Coach Mike Kuennen spoke softly after his team’s 48-36 first round district win over North Fayette Monday night. He didn’t have much choice in the matter, as his voice was pretty well shot. It should recover, though before the team’s next challenge, which was to be last night (Thursday).
    A win last night would send them to the district finals, Tues., Feb. 23 at Oelwein, 7 p.m.
    “We have some fine tuning to do with our pressure and man defense, but we are looking forward to playing our next opponent,” he said.
    The Thursday opponent, Starmont, has some recovering to do themselves, as they played a triple overtime game against Sumner-Fredericksburg before winning 63-59, also on Monday.
    Neil Hackman opened the scoring against North Fayette with a three-point shot, by the end of the quarter the Trojans had a 13-6 lead, but the Hawks tied the score at 21 by the intermission.
    The score was still stuck on 21 in the second half, until Brad Winter put through a three-point shot with 5:50 left in the third, then hit another one the next trip down the floor.
    “In the second quarter we were disappointed with our defense, that in turn caused our offense to sputter,” Kuennen offered. “When Brad hit those threes, offensively and defensively we were in our rhythm.”
    The defense was definitely in the rhythm, as they only allowed 2 points in the third quarter. Numerous Trojan steals and conversions put them up 34-23 by the start of the fourth. “We told the kids we needed to contest North Fayette’s shots and fill the passing lanes, they really worked hard in the second half to do that.”
    Despite going after nearly every pass by the Hawks, with seven minutes left in the game, the Trojans only had one foul on the board for the half, to seven for North Fayette. “We knew they shot free throws well and we focused on not reaching, and on moving our feet.”
    For the third time in four games, Turkey Valley again finished with a low number of turnovers at nine.
    The Hawks did make 70% of their free throws for the game, they were 7-10 while the Trojans were 10-20. Winter’s 11 points led the team and Hackman finished with 10. Mitch Balik turned in the most rebounds with eight, Mason Adams had seven steals and Justin Bakula nine assists.
    “If we contest shots and value each possession we are a lot of fun to watch.”
    TURKEY VALLEY 48, NORTH FAYETTE 36
North Fayette    6    15    2    13    --36
Turkey Valley    13    8    13    14    --48
TURKEY VALLEY STATISTICS
Brad Winter 3-11 3-8 11; Mason Adams 0-1 2-4 2; Neil Hackman 4-8 0-0 10; Justin Bakula 4-9 1-3 9; Brady Kuennen 0-4 0-0 0; Spencer Bruess 3-7 3-3 9; Mitch Balik 3-6 1-2 7. Totals 17-46 10-20 48
3-point field goals (4-16) - Winter 2-6; Hackman 2-3; Bakula 0-2; Kuennen 0-3; Bruess 0-2
Rebounds - Winter 4; Adams 4; Hackman 3; Bakula 4; Kuennen 3; Bruess 2; Balik 8
Assists - Winter 1; Adams 1; Hackman 1; Bakula 9; Kuennen 1; Bruess 2; Balik 1
Steals - Winter 1; Adams 7; Bakula 3; Bruess 1; Balik 3
Blocks - Winter 1; Adams 1; Bakula 1; Balik 1