TROY – As it has for the past decade, the battle for Troy went to the Colts Thursday night.
The Red Hawks battled back from a double-digit deficit to lead early in the second half, but Troy steadily re-established that advantage and scored a 69-65 win on the other side of town.
“Anytime you play your crosstown rivals, it doesn’t matter who they are, both teams will battle and it’s going to be one of those really tough games,” said Troy head coach Gary Fralick, who has been part of the rivalry for 31 years.
Following a 7-2 start from Athens, Troy looked on the verge of controlling the outcome by scoring 16 of the next 18 points, and a turnaround trey from Colts senior Mason Parker gave the away side its first double-digit lead just over midway through the second quarter.
Athens was far from done, however, finishing the second on a 10-2 run capped off by Cainan Hanbury’s layup at the buzzer, and Nate Appledorn stroked one of his four 3-pointers on the first possession of the second half to briefly put the Red Hawks ahead.
Still, the Colts, lesser in stature compared to most teams and outrebounded more so in the opening half, got buckets a bit more efficiently to outscore Athens 19-12 in the third quarter, amounting to a nine-point lead heading into the final period.
The Red Hawks (6-14, 5-8 OAA White) had chances to cut into the lead, which got to as large as 13 on a Leo Penoza shot from downtown, before Troy went into stall mode and could have been more efficient around the hoop and at the stripe, but left it too late.
On the opposite end, Penoza (20 points) knocked down another triple, then Andrew Lake converted a conventional three-point play that boosted the lead back to 11 with three minutes remaining. Athens didn’t get it back to two possessions until Brennan Tucker’s free throws with 40 ticks left, then a Tucker 3-pointer that got it to within five with 22 seconds left.
Troy escaped pressure to make layups in the final 30 seconds before Appledorn connected from deep at the final horn.
“Give them credit, they hung with us and went up ahead in the early part of the third quarter, then we had a run and kind of felt pretty good about ourselves before they made it pretty hairy in the last couple minutes,” Fralick said. “(Athens head coach Mitchell Vercellino) does a really nice job for them. They’re well-prepared and play hard, smart, and anytime you have a team like that, they’re a tough team to beat.”
Along with Penoza’s 20 and a dozen from sophomore teammate Blake Kuiper, Colts senior Mason Parker led all scorers with 25 points.
“We just needed to stay locked in and play consistent, play together,” Parker said of the message from Fralick and the team’s mindset. “We can’t have spurts where we look like a great team then a bad team. That’s what coach says to us every game, to play hard and play smart … At the beginning of the season it was kind of playing 1-on-1, trying to get our own shots. We’ve really bought in and we’re moving the ball more and trying to get the best shot for everyone as a team.”
That’s been reflected in the results. After dropping seven of eight in the early chunk of the season, Thursday’s win got the Colts back up to .500 (11-11) on the year and improved their record to 8-6 in the league.
Photo gallery of Troy vs. Athens in OAA White boys hoops action
It also gave the Colts their 14th win in a row in the rivalry. The last time the Red Hawks got the better of Troy was a 70-61 victory back on March 5, 2015.
“It always feels good to beat your hometown rival, but to me, it’s really just another game,” Parker said. “They compete, we compete. It’s fun playing in front of all the students, but at the end of the day we’re all trying to get the high seed in the playoffs and it’s just another game we need to win.”
Tucker accounted for the Red Hawks’ other pair of 3-pointers and finished with a team-high 19 points, and Appledorn ended with 16 in the defeat for Athens, who lost 54-40 when the teams last competed on Jan. 10.
Asked whether these rivalry wins have traditionally provided extra momentum for his teams over the years, Fralick replied, “Not necessarily. A win’s a win, and it’s a special win because it’s against Athens. Do they propel us? I think that depends upon the team. Will they continue to play that well every game? This team is a bunch of great guys who play hard, but we’re a little up and down. We’ll go on a four-game winning streak, then a three-game losing streak.
“It’s a bit of a rollercoaster, but tonight, they were ready to play, and hopefully against Seaholm on Tuesday, we’ll be ready to play again.”
