Trojan teams easily rout visiting Panthers

DRUMMOND – If the Drummond basketball coaches could bottle the speeches they gave at key points in their respective games Friday night, they’d have a decent chance of making a few million dollars. The talks led to a pair of blowout wins by Drummond over the visiting Sheridan Panthers as the two local squads make the turn into the final week of the 2018-2019 season.

In the boys’ game, Trojan Head Coach Levi Parsons watched his team take an early lead over the Panthers and extend it to 32-14 with three minutes to play in the first half. But as Parsons started working some of his bench players onto the floor for some much needed experience, they got careless with the ball.

Sheridan used the lapse to create a 10-0 run that brought the score to 32-24 with 1:12 to play and forced Parsons to call a timeout. Out of that 60-second break, Drummond’s Jonah Parke hit a bucket to make the lead 10 points again, but the Panthers weren’t done. Despite the Trojan starters coming back into the game, Sheridan hit a three-pointer and a bucket before the halftime buzzer to trail the locals 34-29.

“Believe it or not I actually kept kinda cool at halftime,: said Parsons after the win. “I just talked about how in the second quarter we lost focus and played with a lack of effort and didn’t take care of the basketball.

“I don’t care what you’re playing, if you don’t do your job right you’ll let them into the game, which is what happened.”

Having received their marching orders, when Drummond opened the third quarter they did their job as well as they have all season. A stifling press coupled with a thoroughly executed offensive onslaught allowed the Trojans to outscore Sheridan 26-4 in the period. They followed it with a 19-5 run in the fourth to seal the deal and walk away with the win.

Jonah Parke had a game-high 22 points to lead Drummond. Luke Holland scored 17, Wyatt Rigby 13 and Riley Allen 10 to close out the double-figure scoring for the locals.

GIRLS VARSITY

Drummond 62, Sheridan 24

In the girls’ game, an undermanned Sheridan squad was leading the Lady Trojans 11-9 when Drummond’s Bignell called a timeout to get his girls on the same page. His message, much like Parson’s, was calm, cool and to the point.

“We gotta pick it up and play our kind of basketball. And that’s what they did,” recalled Bignell of his 60-secnd discussion. “They hustled and they were playing as a team. They’re enjoyable to watch. I really like watching these girls play, especially when they play like that. That was fun.”

It was fun for everyone cheering for the blue and white.

The Lady Trojans knotted the score at 12-12 in short order and then went on a 5-0 run to close out the period. When the second quarter opened, Drummond hit the gas on both ends of the floor. A staunch press forced numerous turnovers and bad shots, while providing the locals with quality open shots and lay ups that gave them a 29-5 run over those eight minutes and a 46-17 halftime lead that the visitors would never challenge.

Nine Lady Trojans got into the scoring column, led by senior Sara Kielley’s 12 points. Guard Sydney Phillips added 11 and Sophia de Santiagio had 10 to round out the double figure leaders.

Drummond gets the week off before playing its final two games of the regular season. They will host Ennis Friday, Feb. 8, for Senior Night and then travel to Lima Feb. 9 for the season finale.

Boys Varsity

SCORING

SHERIDAN – 12/17/4/5 – 39

DRUMMOND – 20/14/26/19 – 79

Sheridan – Lee 16, Haag 14, JaGilman 2, Chisholm 6, Vanhouten 1

Drummond – Wagner 2, Pool 9, JParke 22, EParke 3, CParke 2, Holland 17, Huberg 1, Rigby 13, Allen 10

Girls Varsity

SCORING

SHERIDAN – 12/5/1/6 – 24

DRUMMOND – 17/29/11/5 – 62

Sheridan – MadFabel 6, MacFabel 2, Hamilton 1, Tipton 4, Sanders 4, Larson 5, Galiger 2

Drummond – Hilmo 2, Struna 3, Phillips 11, Parke 5, de Santiago 10, Kielley 12, Bradshaw 9, Hauptman 8, Seekell 2