Trojan Classic: Trojans open with win over Inman
BY RYAN RICHTER
Sports writer
Three games in four days.
Good reason to believe that the Trojans' gas tank would be pretty low Monday night in the first round of the Trojan Classic against feisty eighth-seeded Inman.
It was, and the Trojans looked like a team that should be giving thanks that they don't play again until Friday night.
Adam Woods was running a fever, Ross Duerksen was under the weather, and the rest of the Trojans were just plain tired.
Still, the team was good enough to cut the Teutons decisively down to size, 63-38 to move to 8-0 on the season.
"We looked tired," said a relieved Trojan coach Darrell Knoll. "I thought as much as we didn't play like ourselves tonight, the second half we were able to take care of business a little better. We played well enough to win."
The Trojans appeared to be running on fumes, more so in the first half and especially the second quarter.
After jumping out to a 21-13 lead to start the second quarter, Hillsboro became impatient.
Ten of the Trojans' 21 first-quarter points came from Tyler Weinbrenner, who finished with a game-high 19, including three triples. Layne Frick added 10 points, going 2 for 2 from three-point range and Andy Brubacher contributed eight.
The Trojans went for the knockout blow too soon and tried pulling away by launching ill-advised threes.
Of the 12 shots attempted by the Trojans in the second quarter, eight were threes. From outside the arc, the Trojans were 10 of 23 for the night.
Only Tyler Peachey's trey went through for Hillsboro's first basket of the second quarter to make it 24-15 just over 2:00 in.
Peachey had a monster night coming off the bench, scoring seven points.
"I felt like we made some poor decisions on our fast breaks," Knoll said of his team's second quarter. "We'd make three passes and shoot the three every single time. We never looked for any second or third options.
"There in the second quarter, Inman just played harder than we did. That's when they made their run."
Shooting from outside, Hillsboro's players weren't in position to go for an offensive rebound.
As a result, the Teutons outscored the Trojans 11-7 in the second quarter to make it a game at halftime, trailing just 28-24.
Surprisingly, both teams pulled down 28 rebounds each with the Teutons getting an 11-10 edge offensively. Frick paced Hillsboro's rebounding with six.
Both teams went into the break shooting 38 percent with the Trojans dropping from 50 percent in the first quarter to a cold 3 of 12 during the second.
"I told the guys we had to get mentally tough and come out here an play," said Knoll. "I know we're kind of tired, but we've got to come out and get this game because it was the most important game we've played this year."
The Trojans must have found a pump at halftime and refueled their tank.
They came out the second half and canned four of their first five shots, making it a 38-26 game with 4:32 left in the third quarter.
Hillsboro's defense kept the Teutons on their toes, holding them to a ragged 5 for 18 from the field in the second half.
Overall, Inman finished shooting a sour 15 of 40 while Hillsboro was 24 of 47.
Inman faced the same music that Hillsboro was faced with the second quarter as the Trojans outscored the Teutons 14-5 in the pivotal third.
Much to the Teutons' chagrin, the Trojans' motor kept running with Hillsboro opening the fourth quarter with a 7-0 run.
By the time Brian Lightner scored Inman's first bucket in over 2:30, the Teutons' lights had been shot out, 49-31.
The Teutons might have wished Duerksen was feeling worse than he was.
In the fourth quarter alone, he scored seven of his nine points before Knoll finally emptied his bench.
The Trojans face last season's Classic runner-up Thomas More Prep Friday night in the semifinal round of the tournament. Game time is scheduled for 6 p.m.
Hillsboro 63, Inman 38
Inman — 13 11 5 9 38
Hillsboro — 21 7 14 21 63
Inman — Lightner 10, Achilles 8, Thiessen 2, White 12, M. Fuqua 2, B. Fuqua 4, Totals 13-40 2-6 6-11.
Hillsboro — Brubacher 8, Weinbrenner 19, Frick 10, Dustin Jost 7, Duerksen 9, Steve Chisholm 1, Peachey 7, Adam Driggers 2, Totals 14-24 10-23 5-12.
