TROY — It was a dream game for Noah Davis and the Troy boys basketball team.

And it couldn’t have come at a better time.

With the Trojan Activity Center rocking, the Troy boys followed up getting past Stebbins in a “trap” game with a 64-38 win over Piqua in MVL action Thursday night.

Troy improved to 8-3 overall and 8-1 in the MVL with the win, while Piqua dropped to 8-2 overall and 5-2 in the MVL.

“It is amazing what can happen when you shoot the ball,” Troy coach Mark Hess said. “The thing is, we did this on a one-night turnaround after playing Tuesday. Now, the guys are going to think that is all we need to do to get ready for games.”

For Piqua, it was a stunning result after an 8-1 start.

“Don’t get me wrong, Troy has a lot of really good players,” Piqua coach Brett Kopp said. “They are a really good team. But, I thought we had a lot of forgettable moments tonight.”

The first quarter set the tone for the entire game, with Troy led by Davis.

He matched his previous season high in the opening quarter, scoring 16 points.

He was 6-for-7 from the floor, including three 3-pointers and hit his only free throw attempt as Troy sprinted out to a 22-5 lead.

“It felt great,” Davis said. “It was a big game with us being 7-1 in the MVL and them being 5-1 (before the game). I looked up at the board late in the first quarter and saw I had 16 points. I didn’t even realize it.”

Hess was happy for his senior guard.

“He started out a little slowly this year shooting the ball and he was frustrated,” Hess said. “That is what Noah (Davis) can do. I am really happy for him. We knew they had (Anson) Cox inside and that kind of opened things up for Noah from the outside.”

Kopp was disappointed with his team’s play in the early going.

“The (Noah) Davis kid hit some shots on us,” Kopp said. “He is a good shooter. I am not taking anything away from Troy, but we didn’t come out and play as hard as I would have liked on offense and defense for whatever reason. I felt like we were ready.”

And as impressive as Troy’s offense was, it was the Trojans defense that really pleased Hess.

Piqua hit just two of 13 shots from the floor in the opening quarter and had a handful of turnovers.

“I can’t say enough about our defense effort,” Hess said. “I thought Konyae (Foster), Nick (Prince) and Evan (Kaiser) all did a great job on Dre’Sean (Roberts). He is a great player.

“And Isaac Phillips is such a tough kid. He is not the biggest kid. He was giving inches and pounds away (to Anson Cox) inside and he really did a nice job. Everybody on the team just did a great job on defense.”

Troy maintained the lead in the second quarter, leading 33-17 at the break and increased it to 53-25 after three quarters.

Davis led the Trojans with a career-high 29 points and five rebounds — hitting 12 of 15 shots from the floor, including four of five from 3-point range.

“I think this was important to beat Piqua the first time,” Davis said. “I think it will give us confidence going into the next time we play them.”

Hollis Terrell had a solid game with nine points, four assists and three steals and Prince scored seven points and had three assists and Evan Kaiser had six points. Phillips scored five points and pulled down five rebounds.

Phillips scored five points and Kellen Miller had five rebounds, three assists and four blocked shots.

Dre’Sean Roberts led Piqua with 14 points and 12 rebounds.

Bryson Roberts scored 12 points and Cox added five points.

Tate Kuhlman had three steals

“We have a lot of games before we play them in February,” Kopp said. “We have a lot of improving to do before that game and it needs to start immediately.”

Troy was 25 of 47 from the floor for the game 53 percent, including seven of 16 from three point range for 44 percent. The Trojans converted seven of eight from the line for 88 percent.

Piqua was 15 of 47 from the floor for 32 percent, including three of 12 from long range for 25 percent. The Indians made five of nine from the line for 56 percent.

Troy won the battle of the boards 26-23 and had 11 turnovers to Piqua’s 14.

“We are capable of playing like this,” Hess said.

And it couldn’t have come at a better time for the Trojans.

Sports Editor Rob Kiser can be reached at [email protected]