Eighty percent free throw effort propels GHS girls to late victory

After scoring in spurts for most of the game, Gallatin’s Lady Bulldogs closed by hitting 9 of 11 shots, including 8 of 10 free throws, and defeated Plattsburg, 49-35, in non-conference action Tuesday night. The Lady Bulldogs resume Grand River Conference play at home on Friday against Albany with records of 0-1 (conference) and 6-6 (overall).

Sophomore Trisha Sprague, who canned a career-high 22 points in the winning effort, nailed all 6 of her foul shots in the fourth quarter as the Lady Bulldogs pulled away. After mirroring Gallatin’s scoring in each of the first three quarters, Plattsburg managed just two field goals in the final 8 minutes as they fell off the pace.

Gallatin led by a basket, 33-31, when Sprague hit a layup with a minute remaining in the third period. Katie Ward drove around a screen for a bucket on the baseline to end the quarter’s scoring. Ward hit again from the field on the heels of a Brittney Hixson basket to cap an 11-2 run midway through the fourth quarter.

With three minutes left in the game and a six point cushion, the Lady Bulldogs were content to hold the ball outside and force the Lady Tigers to foul in order to get their opponents into the bonus. Gallatin had the game in hand with two minutes remaining, but caught a break when Lady Tiger leading scorer Tylynn Curl (13 points) left the game with twisted ankle. Emily Gay hit the front end of an intentional foul to give the home team a 42-33 lead, and Sprague notched a pair of free throws off the ensuing possession to put the game away with 1:46 left.

Gay finished with 10 points for Gallatin, including 5 in the opening quarter.