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Trying to build on the Thursday upset victory over Trenton, Gallatin’s boys could not maintain their winning ways and fell to Lathrop, 52-38, in Friday night’s consolation final of the Hamilton Invitational Tournament.
Gallatin, the #8 seed, upended #4 Trenton, 57-51, in the loser’s bracket semifinal round
"It was a big win for us," said GHS coach Jeremy Slaughter. "I thought from the start of the game that we really played with a lot of energy," he added.
Gallatin led, 18-11, after the opening period as all GHS players who got in the game found the scoring column.
"That shows that we were patient and unselfish," said Coach Slaughter.
The Bulldogs led at the break, 26-20, after a late three-pointer from Kayle Hefley gave Gallatin some breathing room. The Bulldogs stretched their lead to 42-34 at the end of the third period, and went up by as many as 12 in the fourth after Colton Selby nailed a trey.
"We did miss several free throws at the end and Trenton got as close as two points before we clamped down and finished the game off with a baseball pass from Hefley to Andy Ward over the top of the press," Coach Slaughter stated.
Selby finished with 14 points to lead a balanced attack. Hefley popped in 12, Ward chipped in 11, Derrick Sprague contributed 8 and Jon Brown and Ben Adams each finished with 6.
Sprague led on the boards with 9 rebounds. Ward and Brown had 5 and 4 assists, respectively.
Coach Slaughter praised the play of reserve Chase Hunt, who played well off the bench.
Gallatin played Lathrop close in the early going but lost touch after runs of 11-3 and 14-0 by the Mules in the first half. A two-point second quarter did little for Bulldog chances of pulling off a second tournament upset.
Hunt made the most of his playing time by scoring a team-high 9points for the Dogs, including a pair of late three-pointers.
The third-seeded West Platte Blue Jays defeated fifth-seeded South Harrison, 61-53, to win their second straight HIT championship, and fifth HIT title in seven years.
The top two boys seeds found themselves playing for third place. Top-seeded Richmond knocked off host Hamilton, the #2 seeded team, 60-44, in that game.