Troy Girls Basketball Team Stomps Athens, 63-37

Rivalry games usually bring out a team’s best. 

That was certainly the case for one school Tuesday night when the varsity girls basketball team hosted .

The Colts (2-0) dominated their crosstown rival on both ends of the court in a 63-37 win.

“It felt pretty good, obviously going against our cross-rival, I got pretty pumped, “ Troy shooting guard Karin Moss said. 

Moss hit three 3-pointers during a key stretch in the second quarter that saw the Colts extend their lead from eight points to 26.

“I was on fire,” Moss said, smiling.

The senior, who signed a national letter of intent last month to play for the University of Buffalo, finished the game with 16 points. 

“Karin doesn’t need to hit shots to have a lot of confidence in herself,” Troy head coach Dennis Kock said. “It certainly helps everyone around her, to rally and play a little harder.” 

But Koch thought the real key to the Colts extending their lead was his team’s defense.

“We were fortunate to make a lot of outside shots (in the second quarter), but it comes down to defense,” Koch said. “When we play well defensive and put pressure on people to cause turnovers we can be good.”

Koch was happy with his team’s full court press and how Sydney Heath was able to shut down the Red Hawks' top scorer, Sinclair Russell. 

Russell was a non-factor in the game. The 6-foot-1 center averaged over 20 points a game last year, but ended up with only four points on Tuesday in limited action. With the game out of hand, Russell didn’t play for most of the second half. 

Athens (0-2) really struggled with Troy’s athleticism and speed. Early in the game, the Red Hawks couldn’t even get the ball across half court.

“We beat ourselves a little bit,” Athens head coach Lindsay Noble said. “We have a lot of kids playing their first year of varsity basketball, so there are some growing pains with that.”

Noble graduated four starters from last year’s team and the Red Hawks don’t have lot of experience at the guard position. By halftime, the Red Hawks had turned the ball over 20 times.   

“We told them all in practice, they are going to come after you right away on the inbound pass,” Noble said. “We know how to break that press – got to get it in the middle, look to the side and shoot up. Unfortunately, we weren’t doing those little things – pass faking, getting rid of the ball quickly – and they took advantage of it.”

Troy prevented Athens from scoring a field goal for a seven-minute stretch in the second quarter and again in the third. It allowed the Colts to take a commanding 35-point lead and send their starters to the bench before the fourth quarter. 

Senior Katy McCuish finished the game leading all scorers with 23 points. Senior Lauren Genereau was the only Athens player to reach double-digits with 10 points. 

Next up for Troy is a game on Thursday at home against Roseville at 7 p.m. and then it hosts Southfield Lathrup on Dec. 13 at 7 p.m. The game against Lathrup will be the Colt first in the Oakland Activities Association Red. 

The Red Hawks have three straight home games heading into winter break. They host Ferndale on Thursday, Lake Orion on Dec.13 and Groves on Dec. 16. All games start at 7 p.m.