Horsemen host Troy for district play-in

The Plains Horsemen cleared the first hurdle in the postseason with a 59-45 win over the Troy Trojans last week at Plains.

Troy collected nine points in the last four minutes of the game, partly because one of the Horsemen's top players had fouled out, but that didn't stop Plains from also hitting their mark for nine points in the last few minutes of the game. Anaya Loberg chalked up 15 points in the game before fouling out in the fourth.

"Anaya plays with a lot of passion and when it is channeled the right way he is an extremely tough player for another team to guard," said head coach Tyrel Allen. "He is one of the reasons we have been successful this season and will be missed for sure. He doesn't get in his head when he misses a shot, he just works for another one," said Allen, who added that the 6-foot, 2-inch senior had three 3-pointers of eight attempts in last Tuesday's game.

The team hit six of 16 3-pointers in the game. The Trojans had only won one of 11 games in the regular season, but they came off the bench strong, scoring two in a row and having a 4-2 lead within minutes. Loberg was first to score for Plains, but in another few minutes senior Aden West was knocked to the floor and hit one of two from the foul line to put Plains one point behind. Troy soon had a 12-7 lead, but with only three seconds in the quarter, junior Wyatt Butcher scored to put the Horsemen only three behind.

Zayden Allen was first to score at the start of the second quarter. Nearly three minutes into the quarter saw junior Pablo Hernandez hit with 3 points from the corner to tie the game 14-14. That was followed 20 seconds later with a long 3-point shot by Loberg for the lead. Senior Zephaniah Dines hit for 2. Troy tied things up again at 19 apiece and then took a 3-point lead. It was another Loberg shot that tied the game again, followed seconds later with a 2-pointer from West to end the quarter with a 24-22 Horsemen lead.

Allen scored twice within the first two minutes of the game, along with Loberg getting two consecutive baskets followed by a near half court shot by Hernandez and another 3-pointer from the corner by Loberg for a 14-point Horsemen lead. With 29 seconds in the third, Allen did it again to give Plains a 41-27 lead at the end of the quarter.

Troy started the fourth with a 2-pointer, but West and Dines came right back with baskets, followed by two hits from Butcher and one by Hernandez. Loberg picked up his fourth foul just over halfway through the quarter and then received a technical to put him out of the game. And with only 25.7 seconds left in the game, Butcher scored one of two free throws to advance Plains to a second round at districts against Thompson Falls.

Butcher and West finished the game with 10 points. Loberg was the high scorer for the night with 15 points. He also had eight rebounds. Dines, Hernandez and Allen had eight apiece. West led with 10 rebounds and Allen had seven. He also led the team with five assists, followed by West with four.