01-26-13
BY JACK BULLOCK
HARRISBURG –

Mind-boggling!

The Hawks drilled three opponents by a combined 201-70 to win the annual event for the second straight season.

The title game was a mere formality as Coach Robert “Radar” Patton's club jumped out to an early lead and demolished rival Carrier Mills, 68-24, in a game that wasn't even that close.

Andrew Drone continued his dominance in the paint, scoring 32-points and grabbing 13-rebounds.

All of those numbers were accumulated in just three quarters of play as the matchup was well in hand when Coach Patton emptied his bench heading into the final quarter.

“I've said this about him (Drone) for four years now, I don't think he gets enough credit for how good he is,” said Coach Patton, referring to the 7-foot Drone who is going to Division I Rice University next fall for a basketball scholarship.
“I heard when he was a freshman and a sophomore that he 'was slow' and then the last two years that he 'is just big.' He can play! He has good hands and he has good footwork.”

As for the Wildcats, things couldn't have gone any worse.

Falling behind early and not being able to convert the open looks that they got, Coach Mark Motsinger's team never made a run.

Carrier Mills was 7-of-42 from the floor (16.6 percent) and 1-of-11 from 3-point land.

Not the sort of numbers that a team would need if they were to pull a monumental upset.

The Hawks, on the other hand, were much more than efficient.

Gallatin County hit 28-of-63 (44.4 percent) from the field, 5-of-13 (38.3 percent) from behind the arc.

Senior guard Daine Hish was the long range marksmen on this night for the Hawks, hitting all five of those made treys.

In fact the 5-foot-11 lefty helped get the Hawks flying high in the first quarter, draining a pair of long shots. His second one from the top of the circle gave Gallatin County an 11-2 lead.

“Every big game we have played in during his high school career, Daine (Hish) has had a big game,” added Coach Patton. “I told Coach (Doug) Miller before the game that Hish would have a big game tonight, and he did.”

Drone got loose in the paint for a pair of dunks in the first half and his rebound of his own missed shot turned into a conventional three-point play and a 20-4 lead at the end of the first quarter.

The Wildcats hit just 1-of-11 first quarter attempts and the cold shooting continued the rest of the contest.

Drone added 12-points to his totals in the second quarter, hitting three consecutive hook shots in the lane over would-be Carrier Mills defenders.

Six turnovers in the second quarter by the Wildcats, 14 for the game, added to the dilemma for Coach Motsinger.

By the time Drone nailed his third shot in a row, Gallatin led 34-15 at the break.

“When Hish starts hitting 3's and you try to double-down on Drone and the others, it is tough,” said Coach Motsinger. “Our overall lack of size hurt us. Shots would go up and we couldn't get the reboounds. We can handle teams that have one big kid, but when you have three big kids and one kid isn't just big, he is BIG! It makes it that much tougher.”

It didn't get better for Carrier Mills in the second half.

Coach Patton, after seeing his club sleep through the end of the second quarter, pushed his club to do better in the third quarter.

This strategy worked.

The Hawks came out firing away, with Hish padding his numbers with three more long range bombs.

Following a Drone basket to open the second half and a basket on a drive by Patrick Lowe, Hish dialed up long-distance on back-to-back possessions.

The second bomb forced a Carrier Mills timeout at 44-15.

Sophomore guard Darren Betz scored the only field goal of the quarter for Carrier Mills and a free throw by another sophomore Gabe Motsinger made it 46-18.

Gallatin County scored the next 17-points in the last 3:57 of the third frame.

Hish dropped another long range missile through the net and Drone hit two more shots in the lane.

Junior guard Mitchell Ramsey got in on the fun with a steal and fast break lay in before Coach Patton 'called off the dogs” and went to his reserves with :30.1 left.

With Drone leading the way, the Hawks ruled the paint with a whopping 41-24 edge in rebounding.

In scoring, following Drone and Hish was Lowe with seven.

The Hawks even played short handed as senior guard Anthony Sorto sat out because a concussion.

For the Wildcats senior forward Cameron Taborn finished with eight points while Betz ended up with six.

Carrier Mills saw its mark slip to 10-11 while the Hawks improved to an impressive 18-2.

The two teams head back into GEC play with a game against each other on Tuesday night at Carrier Mills.

“We came out and played really well defensively and I'm very proud of the effort,” said Coach Patton. “Give them (Carrier Mills) credit. They are a nice ballclub, very well coached and they play hard. We shot well tonight and played well.”

Carrier Mills (24) – Taborn 4 0 0-0 8, Bailey 1 0 0-2 2, Summer 0 0 0-0 0, Figg 0 0 4-6 4, Betz 1 0 4-7 6, Motsinger 0 0 1-4 1, Whiting 0 1 0-0 3, Gabbard 0 0 0-0 0.
2FG-6, 3FG-1, FT-9-19, PF-11.
Gallatin County (68) – Hish 1 5 0-0 17, Lowe 2 0 3-4 7, W. McGuire 0 0 1-2 1, Drone 15 0 2-4 32, Ramsey 1 0 0-0 2, Jackson 1 0 0-0 2, Belford 0 0 0-0 0, Russell 2 0 0-0 4, Scates 1 0 1-1 3, Z. McGuire 0 0 0-0 0.
2FG-23, 3FG-5, FT-7-11, PF-14.
Fouled Out – None.
Technical Fouls – None.

NCOE hit 27-of-38 free throws in the victory.

Thompsonville (48) – Householder 3 4 0-1 18, Williams 1 0 1-2 3, R. Darnell 3 0 3-8 9, L. Darnell 2 0 0-1 4, Hensen 3 0 0-0 6, McRoy 0 0 0-0 0, Clark 0 0 0-0 0, Payne 0 1 0-0 3, Parkhill 0 1 2-2 5, Costello 0 0 0-0 0, Kerley 0 0 0-0 0.
2FG-12, 3FG-6, FT-5-13, PF-26.
Norris City-Omaha-Enfield (63) – Sutton 2 0 5-9 9, Taylor 2 0 3-4 7, Martin 2 0 7-9 11, Karnes 2 0 2-2 6, Tucker 2 2 6-8 16, Wheeler 5 0 4-6 14.
2FG-15, 3FG-2, FT-27-38, PF-15.
Fouled Out – Williams, Hensen - Thompsonville; Martin - NCOE.
Technical Fouls – None.

Hardin County (24) – Robinson 0 0 1-4 1, Conn 0 0 0-0 0, Austin 3 0 2-2 8, Hicks 2 0 2-2 6, Vaughn 2 0 0-0 4, Winters 1 0 1-1 3, Brooks 0 0 0-0 0, Dutton 1 0 2-4 4, Rose 0 0 0-0 0.
2FG-8, 3FG-0, FT-8-13, PF-12.
Pope County (37) – Thompson 2 1 4-4 11, Wise 4 0 1-7 9, Delap 0 0 0-0 0, Rison 2 0 1-2 5, Cockrum 4 0 0-0 8, Schuchardt 0 1 0-0 3, Ward 0 0 1-3 1, Ferguson 0 0 0-0 0, Bramlett 0 0 0-0 0, Buxton 0 0 0-0 0, Simmons 0 0 0-0 0, Harris 0 0 0-0 0, Fasolo 0 0 0-0 0, Hill 0 0 0-0 0.
2FG-12, 3FG-2, FT-7-16, PF-12.
Fouled Out – None.
Technical Fouls – Conn - Hardin County.