For the first time during Trojan head coach John Izer’s four seasons at the helm, his Trojans put a scare into the favored MFL MarMac Bulldogs and played one of their better games of the year – even in loss.
“The motto was to compete. We were sick and tired of getting beat 82-21. I know their coach has never wasted a timeout in a game because it was close. When he called a timeout in the third, he was wondering what was up,” said Izer.
MFL MarMac (12-2, 9-1) ended up holding off TV’s inspired charge to pull off the upset as the second-place team in the Upper Iowa Conference distanced itself late for a 68-47 triumph last week, but Izer liked what he saw out of his ever-improving bunch.
TV cut the Bulldog’s lead to just seven points in the third quarter.
“That’s the deepest we have gone with them in my four years – plain and simple,” said Izer. “For what it’s worth, out of eight games it’s the first time there wasn’t a continuous clock.”
TV, now 6-9 on the year and 3-7 in the UIC, kept the momentum rolling at one-win Tripoli (1-12) two days later on Thursday with a 64-46 win.
Izer said he wished his squad would have put this game out of reach a tad sooner with another key tilt at home versus Kee High the following night on Friday.
“Our goal was to get in and out quickly. That did not happen,” said Izer. “We had to fight and scrap a lot longer. We wanted to be in a lot better shape with our legs going into Kee.”
That meant the Hawks, now 7-6 overall and 6-3 in the league, put a whipping on the host Trojans by a margin of 61-28.
“They got off to a good start and we just didn’t have anything left,” said Izer.
TV has taken its lumps this season in certain games, just like this past Monday on the road at Wapsie Valley (8-5). The Warriors throttled TV, 93-26.
TV junior forward Logan Busta racked up a career-high 27 points in the win over the Tripoli Panthers. In fact, Busta was just two steals shy of a triple double. He finished with 10 rebounds, eight steals and five assists.
Busta and fellow junior forward J.D. Kruse hit for 13 and 12 points, respectively, against MFL MarMac. Jordan Kriener, a sophomore forward for TV, scored 15 points against MFL and 11 versus Tripoli.
Another sophomore for Izer, guard Jayden Rausch, is also coming along strong in the learning process for a TV team as he pumped in 11 points versus Tripoli and nine points against Kee High.
MFL MM 12 22 13 21 68
Turkey Valley 11 5 21 10 47
Scoring – Jordan Kriener 15; Logan Busta 13; JD Kruse 12; Miguel Diaz 4; Jayden Rausch 3
Rebounds – Busta 7; Kruse 6; Kriener 6; Cale Langreck 3; Rausch 2; Diaz 2; Alex Hanson 1; Assists – Busta 5; Kruse 2; Langreck 2; Rausch 1; Kriener 1; Steals – Busta 5; Kruse 2; Rausch 1; Langreck 1
Tripoli 20 9 12 5 46
Turkey Valley 15 13 19 17 64
Scoring – Busta 27; Rausch 11; Kriener 10; Kruse 8; Langreck 8
Rebounds – Busta 10; Kriener 8; Kruse 4; Rausch 4; Langreck 4; Treyton Franzen 2; Kaden Schmidt 1; Assists – Busta 5; Langreck 2; Kriener 2; Kruse 1; Schmidt 1; Steals – Busta 8; Kriener 5; Kruse 4; Rausch 2; Langreck 2
Kee 19 21 12 9 61
Turkey Valley 6 12 3 7 28
Scoring – Rausch 9; Busta 6; Kruse 6; Kriener 4; Jonah Orvis 2; Franzen 1
Rebounds – Kruse 5; Busta 4; Franzen 4; Rausch 3; Kriener 3; Orvis 2; Hanson 1; Schmidt 1; Assists – Busta 3; Kruse 1; Rausch 1; Hanson 1; Franzen 1; Orvis 1; Steals – Franzen 4; Busta 1; Kruse 1; Kriener 1; Schmidt 1
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