Horsemen, Trotters win some and lose some
<p>Aaron Baker looks for a basket against Bigfork - and big man - defense on Jan. 17 in Plains.</p>
PLAINS - The Horsemen and Trotters faced a tough yet successful weekend in which they played Bigfork and Troy, and the Trotters came out with two wins over the intense competition.
The Horsemen suffered a loss at home to the Bigfork Vikings Thursday night, with the score of 68-21. The No. 2 team, Bigfork, was merciless in their fast break attacks on the Horsemen, and by the end of the first quarter, the score read 25-4, Vikings. However, the Horsemen were able to muster a few points to the board. Jeremiah Crawford led the Horsemen scoring with eight points, while teammates Aaron Baker and Dallas Burgess put in four points each. Kyle Revier had two points, and Wyatt Winebrenner put in two points.
On Friday night, the Horsemen traveled to Troy and had better luck in scoring and also put up a scrappy fight against the Trojans. The game went into overtime, and the Horsemen lost by just one basket, 59-61. Jeremiah Crawford once again led the Horsemen in scoring with 15 points, and teammate Dallas Burgess added 10 points. Kyle Revier chipped in nine points, while teammates Aaron Baker and Jon Baker each put in eight points; Wyatt Winebrenner added seven points and freshman Trent Brouillette contributed two points.
As for the Trotters, aggressive games with a dash of luck fueled their two victories over Bigfork and Troy.
At Bigfork on Thursday night, the name of the game was tit-for-tat as the two girls teams battled it out and remained tied through the first half. The Trotters weren’t going to let this one slip away as they did in their Dec. 15 matchup against the Vals that resulted in a one-point margin loss, and such efforts to not repeat history became clear in the third quarter. The Trotters pulled away from the Vals, and then took the game in the fourth, winning with a score of 39-31. Felicia Earhart led in scoring with 17 points, followed by teammate Hailey Phillips with eight points. Carley VonHeeder put in six points, Sami Jo Kinzie and Ashley Holmes each put in three points, and Kayla Holmes gave two points.
Friday night, the Trotters were away again, but this time it was to Troy. The Lady Trojans seemed to be out for vengeance for their loss to the Trotters in December, but the Trotter defense and young-but-aggressive offense wouldn’t stand for that. The Trotters took it to the Lady Trojans early, and almost gave up the win in the final quarter, however, the defense is what saved them. They won by one point, 30-29. Leading scorers were young guns Hailey Phillips and Carley VonHeeder with seven points each.
The two wins put the Trotters at 3-3 conference play, 7-5 overall. The Trotters will once again go on the road on Friday for a game in Deer Lodge, but will be at home to play Eureka on Saturday.