01-29-16
BY JACK BULLOCK
HARRISBURG - Head coach Doug Miller and his young Gallatin County Hawks have come a long way since opening their 2015-16 season 0-6.

Dropping five straight games at the Grayville Thanksgiving Tournament and then a loss to nemesis Eldorado, GC was learning things the hard way.

But as the Hawks got more experience, the team began to mature on the court.

After Friday night's 60-42 win over Galatia, the Hawks are in position to win the Greater Egyptian Conference Tournament title for the second time in three years.

“That (GEC tournament championship) was one of the goals we set and we obviously struggled early in the year with these young kids. But they have grown immensely and Seth Ramsey has been a great mentor to them,” said Coach Miller. “They are buying into the program and they are listening and learning. They had no idea how difficult high school basketball is compared to junior high. I'm proud of our guys.”

Coach Miller's club played a great first half of basketball and overcame everything that Galatia could throw at them in the second half to post the 18-point win that was never in doubt.

Championship ball clubs take advantage of their situations.

Gallatin County made the most of the Bearcats foul trouble, especially when Galatia was forced to foul in the final quarter.

The Hawks were a proficient 23-of-27 from the line (85.1 percent) as they moved to 11-12 on the season.

Gallatin County will face Crab Orchard, who bested top-seed NCOE in the second semifinal game played at SIC in Harrisburg.

The junior leader on this club is Seth Ramsey, a 5-foot-11 guard and top-gun.

On Friday night, Ramsey poured in 23-points for the Hawks with most of his damage coming from drives to the basket.

He also was part of the free throw parade that produced a lot of easy points as he nailed all six of his charity tosses.

Two other Gallatin County players hit for double-digits in the win.

Six-foot-two freshman forward Audie Goebel added 12-points for Gallatin County and he converted 12-of-12 from the foul line.

Another of the freshman, 5-foot-11 guard Robbie Prince, was royal from the line as well netting 11-points with 7-of-8 coming from the stripe.

Senior Logan Lane added eight-points to the 18-point win.

For Galatia head coach Kendall Hankins, he saw the effort from his club but not the result that he had hoped for.

Six-foot-two senior Austin Stricklin led the scoring for Galatia with 18-points as he was the only 'Cat in double-figures.

Looking at the shooting figures by comparison, the Bearcats fell short in all offensive categories.

They didn't shoot the ball well on the night, hitting just 15-of-43 overall and were just 4-of-12 from beyond the 3-point line.

“Our intensity was a lot better in the second half. We didn't shoot the ball well, especially in the second quarter (1-of-11) but the kids never gave up,” said Coach Hankins. “The execution was better in the second half. Gallatin County did a great job shooting free throws. That will win you a lot of games.”

While Gallatin County was converting at the foul line, the Bearcats were a “bust” from the stripe, making just 9-of-20

Galatia is now 5-9 on the season as they will face NCOE on Saturday night in the third place game.

“They (Galatia) have three pretty good scorers and we focused on them. We challenged our guys to stay in front of them and if someone beat you off the dribble there will be someone there to help,” said Coach Miller. “We had great help defense tonight. We have stressed that since last summer. Defense will help us win.”

After dispatching number-two seed Hardin County on Tuesday night, the seventh-seeded Bearcats were looking for a championship appearance but the Hawks would have nothing to do with any upset bid.

Gallatin County broke the only tie of the game (2-2) with three consecutive baskets all coming on drives to the goal.

Ramsey, Goebel and Lane all scored in the lane in this run with Lane converting a fast break lay in for an 8-2 lead which forced the first of three Galatia timeouts in the first half.

Galatia would get to within two-points once in the first quarter before the Hawks flew away.

Sean Mondino and Kody Mathews, two junior players, each scored points in the first quarter and when Mathews grabbed his own rebound for a stick-back with 1:16 left, the 'Cats were down just 10-8.

That was as close as the game would get the rest of the way.

Senior Brody Watts grabbed a rebound for the Hawks and converted a three-point play while being fouled by Stricklin.

After the Bearcats' fifth turnover of the quarter, the Hawks held the ball for a final shot and they got a drive to the basket by Prince who spun in the lane for a bank shot that found the mark for a 15-8 lead after one.

An 11-0 sprint to begin the second stanza put Coach Miller's bunch in control.

Ramsey started the run with a steal and fast break score and senior Patrick Clark got in on the fun with a rebound basket.

Goebel padded his stats as did Lane in the scoring run.

Lane made another steal and lay up in transition and when Prince made 1-of-2 free throws, the lead had expanded to 26-8.

