Published: February 12, 2008 11:54 pm            

BOYS BB: TC notches first victory

Trojans take down Blackhawks 60-53

SHARPSVILLE — To say fate or the basketball Gods have been unkind to Tri-Central would, in the minds of at least a few, be a gross understatement.

There are droughts, then there’s the cold, hard fact that TC hadn’t won a basketball contest since the final game of the 2006-07 season when it tanked Eastern, 65-50, followed by a first-game sectional loss. Hard times continued with a string of 17 straight losses in the current season.

That dreadful, 353-day plunge of 18-straight defeats came to a halt here Tuesday night when the Trojans dumped an also-struggling Sheridan club, 60-53. It wasn’t pretty, but for a change some good things happened at precise moments.

Like:

•TC put four players in double digits for the first time this year, led by junior Austin Burton with 19 followed by Justin Huddleston’s 15, and the 12 and 10-point efforts of freshmen Brock Tew and Robby Howell.

•The defense forced 23 turnovers which helped provide 22 points.

• TC had 14 assists on 23 hoops and made 13 steals that stymied the Hawk offense.

TC tutor Jeff Layden offered afterward: “It’s sure nice to get the monkey off our backs. We finally had some guys step up,” referring to a key steal and basket by Tew that put TC up by seven after a 7-0 Sheridan run had whittled a 49-39 Trojan lead to 49-46.

“And we hit some big shots in the last two minutes,” referring to Justin’s five freebies and a steal in the final 1:52 that gave the Trojans seven game-concluding tallies. “Maybe this will give us a little more spring in our step for the rest of the year.

“Looking back, we’ve handled the season and several losses that shouldn’t have happened pretty well. But now we have Clinton Prairie coming in, and they beat Sheridan by 20 earlier in the year.”

Tew got TC started with eight first-quarter points. Burton hit the first of his five threes and added a deuce and two more treys in the second to help TC to a 29-21 halftime lead. Luke Wait and Adam Durr had seven apiece for Sheridan, but Coach Cory Dunn’s crew also had 15 first-half turnovers.

TC had a 42-31 command entering the fourth thanks to Burton, Howell and Justin and Jordan Huddleston. And it looked like an easy ride to the finish when (Justin) Huddleston and Burton upped it to 49-39 early in the fourth.

But Adam Eads and Carlton Summe went on that 7-0 binge to trim it to 49-46, and it took Tew and Justin (Huddleston) pus two key buckets by Howell and Burton’s fifth trey to set the Trojans free.

Eads had 20 for Sheridan whose only win came over Fountain Central in the Hawks’ seventh game. Waitt added 16.

“Turnovers have killed us all year,” said Dunn, a former Trojan standout. “But we don’t have a guard who can take care of the ball. Their ball pressure forced us to take a lot of quick shots,” adding that the Hawks were minus 6-3 junior starter Austin King for disciplinary reasons.

        

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