Historic Trojan run ends with a pair of losses

As a sea of Girard Trojan fans settled into their seats Friday afternoon at historic William L. White Auditorium in Emporia, the expectations were sky high. A season full of dominant performances, including a pair of Wilson County Classic Championships, two undefeated CNC Conference titles and a combined forty-four wins had given the home team crowd justified enthusiasm. In the end, however, the Trojan faithful would leave the historic venue disappointed, but steadfastly proud of two of the best teams in Girard Trojans Basketball history.

Lady Trojans

The Lady Trojans (21-3) could not have a scripted a better start to their semifinal matchup with Topeka-Hayden (21-3), jumping out to an early 6-0 lead. Twice in the first quarter Girard would build 7 point leads. Led by Calea Augustin’s 9 first quarter points, the Lady Trojans led 17-12 after the opening period.

A tenacious Topeka-Hayden squad would chip away at the Trojan lead, eventually overtaking Girard 20-19 with just under six minutes to play in the half.

A 14 point run by the Lady Wildcats would grow their advantage to 9 points by the midway point of the second quarter. The Lady Trojans, as they did throughout the game, fought their way back to pull to within six, 30-24 with 2:45 to play in the half.

Trailing 32-24 with time ticking away in the second, Olivia Hanson rebounded an errant Topeka-Hayden attempt, her ensuing outlet pass would end up in the hands of the red hot shooting Jordan VanAuken, who drained a three at the buzzer. The momentum grabbing triple, was her third deep ball of the quarter as the Lady Wildcats took a 35-24 lead into the locker room.

The unrelenting defensive pressure by Topeka-Hayden and nine points by senior Jordan Lenherr, allowed the Wildcats to increase their lead to fifteen, 44-29 after three.

Lenherr led all scorers with her second 22 point performance of the tournament. With 13 rebounds, Lenherr finished with a double-double.

With the deck stacked against them, the Lady Trojans would mount one final comeback attempt as they trimmed the Wildcat lead to 8 midway through the fourth quarter. Topeka-Hayden was limited to zero field goals in the fourth, but sealed the victory, sinking 6 of 9 free throws on their way to a 50-37 victory.

“We came out and executed very well in the first quarter,” said Head Coach Brad Herlocker. “We just made too many mistakes in the second quarter.”

The Lady Trojans were led offensively by Augustin with 12, Sydnee Crain added 9 and Ashley Ray finished with 8 points.

The win advances the Wildcats to the 4A Division II State Championship to take on Clay Center.

The Trojan loss marks only the third defeat of their historic season.

“I was proud of the heart and effort the girls played with.” Herlocker added.

The Lady Trojans will take on the defending 4A Division II Champion Hugoton Lady Eagles in the consolation game at noon on Saturday for third place. Hugoton was upset by Clay Center 53-42 on Friday.

Trojan Boys

Low scoring contest ends Trojans perfect season

The Girard Trojans had their perfect season tarnished Friday evening, as they fell to the Wichita Collegiate Spartans 50-44 in the KSHSAA 4A Division II semifinals.

Four ties and three lead changes in the first quarter would set the table for what would be an epic battle between two of the best teams in the state.

At the 4:16 mark of the first quarter Girard led 8-6. The Spartans took back the lead and eventually grew their advantage to 5 late in the period before finishing at 15-12 after one.

In the second, the Trojans rallied as Isaiah Fisher strung together the best three minutes of his season, racking up 8 points and stealing back the momentum for the top seeded Trojans.

The charge started by Fisher put Girard up 18-17 with 6:30 to play in the half. Fisher was forced into early action in place of leading scorer Drew Davied, who found himself saddled with three fouls and relegated to the bench with more than seven minutes left in the half.

Collegiate quickly grabbed a 19-18 lead, fending off the Trojans in the final five minutes of the second to take a 27-25 lead into the break.

In the third, the Spartans stormed out of the locker room, growing their lead to a game high 7 points with just over a minute to play in the quarter. Back to back defensive stops and a couple of late free throws by Eric Wilson put the Trojans within three heading into the final eight minutes.

In the fourth quarter the Trojans pulled to within two with 5:20 to play in the contest. At this point, both teams hit a wall. With 5:20 to play in the game, Girard trailed 44-42. Over the course of the next 4:35, neither team would get the ball through the basket. Possibly the most exciting four minutes without a basket, ended when Xavier Adams hit a free throw with 45.5 seconds to go in the game.

The Trojans would again pull to within two, 46-44 with seconds remaining.

The Spartans converted 7 of 9 free throws in the fourth to hold on for the 50-44 win, advancing to the 4A Division II State Championship.

Girard Coach Rod Wescott felt his team left it all on the court, “The effort was definitely there tonight. We just couldn’t get the shots to fall.” Wilson led the way for Girard with 13 points. Drew Davied, who was limited to just fifteen minutes of playing time due to foul trouble added 11.

Shots beyond the three point arc continued to elude the Trojans as they finished the game 0 of 10, and 1 of 20 for the tournament.

The loss sets up a third place consolation game with St. George-Rock Creek at 2 p.m. today.

Despite the circumstances, Wescott knows the importance of the next game, “These kids deserve to go out with a win and we hope to get it done.”

St. George-Rock Creek fell to Hugoton 50-44 in their semifinal matchup.

 

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