Trotters come back for big win

It might not have been the comeback of the century, but it was one that roused Plains fans for the final game of the night Friday at home.

The Plains Trotters were behind nearly the entire game against the Darby Lady Tigers, which had a record of 5-2 before the game. The score was tied for only a few minutes early in the game. The Lady Tigers had a wide lead throughout the conflict, averaging an 11-point lead throughout the second quarter. Darby led 25-18 at halftime. The Trotters started to turn things around in the third quarter with Taryn Meredith hitting her mark with a two-pointer 30 seconds into the quarter. Darby came right back with a three-pointer. Plains fought back with two more Meredith baskets, including one with 54 seconds left in the third, and a free throw shot by Katelyn Subatch.

In the fourth, the Trotters came on strong with a Jaycee Carr basket, two-for-two at the free throw line by Meredith, and an Aubrey Butcher pass to Subatch to put Plains only five behind. With less than three minutes, Mila Rivinius hit, followed by a two-pointer and then a three-pointer by Subatch to give Plains a 39-38 lead. With 22 seconds in the game, Subatch struck again with two more points. Darby nabbed two-of-two free throw shots to put them one point behind. With 12.7 seconds on the clock, Darby raced for the hoop, but Plains stole the ball and the game ended 41-40.

"It was a nice comeback. Once we settled down we played solid defense and our rebounding improved in the second half," said head coach Brooks Sanford. Subatch led the team with 14 points, scoring their final six points of the game. The junior also chalked up four rebounds and four steals.

"When you win by one, every positive play you make could be the difference," said Sanford, mentioning Mila Rivinius' three-pointer in the second quarter. Rivinius finished the game with five points. Meredith had 11 points and 12 rebounds. Ava Lawyer had nine points, eight rebounds, and two steals.

Aubrey Butcher led in steals with four and was praised by Sanford as an excellent floor general at point guard who affected the game rebounding and defending, he said, adding that Carr and Ashley Ferlan played tenacious defense. "It was a great team effort in the second half to overcome foul trouble and a double digit deficit to bring us to a record of six wins and two losses."

The junior varsity girls lost 27-26, but the JV boys won in overtime 53-46. Freshman Jarett Weeks led the team with 16 points.

The varsity Horsemen didn't do as well, losing to the Tigers 40-34 and falling to a 4-4 record. The Tigers scored just over two minutes into the game, but Horseman Zayden Allen stole the ball and easily scored to tie. He scored again with 30 seconds left in the quarter with Darby in the lead 6-4.

Horsemen senior Darren Standeford started the second with two to tie the game. Darby scored, but Allen came right back for 8-8. He scored again with 42 seconds on the clock, but Darby hit a three-pointer with 4.5 seconds on the clock to finish the first half 16-10 with the Tigers ahead.

Standeford began the third with two points, but Darby came back with three in a row for an 11-point lead. Cooper Meredith hit a three-pointer, followed immediately with two points to put the Horsemen six points behind. Meredith and Kort Craft managed to score and the third ended 30-23.

Darby started the fourth. Allen, Standeford, Wyatt Butcher scored, and Luciano Ferranti hit two-of-two free throws to put Plains only five behind, but a loss. Allen led the Horsemen with 11 points. He also had seven rebounds behind Meredith's eight rebounds. He led the team with four steals and collected seven points, said Tyrel Allen, the head coach.

"I liked how hard they worked all game and didn't quit. It would be easy to hang heads and mope but they didn't," he said. Allen believes their loss was probably their 25% success rate from the field. "We got off plenty of shots, we just couldn't get enough of them to fall," he said, adding that he plans to have them work on putting up more shots in practice. He hopes it will build more shooting confidence. "As always, we will continue to build chemistry with the group so they play better as a unit within our defensive strategies."