The recent weather has proved to have a big impact on the STC boys basketball team as of late. Over the last week, the Trojans have had three separate games postponed because of the snow, but when it let up last Thursday, the schools took advantage of it as the Solon Spartans made the trip over to the roundhouse.

Coming into the game, Solon coming into this game was ranked fourth in Class 3A and was undefeated on the season having taken down several conference opponents. The mindset for the Trojans was set on one thing, to pull off the upset at home and hand the Spartans their first loss of the season.

As the game got underway, both teams got off to slow starts offensively as the defenses stood strong. Senior Tommy Tyynismaa was the first Trojan to score on this night which helped grow South Tama’s confidence as the game progressed. Freshman Emerson Bridgewater made an impact early on defense, contesting most of Solon’s drives to the rim and grabbing rebounds. The offensive struggles continued to the end of the first quarter as it resulted in a 13-6 Spartan lead.

Unfortunately for the Trojans, it was just a matter of time before the 4th ranked Spartans got going on offense. Senior Jake Benzing was able to get to his spots and started to hit shots from mid-range, this impressive shooting also opened up open three-pointers for Solon as they increased their lead. Just as Solon started to run away with the game, the Trojans came back with a run of their own led by seniors Cade Rosenberger and James Brant to end the half down 34-22.

To start the second half the Trojans needed some fast scoring to get themselves back into the game, and that is exactly what they got. Rosenberger and Tyynismaa combined for a pair of three-pointers to lower the Spartan lead to 6 points. But even with the quick start by the Trojans, the Spartans were able to respond late in the third quarter. Senior Gehrig Turner and Rylan Stiegelmeyer of Solon were able to increase the lead back to double digits, as the Spartans closed out the game with a final score of 59-40.

Tyynismaa led South Tama in scoring in this game with 19 points, followed by Rosenberger with 10 points. With the win, Solon improved to 10-0 on the season and continues to climb up the Iowa basketball Class 3A rankings. The Trojans competed well against one of the top teams in the conference but looked to bounce back and get a win the following Thursday at home against a conference rival, the Benton Bobcats.