The Wakefield Trojans took home a big victory over the Bancroft-Rosalie Panthers on the road in their only matchup of the week on Thursday, Jan. 16.
The Panthers entered the contest with an impressive record of 10-1, while the Trojans had a record of 4-7. To the blind eye, the Trojans were the underdog, and things weren’t looking good for the underdog in the first quarter.
In front of their home crowd, the 10-1 Panthers were cooking with oil. Despite the Trojans best efforts, the Panthers were unable to be stopped offensively. At the end of the first, Wakefield found itself down 24-9.
Despite the large deficit, the Trojans remained calm and came out in the second quarter with a fire in their eyes.
With grit and determination, the Trojans stood tall defensively and held the Panthers to just nine points of offense in the second quarter. This allowed Wakefield to charge back and make things 33-27 by halftime.
Out of halftime, the Trojans continued their strong defensive play but were unable to find the same offensive production that they had in the second quarter. While Wakefield continued to chomp at the heels of the Panthers, they were unable to take the lead and entered the fourth quarter down 38-35.
In the fourth quarter, the Trojans continued to stay right behind the Panthers but were unable to take the lead through the first four minutes of play. That all changed, however, with a three-pointer from Tim Kaufman as the shot-clock expired with just three minutes left to put the Trojans up 47-45.
Things didn’t come easy from there, however, as the Panthers continued to fight back and even re-took the lead just a few moments later. From there, the contest continued to go back-and-forth until the final seconds.
With just five seconds remaining in regulation, the Trojans clung on to a one-point lead as Jacob Borg stepped up to the free throw line.
Borg was able to make one out of two to put the Trojans up by two, but the contest was far from over.
The Panthers were able to take the ball down the court and get a good look from three as time expired, but it thankfully went off the front of the iron, and the Trojans were able to secure the comeback victory with a final score of 53-51.
Leading the way for the Trojans in their comeback victory was Cael Johnson with 18 points and 12 rebounds. Also contributing heavily to the Trojans comeback was Jacob Borg with 14 points and seven rebounds.
With a huge victory over the then-one-loss Panthers, the Trojans are now 5-7 on the regular season. Wakeifeld will continue its season in the upcoming week with three contests over a span of five days.
First, the Trojans will take on Lyons-Decatur Northeast at home on Tuesday, Jan. 21. After that, they’ll take to the road to battle the Tri County Northeast Wolfpack on Friday, Jan. 24, followed immediately by a contest against the Clarkson/Leigh Patriots on Saturday, Jan. 25.