Troy runs all over rival Athens

BY DAN STICKRADT

SENIOR EDITOR

dan.stickradt@northoaklandsports.com

TROY — Troy Athens held a rare lead on rival Troy before the clock actually started Tuesday. That was about the only upper edge the Red Hawks would enjoy on the Colts on this night.

Troy responded with an 11-1 run over the first four minutes and cruised to a lopsided, 63-37, OAA crossover win over visiting Athens in a girls basketball game that wasn’t close after the first quarter.

Troy forced Athens into 24 turnovers, 15 in the first half where the Colts opened up a 24-point lead, and held the Red Hawks to a 13-for-43 shooting night (30.1 percent).

Troy (2-0) led 21-13 after the first quarter and saw Athens (0-2) close to within 23-17 on a putback from freshman Kasey Joslin. That was as close as the Red Hawks would get.

Troy responded by going on a 9-0 run over the next 45 seconds and outscored Athens 22-4 during the final 5:45 of the second quarter in building a commanding 45-21 lead at the half.

“I think we are able to do a lot of things with our quickness, our athleticism,” offered Troy coach Denis Koch. “We did a good job containing Sinclair Russell and we forced them into taking bad shots or turn the ball over. We still have a lot of work to do, but I like the way our defense played tonight.”

The Colts opened up the third quarter with a15-4 run over the first six minutes of the frame and carried a 60-27 lead into the fourth quarter. Troy played most of the final 12 minutes with only reserves.

Athens, which graduated five guards, could not keep up with Troy’s quickness on the press.

Troy keyed on Athens’ 6-foot-1 senior center Sinclair Russell, holding the Oakland University-bound standout to only four points, seven rebounds and two blocked shots. Two of Russell’s points came on the opening-game free throws after Troy was accessed with a technical foul for a scorebook infraction.

“We were fortunate to make a lot of our outside shots (in the first half),” added Koch. “But again, it comes down to defense, and we knew that if we could shut down Sinclair that we would have a good chance at winning today’s game. I give a lot of credit to Sydney Heath and the rest of our defense for keeping an eye on her. We shut them down and never allowed them to get into any type of rhythm.”

Senior guard Katy McCuish led Troy with a game-high 23 points and five rebounds for Troy. Moss tallied 16 points, canning four 3-pointers, with 10 steals, five rebounds and four assists, Rachel Zelmanski chipped in with six points and three steals, three boards and three blocks and Heath supplied six points, six rebounds, three assists and two steals.

Troy finished the night 27-for-70 from the floor (38.6 percent), but many of those misses came after halftime when the Colts went deep into their bench.

Lauren Genereau scored 10 and Mary Grace Stark added eight points for Athens. Sharda Griffin added three points and 11 rebounds and Joslin scored six with five boards for the Red Hawks.

Athens held a 38-37 edge on the boards, but many of those rebounds came in the second half.

“We have a lot to work on,” said Athens coach Lindsay Noble. “Troy is very quick, very athletic and very deep and we had a hard time with their defense. They just wore us down in the second quarter.”

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