Trojans sink Pirates in playoff opener

DRUMMOND – Levi Parsons wasn’t happy with his Trojans’ season-ending loss to Valley Christian. But his team’s effort Tuesday night was much more to his liking.

Drummond posted a commanding 52-24 win over the visiting Victor Pirates in the opening round of the District 13 Playoffs, launching them into the semifinals against an old familiar foe – the Granite Prospectors.

The Trojans came out with an aggression that had not been evident the last week of play, outscoring the Pirates 13-5 in the opening period. There were turnovers to be sure, but they were errors of effort and not complacency.

“We pushed that point in the locker room,” said Parsons after the victory. “It’s one and done. We can’t come out and play down or play sloppy to start the game out. The point we tried to make is this is Districts. There are always upsets in Districts.”

Drummond had to play without the services of senior Alec Hauptman, who has a stress fracture in his foot. His absence depleted the locals depth in the paint, but in stepped freshman Trey Phillips.

“Trey really stepped up. We knew that coming into the game and we’ve been giving him quite a few minutes.. And for the most part he has come out, as a freshman, and played really, really well. He makes freshman mistakes and you’re gonna have those, but he stepped up huge with 13 points and seven rebounds.”

Phillips had six of his team-high point total in the firs half, leading Drummond to a 25-13 advantage at halftime.

The Trojans overall attack was balanced. Adding to Phillips 13 was Sam Bryant with 10, Colt Parsons with 10, and Caleb Parke with nine.

Drummond will not head to Philipsburg to take on Granite in the tournament semifinals. This will be only the second meeting of the season for the two clubs, as their regularly scheduled game Feb. 5 was cancelled due to a Covid-19 exposure.

Their game will be played at 7:30 p.m. following the Drummond-Granite Girls game at 5.

In other first-round games Tuesday, Granite blew out Lincoln 63-24 in Philipsburg and Darby bested Seeley Swan 56-49 in double overtime.