There were a couple of goals William Chrisman boys basketball coach Jake Kates set for his team before the season started.

No. 1, he wanted the Bears to be 6-2 before Christmas break. Going into Friday’s game, Chrisman was 2-4, so that checkbox will remain empty. However, Kates’ team did meet its second goal of recapturing the Three Trails Trophy by beating crosstown rival Truman 66-53 at Truman High School.

That goal didn’t come easy as Truman played an excellent first half in which it outscored Chrisman 17-10 in the first quarter and led 34-29 going into halftime. The Patriots were able to build a lead thanks to strong 3-point shooting in the first quarter and points in the paint in the second off the fast break and driving layups.

Kates knew his team was going to have to put forth a much better defensive effort in the second half, and that’s exactly what happened. Chrisman held Truman (2-5) to just 5-for-16 shooting (31.2 percent). It also didn’t help the Patriots’ cause that they shot 5-for-11 from the free throw line (45 percent).

“We knew coming in they wanted to catch and shoot, that’s their strength,” Chrisman coach Jake Kates. “We knew that and allowed that in the first half. We made the adjustment at halftime and got into them a little bit. That’s all we had to do. Our guys played so hard in the second half.”

Added Truman coach Rod Briggs: “We didn’t shoot it well in the second half and we missed some free throws. We missed a lot of open shots and on defense, we didn’t guard the ball well and allowed a lot of easy drives.”

Meanwhile, Chrisman got it going on offense after Truman’s Sam Billimon hit a step-back 3-pointer from the left corner to make it 37-29 to begin the third.

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