It is always a tussle when Tri-County and English Valleys get together in any contest and Tuesday night’s game was no exception. In a very competitive game, the Trojans scratched their way to a 28-24 halftime lead only to see things go sour in the second half and dropped a 46-41 decision.

The first quarter belonged to the Bears as they rode the shooting of Luke Morrison, Carsten Parmenter and Derrick Thompson to a 19-11 lead.

The second period was all Trojans. A 17-5 run by Tri-County allowed it to take a 28-24 lead into intermission. Austin Rogers fueled the run with a three-point bucket, a pair of driving lay ups and a pair of free throws. Andy Thomas also nailed a three ball and Colt Brumbaugh threw in a long shot at the buzzer for three points.

The third quarter spelled doom for Tri-County as they could not buy a bucket for the first six minutes while the Bears racked up 10 points. All of the English Valleys points came from Thompson. Finally, the Trojans got on the board with a drive through the middle by Tyce Schmidt and a pair of inside buckets by Daniel Collins to pull to within a point at 35-34 going into the final frame.

In the final period, Collins rammed home a rebound for a brief 36-35 Tri-County lead, but it didn’t last long. A free throw by Chris Leinen and a bucket by Thompson gave the Bears a 38-36 lead and they would not give it up. A three by Ike Schmidt closed the gap to one at 42-41 with 27 seconds left, but the Bears would hit four free throws down the stretch to seal the win.

Rogers led the Trojans with 11 points and Collins added nine tallies. Thompson led the Bears with 18 points.

Trojan coach Lucas Kreuscher felt that a defensive change by the Bears was the key to the game.

“We felt the would come out in a zone the second half,” Kreuscher said. “We struggled with the zone and quit attacking. We were satisfied to settle for jump shots and they were not falling. We also had some key turnovers at bad times and our passing game was not sharp.”

The Trojans take a 1-4 record into their battle at Keota Friday.

Enlgish Valleys 46, Tri--County 41

EV 19 5 11 11 — 46

T-C 11 17 6 7 — 41

TRI-COUNTY (41) — Austin Rogers 11, Daniel Collins 9, Colt Brumbaugh 5, Andy Thomas 5, Tyce Schmidt 5, Ike Schmidt 3, William Corrick 2, Austin Christner 1.

Rebounds — Christner 8, Collins 7.