Plains wins three to kick off 2025

Plains started out the new year with big wins and a near clean sweep last week with a faceoff against Troy.

The girls and boys junior varsity squads and girls varsity claimed victories, but the boys varsity was defeated. The Horsemen JV boys took down the Trojans 54-37 with Luciano Ferranti leading the team with 21 points. The Trotters JV team triumphed over the Lady Trojans 41-36 at home at Friday's game and Haydn Rice led in points with 20.

Despite 13 points chalked up by Horseman Zayden Allen and a dozen by teammate Darren Standeford, the Troy Trojans varsity players nabbed a 52-37 win to give them a 3-1 record and Plains a 3-2 record.

The Plains Trotters varsity nabbed a 48-25 win with Ava Lawyer collecting the team high of 18 points, 11 rebounds and four steals. Teammate Taryn Meredith had 11 points in the game with five rebounds. The Trotters have four wins and two losses overall and are undefeated in conference with two victories.

The Trotters started out strong with Lawyer drawing first blood and by the end of the first quarter, the Trotters led 12-4. It took the Trotters only 17 seconds in the second quarter for Mila Rivinius to hit her mark with a two-point shot from under the net. At halftime, Plains had a 24-7 lead.

The Lady Trojans started out the third with one of two free throw shots, but the Trotters soon struck with a Katelyn Subatch basket, followed almost immediately with Lawyer putting one in and halfway through the third quarter, Plains had a 34-8 lead.Troy started the fourth with a free throw point, but Plains kept up the pressure with a long three-pointer by Emma O'Keefe, followed by shot after shot by the Plains girls. In the final minute of the game, the Lady Trojans scored twice, but it was too little, too late.

"I was very pleased with our third quarter defense," said Brooks Sanford, head coach for the Trotters. "Our ball handling and passing has improved a lot and we played with confidence and good court awareness," he added. "Taryn Meredith continues to be our instant offense off the bench with 11 points. Aubree Butcher had a nice game distributing the ball at point and Ashley Ferlan and Katelyn Subatch worked very hard defensively," he said.

The Horsemen started slow but kept up with Troy for a short time with Horsemen Wyatt Butcher and Zayden Allen baskets. However, the Trojans went unchallenged with a layup and three three-pointers for a score of 15-4 within a four-minute time frame. With only 1.2 second remaining in the first, Troy again scored, ending the quarter with a 21-6 lead.

The Trojans began the second with the same aggression by stealing the ball and scoring. The Horsemen fought back early with consecutive baskets by Standeford, Allen and Cooper Meredith to put Plains 10 points behind. Baskets by Butcher and Allen put the Horsemen only eight behind, followed by a Standeford basket for a score of 27-21 with two minutes left in the half. Troy added five more points and at halftime they led 32-21.

Thirty seconds into the third quarter saw Troy sink a three pointer. Standeford came back with a two with Allen right behind him. Troy hit another three, but 10 seconds later Standeford scored, followed by Meredith getting one of two free throws. With 55 seconds on the third quarter clock, Standeford struck again with a defensive rebound and a basket. Within a minute, the senior scored another to end the third 40-32 with Troy still ahead.

Troy widened the lead early in the fourth and Plains never got closer than eight points. With less than two minutes in play, Meredith passed to Allen for the final Horsemen basket. Meredith and Butcher each had six for the night.

Head coach Tyrel Allen believes the primary reason for the loss was poor showing of three-pointers and from the free throw line. "We had more unforced turnovers than we have had to this point, which led to transition points for Troy. We put up a lot of shots during practice but for some reason we struggle during game time. We shot two for five from the free throw line which gives us 40% from there but the abysmal 7.6% from beyond the arc hurt us," said Allen.

"I am most pleased with how they didn't hang their heads even though we were down big in the first quarter. The funny thing is that we played dead even for the rest of the game. We need to find our spark and confidence to score the ball and drive into the lane more," said Allen.

Trotter JV coach Mike Tatum was particularly pleased about his team victory after losing to the JV Lady Trojans at Troy in December. "Troy came out hard and fast with a physical game that put us on our heels and we couldn't recover, losing 51-39," said Tatum, adding that Rice was the lead scorer for that game, too, chalking up 11 points. "Between that first game and our game this past Friday we really focused on running our offense more efficiently and playing more solid on the defensive end," he said.

The Horsemen and Trotters travel to Noxon on Friday and return home to face Darby on Saturday.