Trojans earn first win by whipping Hustlin' Hawks

Almost all hands were on deck for the Wauwatosa West boys on Tuesday and the Trojans rolled over the Hustlin' Hawks, 65-54, at Greenfield to win their first game of the season.

The victory evened Tosa West's record at 1-1 in the Woodland Conference and the Trojans improved to 1-4 overall after an 0-3 non-conference run.

Tosa West came out fast, outscoring the Hustlin' Hawks, 16-5, in the first quarter before they knew what hit them. Greenfield recovered in the second quarter, but the Trojans still led 33-21 at intermission.

But the Trojans came out strong right after intermission and outscored Greenfield, 15-9, leading by 20 halfway through the third period to coast into the fourth quarter with a 48-30 advantage.

"But our young team needs to learn how to keep the foot on the gas pedal," Tosa West coach Chad Stelse said. "We let them back in the fourth quarter by playing lazy defensively and giving up too many offensive rebounds.

"Varsity ball is new to almost everyone on our team and I hope they will realize sooner rather than later that to be successful at this level, you can't take possessions off at either end of the court."

Freshman Andre Carroll had 13 points, six assists and four rebounds and sophomore Ricky Landers added 13 points and six rebounds. JJ Belknapp added 11 points and Blake Harvey had nine points and five steals.

Nicolet

For the second day in a row one bad quarter hurt the Trojans in a 73-52 non-conference loss at Tosa West on Saturday.

Tosa West actually led, 12-11, after the first quarter, but then the Knights blew away the Trojans (25-9) to take a 36-21 lead into intermission. The Knights kept the pressure on in the third quarter, taking a 54-33 lead into the final period. Both teams played to a 19-all tie in the fourth quarter.

The Trojans had nine players get on the scoreboard, led by Harvey, who scored 16 points, on two field goals and four 3-pointers.

"Blake Harvey is a talented offensive player who shows a lot of confidence in his shot," Stelse said. "He is a very coachable kid that will continue to get better. He also led us in rebounding with eight."

South Milwaukee

The Rockets beat the Trojans, 72-63, in the Woodland Conference opener on Friday.

After battling a good South Milwaukee team to a 39-39 tie at intermission, the Trojans were blown away in the third period, 20-10, to stagger into the final period down, 59-49. They never quit, though, nipping the Rockets, 14-13, in the final quarter.

Austin Stueck and Dominic Stanley combined for 53 of the Rockets 72 points, led by Stueck with 27 points.

"We had no answer for Austin Stueck (6-4 forward)," Stelse said. "We warned our guys on how talented he was. We tried to double him, throw different defenders at him, but he was too long and was able to catch and shoot over us."

Junior guard JJ Belknapp led the way for Tosa West with 20 points, including six 3-pointers.

"JJ Belknapp has a great outside shot," Stelse said. "I have great confidence in his all-around game. He has been improving every day."

Freshman Andre Carroll had 12 points, while Harvey and junior Sam Clough each had nine points.