The Atlantic Trojans girls basketball team kicked off Saturday night’s doubleheader against Nodaway Valley with a convincing win. The Trojans had a balanced scoring attack led by Paytn Hartr that saw three Trojans end the night with over 10 points. The defense also looked strong as they were able to limit prime scoring opportunities and forced several takeaways that resulted in fast break transitions. Atlantic was also able to use their size and rebounding to their advantage and captured their third straight victory by a final of 71-45.

The girls started the night for the Trojans. Although the Wolverines were seeking their first win, Nodaway had one of the most dominant individual producers in the state. However, it was the Trojans who got off to a great start. Atlantic started the game on an 8-0 run. However, led by Izzy Eisbach, the Wolverines answered with a 6-0 run to make it a two-point game. This would be the closest the game would be as Atlantic responded with an 11-0 run to close out the first quarter. Katrina Williams used her size to lead the scoring in the opening frame with seven points including an and-one.  Schroeder and Hartr both finished the opening frame with 6- points in what was a balanced attack for the Trojans.

The Trojans continued to press the pace in the second quarter. The second quarter was their most prolific scoring period as Atlantic was able to put up 26 points. This was in large part due to their transition game. Numerous times throughout the game Trojan defenders were able to jump passing lanes and force steals to quickly move the ball upcourt for breakaway layups. Lila Wiederstein and Zoey Kirchhoff both chipped in 3-pointers as Atlantic went to the locker room with a 45-20 lead.

Despite the large deficit, Nodaway Valley never quit. The Wolverines hit six 3-pointers in the second half, three of which came from Eisbach. However, the Trojans were more than up to the task, allowing just three other field goals during the second half. Coming into the game, Eisbach was third in the state, averaging 27.2 points per game. Although Eisbach would make her presence felt, Atlantic defended her well enough as she finished with 21 points.  Mylee Comstock also had a solid night for the Wolverines finishing with 12 points.

Although the scoring slowed down slightly for the Trojans in the second half, the offense production throughout the night was more than enough. Hartr led the game in scoring with 22 points while Schroeder finished with 19, knocking down 50% of her field goals. In addition to Williams (who finished with 13) and Wiederstein (who finished with 7) Head Coach Dan Vargason thought Schroeder was a key part of the Trojans balanced attack.

Vargason was also pleased with the aggressiveness of the defense.

The victory marks three in a row for the Trojans, as one of Vargason’s biggest takeaways was his team’s ability to play with consistency.

Atlantic will be back at home on Tuesday when they take on Kuemper Catholic.