Young erupts for 37 as Troy blasts Avondale
BY DAN STICKRADT
SENIOR EDITOR
dan.stickradt@northoaklandsports.com
TROY— During the month of December, Troy was kind of a like a stagnant volcano. Everyone knew that this is a potent team, but was uncertain when the Colts just might erupt.
Troy has done so within the last week.
Playing like a hungry and explosive team, Troy opened up title defense of its OAA White Division boys basketball championship Tuesday with a resounding 79-60 victory over visiting Auburn Hills Avondale.
The win came against the same school Troy shared the crown with last March and it comes only three days since the Colts upset Class C state-ranked Detroit Community, 69-63, on Saturday.
Troy (5-3, 1-0) led for all by the first 1:50 of the contest to put a beating on the rebuilding Yellowjackets.
STOPPED IN HIS TRACKS: Auburn Hils Avondale's Landen Tenwolde is blocked by Troy's Bryan Martin during Tuesday's OAA White Division contest. Courtesy Photo | Ken Swart
Junior guard James Young led the charge with a career-high 37 points, believed to be a single-game school record, to go along with eight rebounds for Troy.
“That has got to be a school record. If not I’m shocked. I’ve been on staff here since (1988) and we’ve never had anyone score 37,” offered Troy coach Gary Fralick. “James scored 35 last year and 32 this year and we’ve had players score 30 and 29 over the years. But nothing like this.”
Young, considered to be one of the state’s top juniors, feels his team has finally flipped on the switch and are ready to play basketball after opening the season with a 2-3 record.
“We’ve been working harder in practice. Coach has been after us so we’ve stepped it up,” smiled Young.
“I’ve been messing up a little so I’ve been in the gym more often (on my game),” continued Young, who feels Troy is going to start to play to its level of expectations. “We’re ready.”
Troy was definitely ready for Avondale, which has now lost four straight.
The Colts led 20-13 at the end of the first quarter and outscored Avondale (3-5, 0-1) with a 14-3 run over the final 5:33 of the second quarter to build a commanding 36-20 lead at the half.
The rout to continued during the second half, as Troy outscored the Yellowjckets 23-17 in the third quarter for a 59-37 advantage heading into the final frame and led by as many as 24 points in the fourth quarter.
“I would say right now we have a better team concept,” offered Fralick about his team’s three-game win streak. “We’re sharing the ball a little bit better. We seem to, by-and-large, enjoy our teammates. We enjoy being on the same team and I think that was something we needed to work on. We have a little bit better team chemistry. But we are a work in progress.”
Sophomore forward Maceo Baston added 16 points for Troy. Junior point guard Zach Noor followed with points and six assists and junior guard Joe Leonard twined seven points for the Colts.
The Colts forced Avondale into 26 turnovers and never allowed the Yellowjackets to make a serious threat in the second half.
Avondale graduated five of its top six scorers and returned just one starter, 6-6 senior center A.J. Susick. The Yellowjackets have struggled on the offensive end all season and have been plagued by turnovers in every game.
“Turnovers have been a huge problem,” offered Avondale coach Jeff Borja. “We’ve had games where it seems like we’ve had more turnovers than points.
“We have just been struggling to score this season,” continued Borja. “We did a little better job tonight scoring 60, but Troy is a very talented team with a lot of good players. And James Young is just so hard to stop. When he’s on, he’s a great player. He was hitting shots from the first minute on and we couldn’t stop him.”
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