The Community R-6 boys encountered a tough test in their season opener on Saturday.

The Trojans lost 57-21 to district foe Christian Fellowship in the Gary Filbert Classic in Mexico. They lost 83-23 to the same school last season.

Head coach Chris Ellersieck said the Trojans (0-1) were “outmanned” as Christian Fellowship shot the ball well, with one player hitting five 3-pointers in the first half. Jake Davis led the Knights (2-0) with 16 points and won the player of the game award, and Brett Conklin had 10 points. 

“We’re getting better as we competed with them in the first quarter,” Ellersieck said. “Our team is still learning a lot about each other and a lot about me. They beat us by 60 last year, and we cut that in half. There has been some improvement.”

Rett Curtis led Community with six points, KaTavyn Wheeler followed with five points and Clayton Eikel had four points.

Ellersieck said the Trojans shouldn’t be “discouraged” as Christian Fellowship is a good team in the district. They didn’t shoot the ball well, turned it over too much and allowed too many offensive rebounds, which is usually “a recipe for a tough night.”

“We need to do a better job of running our zone offense,” Ellersieck said. “Part of that is on me. We need to understand how to still play with a sense of urgency and a sense of patience. That’s a hard balance to understand in high school. We’ll figure it out.”