Cards top Trojans for District 10 crown
Cards top Trojans for District 10 crown
Troopers, Cossacks sent packing
By Adam Thomas
BHG News Service
It was bound to happen eventually -- the Trojan Dynasty has finally been toppled. After dominating the District 10 Tournament for half a decade, the Turtle Lake-Mercer-McClusky Trojans were taken down by the Washburn Cardinals this year.
Neither team had much trouble getting in the tournament’s final night spotlight. With only six teams in District 10, the top two seeds both got a bye on the first night of the tournament, giving both of them a distinct advantage over teams who have to play on the first night.
Fresh legs prevailed this year as number one Washburn and number two TL-M-M both won their first game in convincing fashion to put themselves head-to-head in the championship.
Both teams were playing without their biggest playmakers, Jeff Rasmussen was still out due to an ankle injury for Washburn and Adam Peltier was out after his knee took a beating the night before for TL-M-M.
Despite the injuries, the match-up was the classic basketball encounter of size vs. speed. At least for this time, speed was king.
The Cardinal guards weaved with ease in and out of the lane for more layups than you might expect when a much larger team is running a zone defense against them.
The Trojans were uncharacteristically cold from the three-point line, hitting only six of their 26 attempts from beyond the arc. But even despite that, the game was made on the free throw line with Washburn scoring 16 of their points from the charity stripe.
The game’s final score 60-48 gave Washburn first place honor while TL-M-M had to finally settle for runner-up.
For the Cardinals, the high scorer was Brett Schreiner with 16 points. Kevin Klemisch had 13 for the Trojans.
