Gallatin’s 55-38 conference win over Worth County on Friday lifted the Bulldogs above the .500 mark (5-4) in January for the first time since 2007. The Bulldogs also found themselves in possession of their first three-game winning streak since that same season.
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Gallatin never trailed after the second quarter and padded an advantage that grew to double figures in the second half.
The Bulldogs, following this week’s Lawson Tournament, have a chance to build some momentum in the Grand River Conference when they take on Polo and Albany next week on the road.
Scorers for Gallatin were: Kale Hefley 17, Colton Selby 12, Ben Adams 9, Jason Moore 6, Bobby Rhoades 5, Derrick Sprague 4 and Matt Pottorff 2.
The Bulldogs avenged a three-point loss in the Gallatin Tournament consolation title-game by defeating Gilman City, 84-79, in overtime last Thursday night at GCHS.
The Bulldogs are scoring more points than a year ago, and they needed all they could get against a hard-charging Hawk team intent upon a come-from-behind win.
A back-and-forth game of streaks saw the Bulldogs shoot well in the first quarter and Hawks hit their shots in the second. Gallatin led, 27-9, out of the gate but Gilman fought back with a 21-8 second quarter advantage.
"They are tough at home and never quit,"said GHS coach Jeremy Slaughter. "They just kept coming back every time we made a run," he added.
The third period proved pivotal when the Hawks got into some foul trouble. The Bulldogs were able to pound the ball inside to Derrick Sprague, who "got a lot of their guys in foul trouble," said Slaughter.
A fourth quarter run cut the gap to five points when Sprague and Colton Selby each picked up their fourth personal fouls. Missed free throws in overtime did not prevent a Bulldog victory thanks to some heads-up plays. Gallatin hit only 15 of 42 foul line attempts on the night.
"Jason Moore had a big offensive rebound and put back after a missed free throw," Coach Slaughter said. "Colton Selby had two steals on outlet passes after missed free throws, so I really thought that our kids did not quit even though those missed free throws could have really gotten to us," he added.
Coach Slaughter also handed out kudos to Kale Hefley, who hit 15 of his 32 points in the first quarter alone. "We got great efforts from Bobby Rhoades, Matt Pottorff, Ben Adams and Vince Wiley, as well," Slaughter added.
Both teams placed four players in double figures; Bulldog scorers included: Hefley 32, Selby 20, Sprague 16, Adams 10, Rhoades 3, Moore 2 and Wiley 1.
Bryant Elder paced the Hawks with 19 points, followed by Taylor Eoff, Nick Wilson and Mason Ward with 13 each.