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NTL GIRLS' BASKETBALL: FOUR TROY PLAYERS HIT DOUBLE FIGURES IN WIN OVER WYALUSING (2023-01-28)

BY CHRIS MANNING
Northern Tier Sports Report
TROY — Early in the game Troy’s shots weren’t falling, but instead of firing away from three they worked the ball inside, getting bucket after bucket in the paint as they pulled away from Wyalusing for a 61-43 win over the Rams during NTL Division-I girls’ basketball action Friday.

This was a big win for Troy coming off just their second league against NP-Liberty last week.


“Last week was a disappointing one, but we also gave a lot of credit to Liberty because they played well,” said Troy coach Curtis Miller. “And this was a tough week for us, you know, having two days off school and only having two practices, so for the girls to come out with the energy that they had, and for us to get a big win, I think that’s important for us.”


Wyalusing coach Nick Reynolds knows all about how snow days can interrupt a team’s rhythm. Last week, in their close loss to NEB, the Rams shot well from the field. Against Troy, those same shots weren’t falling, though the length of Troy’s defense played a part.


“Troy is a good team,” said Reynolds. “(Alyssa) Parks is fast, we struggled to defend her. Coming into a new gym, not playing these guys before, and when shots aren’t falling it kind of gets contagious, it messes with your mind a little bit. We lacked intensity tonight, I don’t know if the snow day hurt us but Troy’s got a tremendous team.”


Wyalusing took a brief lead late in the first quarter, but Troy would use a 4-0 run in the final minute to take it back. They would go on to out score Wyalusing 12-0 in the second frame to take a 26-11 lead into the locker rooms, and the Rams were never quite able to recover.


“We had some open shots in the beginning, 3-pointers, that weren’t falling, and we put a lot of pressure on our defense to make some plays, and when that happened we really pushed the ball in transition, and then we were able to attack the basket, and that’s where we got a lot of our assists.”


The Trojans assisted on 15 of their 23 field goals, and also did a good job of getting on the boards, out rebounding Wyalusing 42-32.


It was truly a group effort for Troy, who found themselves in foul trouble during both halves. Katie Lackey led four different Trojans in double figures as she scored 13 points to go with six boards and six assists.


Parks had 12 points, four boards, four assists, and four steals, as Rachel Kingsley had 11 points and nine rebounds.


The big highlight was Kendall Allen off the bench, who had a double-double of 10 points and 10 boards on 5-for-27 shooting. Though she eventually fouled out of the game, Miller gave her the team’s gameball.


“That’s huge for us,” Miller said about Allen’s big night off the bench. “I just got done talking with the girls, tonight really was a team effort. And Kendall Allen with a double-double that she had, we’re all so proud of her, and hopefully she can build on this going forward.”


Kailyn Sterling had five points with nine boards while MaKenna Matthews and Gloria Andrews had four points each. Ella VanNoy chipped in with two.


One thing the Rams did well on was getting to the free throw line, as they took 28 free throws, though they made just 15. 


Layla Botts led the way, going 12-for-20 from the line, and finished with 18 points, to go with six boards, and three steals.


Rachel Wilson added 11 points on 4-for-7 shooting and nine rebounds, as Chloe Bennett finished with nine points and four boards. Elana Jennings had three points, nine boards, and two steals, while Treanna Nickeson chipped in with two points.


Lackey opened the scoring on Troy’s first possession with a 3-ball, followed by Kingsley getting a pair of freebies to make it 5-0 Troy.


A Botts free throw got her team on the scoreboard, followed by a Wilson put back made it 5-3.


Sterling would hit a 3-ball off a Lackey assist on Troy’s following possession, but Botts answered with a driving lay-up. With 3:20 on the clock Parks scored off a Sterling pass to put the Trojans up 10-5.


The Rams would rally, as Botts went 3-for-4 from the line, followed by Wilson getting an old fashion 3-point play to give the Rams an 11-10 lead with 1:22 left in the opening quarter.


The Trojans finished strong, though, as Andrews found Allen for a bucket, followed by Parks hitting Sterling for a lay-up to make it 14-11 Trojans after the first horn.


In the second Wyalusing’s offense left them, as they couldn’t buy a bucket from the field or the free throw line, going 0-for-3.


Allen would get back to back baskets for Troy to start the quarter to put them up 18-11. Lackey then had back to back lay-ups to make it 22-11 with 2:58 left to play.


A VanNoy would hit a jumper, followed by a Lackey finding Andrews for a basket to push Troy’s lead to 26-11.


“They did a good job of switching things up a little bit, and giving us different looks,” Reynolds said. “We haven’t been challenged a whole lot this year, but they went 1-3-1, a little bit of zone, and they have a really good man-to-man defense, and we struggled a little bit against those mixes.”


Troy opened the third quarter with a Kingsley lay-up off a Lackey assist to push their lead to 28-11.


Wyalusing would answer, though. After a Wilson freebie Bennett hit a 3-ball - their first of the night - which appeared to give the Rams some momentum.


Matthews answered with a 3-ball of her own on Troy’s next possession, followed by a Lackey put back to extend their lead to 33-15.


Botts would get two freebies when Wyalusing had the ball next, but a 4-0 run from the Trojans saw them take a 20-point lead with 4:42 left in the third quarter.


Botts, though, willed her team back, first with a runner in the lane. Then, on their next possession, she went 1-of-2 from the free throw line. 


The big play, though, was when she found Jennings for a 3-ball to cut it to 37-23 with 2:45 on the clock.


Allen would answer with a put back at the other end, but a Wilson basket off a nifty Sydney Friedlander pass kept it a 14-point deficit.


The two teams then traded buckets down the stretch of the third for a 43-29 Troy lead going into the final frame.


Parks would hit two free throws to open the fourth, but Bennett came back with a 3-ball. Matthews would answer with a runner for Troy to extend the lead back to 15 points.


That sparked a 9-0 run for the Trojans, anchored by a Parks to Lackey lay-up, that saw them go up 54-32 with 5:06 left.


Bennett gave Wyalusing one more glimmer of hope with a 3-ball on they rex possession, but Troy scored the next five points to take a 59-35 lead halfway through the fourth.


The Rams would cut it to 59-40 off five straight Botts points, but there was just 1:39 left to play. Parks would add two free throws herself, while Wilson scored the final three points of the game for the 61-43 final.


Due to snow days these two teams will meet in Wyalusing (5-10) on Monday, a game that was supposed to be all the way back before Christmas.


And Reynolds can’t wait to get one more shot at the Trojans (10-5).


“I think we’re going to be fine,” he said. “We get them Monday at our place and I think it’s going to be a different ball game.”


— — 


PHOTO CAPTION: Troy’s Alyssa Parks goes up for a lay-up as Wyalusing’s Chloe Bennett defends…PHOTOS BY CHRIS MANNING




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