Troy girls maintain momentum with win over Piqua

PIQUA — The Troy and Piqua girls basketball teams are at opposite ends of the spectrum.

And that showed Wednesday night in an MVL matchup.

Troy has responded to a tough three-game stretch when they lost to Butler, Sidney and Tippecanoe by winning three straight capped by Wednesday’s 59-32 win at Garbry Gymnasium to improve to 8-4.

“Definitely (the tough three-game stretch made the Trojans better),” Troy coach Jeremy Hughes. “Anytime you go through adversity, it makes you stronger.”

If that’s the case, Piqua should be approaching Arnold Schwarzenegger strength levels soon.

The Indians, who dropped to 2-9, have been without post Aubree Schrubb all season, post Andrea Marrs was recently injured and Piqua had just seven players available Wednesday.

“It’s tough,” Piqua coach Greg Justice said. “Andrea (Marrs) went down with an injury, them Mahala (guard Mahala Bragg) was injured. We don’t have a lot of kids available and we are having to put kids in that don’t have a lot of varsity experience.”

And Troy’s pressure defense was too much for Piqua — and the Trojans got their offense clicking as the game went on.

“My assistant coach said we could easily score 60 points in a game,” Hughes said. “You could see that tonight.”

Troy led 9-3 after one quarter, 24-9 at halftime and 43-19 after three quarters.

“It is (Troy’s defense) really good,” Justice said. “They are so quick. They come at you and never let up. We were able to stay in the game for a quarter, quarter and a half.”

Macie Taylor’s career night — which is saying something for the talented junior — made sure there would be no second-half comeback.

Taylor opened the third quarter with a 3-pointers, scored 13 points in that quarter alone and finished with a career-high 30 points, to go along with nine rebounds, seven assists and five steals. When she left the game, she had matched Piqua’s point total and continued her climb up the Troy all-time scoring list. She is now third with 902 points.

“That is the great thing about Macie (Taylor),” Hughes said. ‘She is always looking to pass the ball.”

Another highlight came in the fourth quarter, when Troy’s lone senior Gwynn Metz scored, bringing the Troy bench and fans to their feet.

“I think that might be her first points (in a varsity game),” Hughes said. “We drew up a play for her and executed perfectly. She (Gwynn Metz) really works hard. These kids are always pulling for each other, so it was great to see.”

Makenzee Maschino has started to find her range on her jump shot. In her first start, she scored eight points and pulled down seven rebounds, while Morgan Kaiser also scored eight points.

Brynn Siler pulled down seven rebounds, Elise McCann had five points, three assists and four rebounds and Kiyah Baker grabbed four rebounds.

Now, Troy gets a chance to even the score with West Carrollton Wednesday.

“They beat us the first time,” Hughes said. “I know Macie (Taylor) was injured, but we were still in a position to win that game. So, it will be interesting to see how we do against them (West Carrollton) this time.

Karley Johns and Kenzi Anderson combined for 28 of Piqua’s 32 points, with Johns scoring 23 points and Anderson adding five.

Piqua will play Vandalia-Butler Friday night.

“We just have to keep working,” Justice said. “That’s what I told the kids after the game.”

After a matchup of two teams at the opposite end of the spectrum.