Gallatin’s girls forced Stanberry to the foul line in the closing 1:30 of Wednesday night’s Class 2, District 16 semifinal, and the black and gold Lady Bulldogs responded.
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Stanberry’s Lady Bulldogs were able to ice a 51-49 victory by using the clock to their advantage and by hitting seven of eight free throws down the stretch.
Stanberry held a 50-46 lead with 23 seconds left after GHS senior Taylor Sloan fouled out of her final game and Lily Osborn hit both sides of a two-shot foul. Gallatin’s Karley Salmon found a brief opening on the offensive end and nailed a three-point shot from the corner off a Hayley Michael assist to cut the lead in half.
Stanberry came back with one of two free throw tries. Salmon went for the win with three seconds remaining, trying to repeat her earlier success from the corner. The ball bounced high off the rim, teammate Cora Stout was able to propel a flipped rebound back toward the foul line but time expired on the game and Gallatin’s season.
The black and gold Lady Bulldogs threatened to pull away early in the fourth quarter, with a bit of luck on their side. A bad pass, kicking off a fast break, went past a SHS player, down the court to a teammate who was able to drive in all alone for a layup that put her team up, 35-28.
Gallatin battled back with a Sami Boyd trey, Salmon putback basket and Michael three-ball from the top of the key.
Gallatin led by as many as seven points, 22-15, with two minutes left in the first half. The lead changed hands eight times in the opening quarter and once, again, in the second period. Gallatin’s last lead in the game came with 3:02 remaining when Michael converted one of two tries from the charity stripe.
Salmon paced Gallatin with 19 points. Stout and Michael each contributed 10 points. Sloan notched eight points, seven rebounds and seven blocked shots.
Gallatin won 20 games this season for the first time since the 2013-14 season and first time under Head Coach Chad Sullenger.