12-10-2018
BY JACK BULLOCK
WAYNE CITY – Sometimes entering a second contest against a team that you defeated handily the first time, being focused in the early parts of the first quarter can be difficult.

But h ead coach Jeff Herrmann got his Gallatin County team ready heading into Monday night's game against Grayville at the 65th annual Conrad Allen Wayne City Holiday Tournament.

The Hawks imposed their will in the early going, forcing five consecutive Bison turnovers in the first five chances.

They turned all of the mistakes into points as they cruised to an early 11-0 advantage in route to a 81-46 victory in the opening game of the second session of the longstanding high school hoops' event.

Behind a overall defensive effort that forced 16-first half turnovers, GC took a 46-21 halftime lead.

Gallatin County senior Audie Goebel led the Hawks with 21-points while senior Garrett Rushing added 14.

The Hawks also got 10 points and six rebounds from sophomore Gunner Wilson as nine Hawks “feathered the scoring nest” in the victory that improved the club to 2-0 in Pool B and 8-2 overall.

They made things difficult on Coach Brian Hucker's Grayville team.

Grayville began the game against the Hawks' press and didn't score until almost four minutes were gone in the first quarter.

The Bison trailed 25-7 at the end of the first quarter and never threatened in dropping to 0-2 in Pool B and 1-5 overall.

Brayden Hatcher, a 6-foot-1 sophomore, was a bright spot for the Bison cause as he poured in a game-high 26-points while grabbing five rebounds.

However none of his other teammates scored double-digits.
Sophomore Cole Neely added seven for Grayville.

“The boys played really hard tonight and we were able to get the bench rotated through. We did a good job of attacking the goal,” said Coach Herrmann. “We had some issues on defense, especially with Hatcher. He's a good player. He had 20-points on us last time and he probably had that many tonight.”

After the Hawks' Rushing and Prince combined to make 3-of-4 free throws to open the scoring, Goebel scored three consecutive baskets on a steal and lay in and two straight drives down the lane.

Goebel then dished inside to Rushing for a score and it was 11-0.

Goebel padded the stat sheet with two more scores, including a conventional three-point play.

When junior guard Brock Seely scored on an inbounds play, Gallatin led 25-7 at the end of the first.

The Hawks basically put the outcome to rest with a 12-0 run in the middle part of the second quarter.

Goebel and Rushing each scored twice and senior Dawson Hish added a basket.

Junior guard Will Henson tossed in two free throws in the run, which ended with a Rushing fast break lay in and a 40-14 lead with 2:35 to go.

Hatcher proved to be tough to stop for Gallatin County as this sophomore scored twice in the second quarter, including a drive to close the half.

He then added nine more points in the third quarter but the Bison didn't make much of a dent in the margin as Goebel added two more buckets and Seely canned a 3-pointer to make it 59-34 heading to the fourth quarter.

One more run of significance, an 8-0 march, pushed the game into the 30-point mercy rule.

Senior Michael Valez scored eight-points for the Hawks and he added a score in the run as Henson.

Sophomore Case Rister scored on a drive in the lane and two free throws by Wilson gave the Hawks a 73-40 advantage with 4:03 left.

Gallatin County was very good offensively in the contest as the numbers demonstrate.

The Hawks lit up the scoreboard by nailing 33-of-52 shots overall (63.4 percent) from the floor.

Gallatin County hit the boards for a 29-18 advantage, which included nine-offensive rebound.

Grayville ended up 20-of-46 from the floor (43.4 percent).

The Hawks will face North Clay on Friday night at 6 pm.

A win over the Cardinals will put Coach Herrmann's crew in the Saturday night title title against the winner of Pool A.

“We got a bit lackadaisical in the third quarter but our goal coming into the game was to put the pressure on them,” said Coach Herrmann. “We know the next two games are going to have more intensity to them.”

Three Crab Orchard players led the way with Tony Lokotich, a 5-foot-10 junior, and 6-foot sophomore Kegan Peek tossing in 19-points each for the Trojans.

Peek helped out on the glass with six boards.

Six-foot-one junior Hunter Throgmorton added 16-points and five rebounds for the winners.

Cisne and head coach Kevin Bowen saw its mark slip to 0-2 in the tournament and 1-6 overall despite 15-points from 6-foot sophomore Brenden Potter and 12-points from 6-foot-4 sophomore Connor Brach.

North Clay improved to 4-3 overall with the win as they defensively pitched a shutout in the second quarter, outscoring the Trojans' 9-0 and taking a 24-10 halftime lead.

The Cardinals were led by senior Aleon Rinehart with 16-points while sophomore Ethan Bible added 10.

Webber Township dropped to 0-2 in Pool B and 2-7 overall.

No Trojans' player finished with double-figures in scoring.

Junior Dalton Adcock scored nine-points while Kaiden Taylor tossed in eight.