by Anthony Robinson

The Trojanns found a way to win on Senior Night this past Friday, defeating the Creston Panthers 41-37.

“I thought it was a really good effort for 32 minutes,” coach Casey Pelzer said after the win, “Really the only difference was we made a few baskets. We’ve really been struggling to score on the offensive end the last couple of games, but our defensive effort has been pretty good.”

The Panthers led 21-19 at the half, but the Trojanns took a 25-23 lead early in the third quarter after a jumper in the lane by senior Alisha Hinzmann.

Atlantic built a 31-26 lead at the end of the third quarter.

Creston pulled back with-in three, but the Trojanns used field goals by seniors Tiara Edelman and Alex Hartwig to give the Trojanns a seven-point lead, 37-30.

Edelman played many quality minutes for the Trojanns on Friday night.

“Tiara Edelman stepped up and gave us some great minutes,” Pelzer said, “Alisha Hinzmann probably had one of her better games tonight…We feel more confident going deeper into our line-up.”

Hartwig led the Trojanns with 12 points Friday night.

The Panthers used a 6-0 run to get within a single-point with less than two minutes to play.

With under a minute to play, Audrey Bolinger made one of two at the line to tie the game at 37.

Hartwig made a lay-up with 50 seconds to play to give the Trojanns a two-point cushion.

Creston came up empty on their next possession and were forced to foul the Trojanns four times to put the Trojanns at the line.

With 23 seconds to play, senior Ali Krogan toed the free-throw line, but missed the front-end of the one-and-one.

The Panthers had a chance to tie or take the lead on next possession after a timeout, but senior Paige Kennon came up big with a steal in the front court and was fouled, sending the senior point guard to the line with a chance to ice the game.

Kennon went two for two at the line to seal the deal for the Trojanns.

Atlantic Scoring- Alex Hartwig-12; Liz Guttenfelder-9, Mackenzie Holmes-7, Alisha Hinzmann-4, Paige Kennon-3; Ali Krogman-2, Sam McConnell-2, Tiara Edelman-2