Gallatin walked away with a convincing 61-49 GRC victory Friday night
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After bombing Gallatin’s 1-2-2 zone defense for five treys in the first half, South Harrison’s sharpshooting faded while Gallatin’s solid inside-outside attack prevailed. Gallatin walked away with a convincing 61-49 GRC victory Friday night in a game that seemingly featured as many turnovers and whistles as points.
Gallatin took control during a decisive third quarter. Senior Kyle Hefley led the way, capping three buckets in the paint with a trey shot that gave Gallatin a 48-36 margin. But every Bulldog on the floor contributed as Gallatin built its lead. Andrew Adkison served notice early in the quarter, muscling against Jacob Bottcher along the baseline for a basket – one of three Adkison scored in this quarter alone.
Marcus Lacy’s bucket at the 4:29 mark in the third quarter prompted Bethany to regroup with a timeout. Lacy scored six of Gallatin’s 19 third quarter points. At another juncture, Nic Burrell nabbed a loose ball as players tumbled to the floor to set the table for a basket by Hefley. Kyle Andrew proved to be a stable substitute off the bench, and senior Jason McGee pulled down a couple of key rebounds.
South Harrison’s frustrations were fueled by turnovers and a succession of missed putback opportunities. Play got a bit rough in the fourth quarter, and went beyond the usual reactions as Bethany was forced into deliberate fouls in an attempt to save time on the clock. A technical foul was assessed against Gallatin’s Jason McGee after repeated whistles for traveling had players, coaches and fans upset.
The technical, however, as well as Bethany’s foul strategy had little impact on the outcome of the game. Gallatin hit 6 of 11 free throws in the final two minutes of play to salt away the 12-point winning margin.
Gallatin led throughout most of the contest. Bethany hit three treys in the opening stanza. But Hefley answered with a trey for Gallatin and then took a pass from Kyle Andrew to the hoop at the buzzer to give Gallatin a 17-14 first quarter lead.
The 3-point margin held up during the second quarter. The score was knotted at 26-26 when Burrell broke out of a 3-on-1 left-handed drive to the hoop to be fouled. Bethany’s Dustin Nail answered Burrell’s free throw with a 2-point basket from the wing. Then Gallatin’s McGee launched a trey, followed by Hefley’s bounce pass to Lacy for a baseline layup to account for Gallatin’s 31-28 lead at the half.