke 1, Holland 6, Huberg 3, Rigby 2, Allen 10
Boys JV
Darby 44, Drummond 31
Ethan Parke had nine points and Douglas Anderson eight as the Trojan JV fell to the Tigers.
Girls Varsity
Drummond 52, Darby 33
The Lady Trojans got out to an early lead and held on to gain a 19-point win over the visiting Tigers.
“They were a good team,” said Drummond Head Coach Nate Bignell. “But my girls are really coming into the offense, they’re working well as a team and they’re really pushing the ball and that’s really paying off. I love how they’re playing, I love how they’re pushing the ball and I love how they’re getting better every day.”
Rylee Hilmo led the Lady Trojans in scoring with 14, while Sydney Phillips was close behind at 13. Senior Sara Kielley had nine.
SCORING
DARBY – 9/4/7/13 – 33
DRUMMOND – 13/9/17/13 – 52
Darby – Rouse 11, Ehmann 17, Schlapman 3, Anderson 2
Drummond – Hilmo 14, Phillips 13, Parke 6, Kielley 9, Bradshaw 5, Hauptman 2, Seekell 5
Girls JV
Drummond 28, Darby 4
Jessie Struna led the Lady Trojan JV with 10 points in a shortened game, while Holly Hauptman added nine and Deana Parke had six on a pair of three-point baskets. Shilo Anderson rounded out the Drummond scoring with three.
