Titans trounce Trojans

By: Aaron Pyle 

            For the Lady Trojans, the team comes off a closely contested matchup against Anderson County, Feb. 7, where Girard defeated the Bulldogs 64-61. Sophomore Faith Poland highlighted the night for the Lady Trojans finishing the game with 18 points. 

            Following the win, the Lady Trojans stayed home, Feb. 11, for a league rematch against the Columbus Titans (9-6). In the previous meeting, Girard walked away from Columbus with a dominant 45-21 victory over the Titans, Jan. 10. 

            Opening the game, the Titans went on an early 9-0 run to widen the margin as the Lady Trojans struggled to keep up with the inside attack of Columbus. Midway through, Girard began to pick up the offense going on their run to tie the game back up at the end of the quarter with sophomore Serenia Short capping off the drive with a buzzer-beater. 

            The two teams exchanged baskets throughout the second quarter with a bulk of the points coming from inside the paint. Sophomores Kinley Smith and Poland provided a portion of the Lady Trojans offense in the second quarter scoring six of the teams’ nine points. At halftime, Girard trailed 25-20. 

            Columbus came out firing on all cylinders in the third quarter of the Titans’ ability to pack the ball in the paint. The Titans pushed the lead to double-digits headed into the final quarter, 44-33. 

            In the fourth, the Titans would maintain their double-digit lead until midway through when junior Brooklyn Tallie sparked a run for the Lady Trojans. Tallie would score six points to get Girard within six points. The rally helped Girard pull to within four points with under three minutes to play. But the Lady Trojans’ efforts would come too late as free throw makes helped the Titans (10-6) capture a 54-48 victory over Girard (9-6).

            Poland would once again lead the Lady Trojans in scoring with 13 points on the night. Junior Makaila Ausemus and Tallie finished the night with 11 points, respectively. 

            On the boys’ side, the Trojans come off a 45-36 win over Anderson County, Feb. 7. Junior Rigby Born led the way for Girard finishing the game with 13 points. 

            After the victory, the Trojans stayed home at Ted R. Taylor Gymnasium for a rematch against the Columbus Titans (9-6). The last time the two teams met, Jan. 10, the Titans narrowly defeated the Trojans 53-52. 

            Girard came out firing right out of the gate in the rematch credited to the all-around offensive attack of the Trojans. The Trojans were able to hold the Titans to just six points in the opening quarter even with sophomore Quinn O’Rand out of the lineup. 

            The Titans fought their way back into the game within the first two minutes of the second going on a 6-0 run to tie the game back up. Gaining momentum, the Titans were able to maintain the lead for the remainder of the quarter. Girard kept within a distance of Columbus off the Trojans inside attack. At halftime, the Trojans trailed the Titans 23-20. 

            In the third quarter, the Titans would go on another run outscoring Girard 13-6 within the first four minutes of the quarter. Turnovers halted the Trojans from making a comeback as the Titans slowly began to pull away. 

            Girard would get the game to within two points early in the fourth quarter off the inside attack of juniors Logan Thomas and Rigby Born. Columbus then began to get hot once again offensively pushing the lead back to double-digits. From there, the lead became too large for Girard to comeback as the Titans (10-6) went on to win 56-47 over the Trojans (6-9). 

            R. Born shined for the Trojans despite the defeat as the junior finished the game with 14 points. Thomas made a valiant effort as well for Girard ending his night with 11 points. 

            In wake of the sweep, the Trojans enter game two of their five-game upcoming league matchups as Girard faces Riverton Friday, Feb. 14.