The Bearcats only bucket of the quarter was a lay in from sophomore Brody Mitchell.

After that basket, Gallatin County put the finishing touches on the first half of dominance with six more points; with Ramsey hitting two more free throws and scoring on a 3-pointer from the left corner on an inbounds play.

Despite two missed free throws by Lane with :03 left, the Hawks were in complete control at 33-10 at the half.

Galatia's best run of the game opened the second half, as they went on a 15-4 jaunt.

Stricklin scored seven of the points in the run and when his teammates Mathews and Devyn Verbeck both hit a 3-pointers, Galatia had cut the deficit to just 37-23.

That was as close as the contest got as Coach Miller burned a timeout during the run to settle down his young Hawks and they responded to close out the quarter with a run over their own.

Gallatin County scored eight more points, four from the foul line, and led 45-27 heading to the fourth.

“They (Gallatin County) are very strong with the ball. We can improve on this game, we had a lot of turnovers going to the basket. We just have to be stronger with the ball,” said Coach Hankins.

The stamped their ticket to the title game on Saturday from the foul line, converting 11-consecutive free throws to ice the win.

The Hawks finished 18-of-45 from the field, which was not a great performance.

Nevertheless, Gallatin County more than made up for the missed FG's with their high percentage from the FT line.

The Hawks held 29-25 rebounding edge and committed just 11-turnovers, with seven of those coming in the second half after the outcome was determined.

“The guys know their roles. That is how we have been successful this season,” said Coach Miller. “The guys kind of relaxed in the third quarter but we have to play hard the whole game. I want them to think of the game being tied or we are behind. Always play like the score is zero-zero. Play as hard as you can for as long as you can.”

Behind the usual 3-point onslaught, Coach Jon Brown's club dialed long distance in setting their reservation for the title game with a win over the top-seed Norris City-Omaha-Enfield on Friday night.

Land Hutson tossed in 24-points as the Trojans made seven 3-pointers in their conquest of the Fighting Cardinals.

Three other players; Hunter Franklin, Caleb Vaughn and Amos Beasley added 14, 13 and 10 respectively in a game in which they scored 41-points in the first half.

This balanced scoring overshadowed NCOE's Chase Sutton who lead all scoreres with 30-points.

Dakota Bond added 11-points for the Cards who dropped into the third place game.

Crab Orchard (71) – Hutson 4 3 7-8 24, Stephens 0 2 0-0 6, Vaughn 2 2 0-0 10, Ferrell 0 0 2-2 2, Franklin 4 0 6-7 14, Beasley 5 0 3-4 13, Schell 1 0 0-0 2.
2FG-16, 3FG-7, FT-18-21 PF-14.
Norris City-Omaha-Enfield (58) – N. Sutton 2 0 0-0 4, Niehaus 0 0 3-4 3, Bond 3 1 2-2 11, C. Sutton 12 0 6-8 30, Wells 0 0 0-0 0, Neal 1 0 0-0 2, Delap 4 0 0-1 8.
2FG-22, 3FG-1, FT-11-15, PF-17.
Fouled Out – None.
Technical Fouls – None.

Coach Pete Gordon's team got 17-points from junior Jared Payne and 12 from freshman James Compton in the victory.

Thompsonville (7-14) lead just 15-14 at the half but pulled away by outscoring Pope County 31-12 in the last 16 minutes.

Pope County (5-17) was topped by Jacob Floyed with eight-points in the loss.

Pope County (26) – Harris 2 0 1-2 5, Z. Fasolo 0 0 1-2 1, Walker 2 0 0-2 4, Jo. Floyd 0 1 0-0 3, Ja. Floyd 3 0 2-2 8, Bramlett 0 0 0-0 0, Blankenship 0 0 0-2 0, Davis 0 0 0-0 0, S. Fasolo 0 1 0-0 3, Campbell 1 0 0-0 2, Wallace 0 0 0-2 0, Rison 0 0 0-0 0, Grider 0 0 0-0 0.
2FG-8, 3FG-2, FT-4-12, PF-15
Thompsonville (48) – Kessler 0 0 3-4 3, Compton 4 0 4-4 12, Payne 5 0 7-8 17, Darge 0 0 1-2 1, Raubach 0 1 0-0 3, Bybee 0 0 0-0 0, Dixon 0 0 0-0 0, Jones 0 0 0-0 0, Darnell 2 0 2-2 6, Wilce 1 1 1-2 6, Lunde 0 0 0-0 0, Cardwell 0 0 0-0 0.
2FG-12, 3FG-2, FT-18-22, PF-13.
Fouled Out – None.
Technical Fouls – None.