Troy

Troy hoops season comes to a close in one-point loss to Avondale

By Mike Moore
C & G Sports Writer

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The battles are what he’ll remember most, the constant back and forth from one game to the next in a league he considers one of the best in the state.

Dennis Koch would have liked a better record for his Troy High girls basketball team this year, and he’ll be the first to admit that.

Still, he knows the 9-12 mark the Colts finished with can be misleading, and he’ll be the first to explain that.

“When you play in the (Oakland Activities Association) Red Division, you’re facing some of the best teams in the state, with some of the best players in the state,” Koch said a day after Troy was eliminated from the Class A playoffs in a 46-45 loss to Auburn Hills Avondale in a district semifinal. “As a coach, you have to appreciate that. Every night we had to bring our best. That’s what I loved. There was that constant challenge for me and for these players to be at the top of our game.”

Avondale, which beat Troy Athens 57-32 in the district opener finished the season in a 41-32 district-final loss to Waterford Kettering.

“I was very happy with the way we played. I thought we played hard and battled, even when it seemed like we couldn’t get a break,” Koch said of the Avondale loss. “They just made a couple more plays than we did, and that was the difference.”

Now the challenge really begins, though.

Troy is set to graduate five seniors and two starters, Katy McCuish and Karin Moss.

Asked how he’s going to replace Moss, the “do-everything” star of the team, Koch laughed.

“I wish there was an easy answer,” he said. “We’ll have to do it by committee, I guess. But we’re bringing back five players, and we’ve got some good talent in that group. We’ll be all right.”
 

You can reach C & G Sports Writer Mike Moore at mmoore@candgnews.com or at (586)498-1038. Follow Mike on Twitter.