It was a short lived lead for Troy Christian, as they opened the Division Four sectional tournament last weekend at Sidney High School against second-seeded Jackson Center. The Eagles fell behind by 12 at the half, and fell short of the Tigers 60-35.

“They put full court pressure on us, and our guards struggled with the pressure,” said Troy Christian coach Dick Steineman. “Their half court press also caused us problems.”

Troy Christian led 6-2 in the opening period, only to be outscored 8-0 the rest of the quarter and trailed 10-6 after one.

At the half, the Eagles trailed 27-15.

“We still felt ok at that point,” Steineman said. “We didn’t shoot the ball well but was starting to get the ball up against their press. We played a 2-3 zone against them since I had to save our legs, and we were playing with six kids.”

“Mentally after we lost Meredith, we thought we were still ok,” he added. “Then we lost Kenley (Blake) and my 2 starting guards were out.”

Hailey Peters led with 15 points and six rebounds, while Kathryn Lee added 10 points and 10 rebounds, and Lauryn Lavy scored six points with seven rebounds.

“We ended the season 14-8 and had an eight game winning streak this year,” Steineman said. “

“During the off-season, I have encouraged as many of the kids as possible to play AAU with whatever program they want to play for. We will also play some in June.”

*The Eagles wrapped up the regular season last week with a tough 41-38 loss to Lehman. Peters led the way for Troy Christian with 11 points and seven rebounds, while Lauryn Lavy added 11 points and six rebounds and Kenley Blake contributed eight points and three steals.

Troy Christian was down 13-5 early, and fought back to cut the deficit to 25-22 at the half.

“Lehman shot the ball well against us,” Steineman said. “We switched to a 2-3 zone and were able to contain them a little better. We just need to take care of the ball.”

“The kids competed hard and they are making better decisions. The more that play, the more experience they are getting.”

Troy Christian Boys Basketball

The Eagles boys team lost to Middletown Christian on Friday night 50-42. The game was tied at 28 heading to the fourth, but Jamaal Hunter scored 14 of the teams 22 points in the fourth to give Middletown Christian the victory.

Troy Christian had 14 points and 13 rebounds from James Anderson, but the Eagles shot 5-29 from the three.

The Eagles fell to third place in the league and played Northeastern this past Monday night, They open tournament play next Wednesday at 6 p.m. against the winner of Southeastern and Miami Valley at 6 p.m.