Junior Brandon Hunt came off the bench in third quarter to score eight points that helped propel Gallatin to a lead they would never relinquish as the Bulldogs went on to defeat Worth County, 53-47, and earn their first Grand River Conference win of the season.
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The Tigers opened up a 20-17 lead off the second half start but Hunt quickly popped in a pair of baskets and added another low-post effort off an Isaac Mattis feed. He missed the opportunity for a three-point play but Derrick Lin rebounded the missed free throw and got the putback for a 32-26 GHS lead.
Lin added a long baseline shot to put Gallatin up by eight points but Worth County was able to narrow the gap to 38-33 with one quarter left to play.
Dexter Daniel rebounded and reversed the ball for a bucket, Lin notched a three-pointer from the baseline and Mattis added a free throw to increase the spread to 44-33.
Tiger freshman guard Travis Troutwine nearly brought his team all the way back by helping the Tigers knock nine points off the lead in a little over two minutes. Troutwine canned back-to-back treys and factoring in a low-post basket, the Tigers were back in the hunt, trailing 48-45 with under two minutes left to play.
A free throw by Hunt made it a two-possession game but senior Alex Harmening’s jumper off the dribble cut the gap to 49-47.
Single free throws by Mattis and Hunt again led to a two-possession spread. Mattis picked off a pass with 36 seconds remaining, could not convert on a layup try but took valuable seconds off the clock during the sequence. Fouled on a loose ball scramble, Mattis hit both ends of a double bonus free throw situation to close out scoring.
Lin led all scorers with 17 points. Hunt finished with 14 for the Bulldogs, who moved to 4-5 overall and 1-0 in the GRC. Daniel added eight points to the GHS total.
Monday’s snowfall, coupled with Tuesday’s high winds, played havoc with this week’s Lawson Tournament schedule. Gallatin was due to play #3 Lawson Monday night at 9 p.m. but the Dogs will now face the Cardinals at 9 p.m. tonight (Wednesday). All eight games from Monday and Tuesday will be played tonight, using both the high school and middle school gym.