The Atlantic Trojans dominated their double header in Osceola Thursday night as the girls beat the Clarke Community Indians 66-23 while the boys cruised to a 77-47 win. The girls, now winners of three straight dominated on defense. For large portions of the game Clarke struggled to get the ball past center as the Trojans forced numerous turnovers. This made life much easier on the Trojans as the broke the game open in the second quarter and closed out the game in the second half. On the boys’ side, the Trojans won back-to-back games for the second time this season. Scoring depth was the difference in the first half as seven different Trojans found the scoresheet. In a half with momentum runs, the scoring depth allowed the Trojans to be more successful while they were able to limit the damage done by Clarke’s two best players. In the second half, Kale Jensen blew the game open scoring 14 points in the third quarter to help the Trojans cruise to a 30-pint win.

GIRLS

Everything went right for the Trojan girls, in large part because they earned it. Although the start of the game was nothing to write home about, the switch flipped halfway through the opening quarter. In the final four minutes of the frame, the Trojans outscored Clarke 18-2 and never looked back. Throughout the course of the game, Atlantic’s defense forced turnover after turnover. For long stretches, the Indians struggled to get around the Trojan press which only fed into Atlantic’s confidence. The success on defense drove the offense and gave the Trojans easy looks at the basket. Katrina Williams finished as the game’s leading scorer with 17 points and had a 40-second stretch where she put up six points. Mckenna Schroeder also continued her success as she had another good night from beyond the arc. Knocking down three longballs she finished with 13 points and was one of the four Trojans who reached double digits along with Brynn Lamp and Madison McLaren. In addition to the defense, the Trojans made the game simple. They used their size advantage to create opportunities down low, and moved the ball well, and took open looks when they had it. For Atlantic, it marks the first time they’ve won three straight since early December and they will look to carry some momentum in the final five games of the season.

Head coach Dan Vargason credited the defense for a lot of the success the Trojans had.

He also thought that simplicity was another key.

Heading into the final stretch it will be about effort and execution.

BOYS

The boys’ effort was solid from start to finish. Although the game was close at points, it never felt like they were out of control. The first half saw both teams had stretches where they controlled the momentum. However, the depth scoring played a big part in Atlantic’s lead at the end of the half. Seven different Trojans found themselves on the scoresheet on the opening half. Throughout the course of the night, Atlantic had incredible success at driving the lane and Gavin McLaren benefited immensely from this as he led the scoring at the half with 9-points. Meanwhile on the other side, the Trojans were able to limit the damage of Clarke’s top two players while preventing any depth scoring for the Indians. 17 of Clarke’s 22 points in the first half came from the top two players as the Trojans led by 12 at the half.

The second half was all about Kale Jensen. He exploded out of the gates and scored 14-points in the third quarter to add on to what was already a strong first half showing. He was excellent at driving towards the basket and took advantage of nearly every opportunity he was given. Although he slowed down a little (8 points) in the fourth, his play was still at an extremely high level. In addition to Jensen, multiple Trojans had strong efforts as Gavin and Benton McLaren both finished with 15 while Gage Gross finished with 8 points. For the Trojans it marks the second time they’ve won back-to-back game this season and Dalton Franken was pleased with how they took control and how they played on the inside.

In addition to his athleticism, Franken thinks that Jensen’s basketball IQ plays a big factor in his success.

There are only five game reaming in the regular season and Franken knows his team will have to continue to play well on the inside in order to win games.

The Trojans will be back in action on Monday when they hit the road for a doubleheader at Creston.