Trojans topple Seeley Swan, advance to tourney championship

HAMILTON – It was everything a fan could ask for in a tourney semifinal: Key steals, big shots and more than a handful of lead changes.

But in the end it was the Drummond Trojans (16-4) that took home a 50-31 win over Seeley Swan (12-9) in a Winner’s Bracket Semifinal at the District 13C Basketball Tournament Friday night at Hamilton High School. The victory put the Trojans into the tournament’s championship game Saturday night at 6 p.m. against Darby. The Tigers reached the final by beat Granite in the other semifinal 69-46. Seeley slips into the Consolation Bracket where they will play Valley Christian in a semifinal at 10:30 a.m.

The Blackhawks jumped out to an early lead as Drummond faltered on both ends of the floor. After eight minutes of play Seeley was up 10-5.

The Trojans rallied in the second, outscoring the opposition 13-9 to close the gap and trail by one at halftime, 19-18.

“We talked about it at halftime,” said DHS Head Coach Levi Parsons. “We got out to a slow start. We struggled and we let them get out to a lead. Our big change was our man defense. We tried to take away everything they had and seal off wherever we could. They (our team) stepped up and did exactly what we asked them to do.”

That change kept the Blackhawks from getting a basket for the entire third quarter with the Trojans outscoring Seeley 12-3. That run resulted in a 30-22 lead with one period to play.

With a shot at the tourney championship within their grasp, Scott Parke stepped up to spark the Trojans to a 20—9 run that gave them that opportunity. Parke seemed to be everything, everywhere, all at once in the final stanza collecting two blocks, two deflection, and assist, and a steal while scoring four points.

“He had an incredible game,” observed Parsons of Parke. “He played super smart. He sometimes can make a chess match out of it and that’s when he gets in trouble. But he started just letting the game come to him and that’s when it clicked.”

Colt Parsons led Drummond in scoring with 15 points, with Parke adding nine for the game. Brody Rasor scored nine, adding three assists and three blocks, while Trey Phillips scored eight and had a game-high 13 rebounds.

Klayton Kovatch was the leading scorer for Seeley with 10.

SCORING

Drummond – 5/13/12/20 – 50

Seeley Swan – 10/9/3/9 – 31

Drummond – Rasor 9, Parke 13, Parsons 15, James 1, BeBradshaw 4, Graveley 1, Phillips 8

Seeley Swan – Haley 6, Mercado 7, Kovatch 10, Matthew 8