The Noxon Red Devils, first in their conference, defeated Troy at home last Saturday, 54-42.

"I couldn't be more pleased with how hard we're playing and competing," said coach Tony Smith, adding "we're just not playing very smart."

Smith said unforced errors were a big part of the problem.

"We're trying to force the ball in the offense instead of being patient," he said. "But in terms of our effort, it has been really quite superb."

Although Troy came within five points of Noxon at the half, the Red Devils pulled ahead of Troy in an 11-to-0 run in the middle of the third quarter.

Although Aaron Palmer led in scoring with 21 points, with Jesse Day contributed 10, the Trojans could not take the lead.

Still, Smith noted Palmer's 15 rebounds and point guard Jesse Day's hard work.

"We've had some good individual efforts," said Smith. "Aaron Palmer played superbly Saturday night. He was just a monster on the board.

Jesse Day stepped up and showed the kind of leadership we need," Smith added. "He spends an extra hour in the gym every night and it really shows."

Shado Garrett and Brian Hammrich also contributed four points a piece.

Regarding Troy's loss to undefeated Plains last Thursday, Smith was optimistic.

"We played them tough for three quarters," said Smith. "The game was a lot closer than what the score indicated."

"On Thursday night, Shado Garrett defended a kid that absolutely killed us last year, and Shado held him to six points - so we were very pleased with that."

Smith said the team needs to improve offensively to make headway.

"Our defense was really solid, but we have to find more scoring from one of our kids," he said. "We need someone to step up and score more points."

Despite their 0-6 season, Smith is optimistic.

"When you start out struggling, you really learn the character of your kids. I'm finding out now that I really, really appreciate their character. I know that they aren't going to fall apart down the stretch because they continue to work hard," he said.

"Confidence in their offense just takes some time. It's going to take a season's worth of effort to do this. We simply need to be more aggressive on offense."

Looking ahead to Mission (Jan 4) and Arlee (Jan 5) at home, Smith is hoping for a win.

"Those are two teams that are like us - they're young," he said. "Mission is very well coached. We're looking forward to it," he said, adding "what I saw against two very good teams (Plains and Noxon), is that our effort was outstanding and as long as our effort is there our chances are really good for the future."