It was a long, as in 176 miles each way, for the Alberton Panthers and Lady Panthers, who journeyed to Troy for a pair of games this past Friday night.

And Troy turned out to be a not-so-welcoming host as they swept the Alberton boys (64-35) and girls (76-33) in non-conference basketball action. Saturday the Alberton boys traveled to Kalispell for a non-conference game versus Flathead Valley Home School and were beaten by the Crusaders 60-31. 

Troy trailed 25-13 at the half, then were outscored 35-18 in the second half in the loss. 

The boys fell behind Troy 20-10 after one quarter of play and could never catch up.  The host Trojans outscored Alberton 20-4 in the second quarter to build a 40-14 halftime lead. 

The Panthers played better in the second half but could not climb out of the deep hole they entered in the first half.  Troy outscored the Panthers 24-21 in the second half to secure the 64-35 victory, which dropped Alberton to 1-3 on the young season. 

It was pretty much the same outcome for the Lady Panthers, who found themselves down 19-14 after quarter number one.  Troy added 12 points to their lead in the second quarter and entered halftime with a 39-22 advantage. 

Troy kept up the defensive pressure in the second half, holding Alberton to nine points in the third quarter and two points in the fourth period to lock up the 76-33 victory. 

The players scored for Troy, led by Addyson Fisher’s 15 points.  A bright spot for Alberton was the game-high 16 points scored by Arya Ray. 

Alberton closes out its pre-break schedule with a road game this Thursday (Dec 19) at Plains.  They return to their home court at Alberton High Saturday for a contest against Lincoln.