By Cooper Zablocki

The Atlantic Trojans dominated the Red Oak Tigers with a score of 61 to 33 Tuesday night in their first home game.  The Trojans came out on fire and they kept that momentum all through the game, especially during the third quarter, when the Trojans put on a show.  The Trojans played stellar defense, and had an impressive offensive showing.  Coach Alan Jenkins said he was happy and excited for the kids after their first victory.  The boys play the Creston Panthers on Friday, their second home game of the season.

Junior Nick Podhajsky scored the first points of the game and also had two dazzling 3-pointers in the first quarter.  He ended with 11 points.  The lead scorer for the Trojans was sophomore Ryan Hawkins, with 18 points.  Hawkins consistently found ways to get the ball in the hoop.  At 2:30 left in the third quarter, Hawkins alone was outscoring the Tigers, who only had 17 points on the board.  Junior Joey Walker and freshman Garrett Franken both had 10 points. Franken also had a monster block in the second quarter that had the student section all riled up.

Jenkins noticed many improvements in the Trojans this go around. “They were more aggressive offensively,” said the first-year coach. The Trojans also rebounded better and made the Tigers pay for their offensive errors, Jenkins stated.  Overall he thought they played hard, making good things happen.

The Trojans forced many turnovers, especially in the third quarter when they scored 26 points. Many of those were easy buckets, created from turnovers.  During the third quarter Jenkins worked in some subs.  This was a change from last year, when Coach Steve Blazek rarely subbed players.

The Trojans spread their points between eight players, with seniors Michael Thompson and Adam Weiser, junior Tristen Benn, and sophomore Kyle Nelson all adding to the Trojans total.

The student section chanted “Start the buses,” with 30 seconds left in the game.  Hopefully, they’ll be tired of chanting that by the end of the season.