Trotters improve to 3-1

Things are going well on the basketball court with the 3-1 Plains Trotters but they could be better, coach Eddie Fultz says.

The Trotters moved to 3-1 in non-conference play last week in a pair of home games, sending Valley Christian back to Missoula on the short end of a 48-20 score Friday and then losing to Seeley-Swan 48-16 Saturday.

Plains was to have opened District 14C conference play at Charlo Tuesday but results of that contest were not available at press time. The Trotters do not play again until after the holidays and 2020 arrives.

Fultz seems a little nonplussed by the way his Trotters have been playing so far this season.

"I know we are 3-1 and am happy to have that record but I really don't think we have played all that well yet this season," he said. "I have to give Seeley credit for playing well Saturday, but we haven't played a good, crisp game yet in my estimation."

The Trotters broke away from Valley Christian after a tight first half with the visiting Eagles.

Leading only 17-14 in the waning seconds of the first half, freshman Kimmy Curry provided a spark by hitting a 3-pointer from the top of the key at the buzzer to send Plains into halftime with a 20-14 lead.

Working the ball into Kylee Altmiller effectively time and time again early in the third quarter, the Trotters extended the lead to 33-14 before Valley managed to score again.

Altmiller finished the game with 21 points and 15 rebounds to pace the Trotter win, Kayla Standeford added 10 points, Curry eight, Miera Loberg, Kaylee Cole, Tianna McGonagle and Krystena Boes two apiece and Miera Loberg one point and a team-best seven assists.

Bella Ross counted five points for Valley Christian and MacKenzie Dierking and Maggie Harvey four each.

Fultz said Altmiller scored 12 points to lead Plains in the otherwise desultory loss to the visiting Blackhawks.

"Seeley is a good team and they shot pretty well against us," Fultz said. "But I think we were our own worst enemies in that game.

"Maybe we have just been kind of cold shooting so far but we have to find more scoring options," he said. "Kylee is going to be tough to stop underneath but we have to have an outside game to go with that, and that's what we will be working on."