Trojans Looking for First Win

The winless Lely Trojans had their work cut out for them in the 22nd Don Stewart Shoot-out Friday night at First Baptist Academy, facing a tough St. Brendan squad from Miami. After trailing by 10 points or more for the entire game, the Trojans battled back and whittled the Sabres lead to three points, 60-57, with 2:28 left when center Conor Peyton drove the lane and was fouled while scoring. Peyton missed his free throw and in a madcap final two and a half minutes, the Trojans battled, but came up short, 65-60.

The very first Lely basketball team in the mid-1970s went winless. Veteran head coach Fritz Jacques will make sure this Trojan team does not meet the same fate. In fact, Jacques believes his Trojans will be a tough out once districts roll around later this winter.

“We’re going to be ready for districts,” Fritz Jacques promises, "I’ll put it like this: people don’t want to draw our card for the districts. Even though our record don’t show nothing, they know we’re going to come out and compete. Play hard as possible.”

Jacques’ teams have a reputation for athleticism and all-out defensive hustle. That’s one thing that doesn’t change from year to year. This year, however, Jacques is missing his three star players from last season, two of which were Division One type athletes. This year his top two players are juniors.

“The boys, they’re competitive,” Jacques said following the game. “They play hard. My two star players are juniors: Mark Belizaire and Dave Louidor. The last time I had that it was a tough time for us. We’re just learning. We lost three very important roles last year. But that’s life. Next man up. That’s where these kids are at.”

Senior move-in Peyton was turning some heads in the FBA gym Friday night, scoring 19 points to lead the Trojans.

"Conor Peyton, he’s new to us,” Jacques said. "A senior. He’s from Illinois. That boy, he’s active. He’s scrappy. It took him a while to learn the plays. He’s getting it now. He’s understanding what I’m all about. He’s helping us. We’ve got Kayke Lopes, he’s going to be a star in this area, he’s a sophomore. He’s learning from Conor. Our two big men. I call them our twin towers. He’s got skills. He’s just got to get his mind right. And they’re doing that. They’re doing everything I ask. I’ve gotta change some things up. I’ve got to continue to teach and develop.”

In Friday’s game, Lely faced a team that lives and dies from the three-point line. On this night they were living off of their three pointers. They also played an aggressive brand of defense—much like the Trojans.

“Great coach,” Jacques said. "Played defense. Scrappy. Got on the floor. They’re not very big.”

The loss drops Lely to 0-8. St. Brendan improves to 13-3. Jacques continues to preach hard work to his squad.

“Tonight, my whole speech to them was, ‘When you’re on the court you work,” Jacques said. "When you’re on the bench, you bring energy. When we were down, the bench kept bringing energy. We’ve just got to find a way to finish."