Trojans grind out Smoky Valley win
BY RYAN RICHTER
Sports writer
Three games into the season, Trojan coach Darrell Knoll had yet to believe his team has played up to its full potential.
He'd get few arguments for thinking that after the Trojans' offensive execution looked as flat as a pancake against Hesston.
Friday night's game in Lindsborg against the pesky Smoky Valley Vikings gave Knoll a better idea of the way he wants the Trojans to play.
Missing from the arsenal three days earlier in a rare home loss against ranked Hesston, the Trojans' ball handling ran the Vikings out of gas.
Hillsboro's transition game was at full strength as it played the leading role in outlasting the Vikings, 47-40, on 43 percent from the field.
The win improves Hillsboro to 3-1 on the year and 2-1 in the MCAA.
"We started to look a lot more like the team I want us to be," Knoll said. "We came out and moved the ball extremely well, and we hit our shots.
"We got good reversal. Now all we have to do is start making some of our shots. It was a good win."
When Tyler Weinbrenner thinks back on his best games of his high school career, Tuesday's game against the Swathers won't be one.
Battling both sickness and fatigue, Weinbrenner finished the game with a sub-par season low three points.
Much to the dismay of the Vikings, the 5-10 guard Weinbrenner was back at full strength on Friday.
He burned Smoky Valley for a game high 21 points, including a pair of threes. His first, right after an Andy Brubacher three, pushed the Trojans' lead to 12-4 with 3:30 left in the first quarter.
"This was our best offensive execution yet this year," Weinbrenner said. "We played more unselfish and got good pressure from our defense.
"We started hitting our shots, and we looked to push the ball more. When we push the ball, it takes away from what the other team wants to do."
It was obvious the Vikings didn't want to get into a 90 foot track meet with the Trojans.
They could have stayed right with the Trojans had they been able to hit their free throws. Instead, they were able to connect on just one of six from the stripe as the Trojans used quick ball movement and their transition game to stretch the lead to 19-7 after the first quarter.
But Hillsboro's execution has had the tendency to struggle in the second quarter the last two games.
Hitting eight of 13 in the first quarter, shooting still wasn't the weapon for Hillsboro that it should be. Prior to Friday's game, the Trojans were averaging under 40 percent as a team in shooting.
In Friday night's second quarter, the Trojans could only muster two for 14 from the field, missing a good sum of easy baskets and open threes. The Trojans hit a scoring lapse which lasted better than 5:00 and the Vikings pulled to 25-19 by halftime.
"We didn't shoot well in that quarter," said Knoll. "I feel like we're in shape. I don't know; it seems like we miss opportunities we should have. We just have to start putting the ball in the hole."
The Vikings, who also were cold in shooting, hitting just 36 percent for the game, pulled to within three twice in the third quarter.
With the Trojans leading 31-26 to start the fourth quarter, Weinbrenner canned a triple and scored on a pair of drives to the basket to trigger a 9-2 run.
The Vikings chopped the lead back to 10, 40-30, before a pair of big baskets by Alan Yoder made it a double-digit lead for Hillsboro.
Smoky Valley, aided by the Trojans' three for eight from the foul line and playing big on the boards, was still lingering on the premises in the final 3:00.
"I thought we were passing the ball a lot better tonight than what we've done the past three games," Knoll said. "We have to attack the basket a little better. We did that early, and we did that in the fourth quarter when we made the run."
Hillsboro returns to action Jan. 3 when it hosts the Class 5A Salina Central Mustangs.
"It was a great win for us,"
t tonight, we'd be 2-2 going into the break and with Salina-Central coming up, that might be a little bit tough on us.
"Tonight it was big for us to get this win because now we're 3-1 and we know Salina-Central is going to be a tough game, but we also know that we can win that game if we can knock down some shots and continue to play hard."
