Tuesday night proved to be an agonizing one for Gallatin basketball teams at the Hamilton Invitational Tournament, and the #3 seed proved to be the jinx on both sides of the bracket.
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Gallatin’s #3 seeded girls stumbled on their way to a rematch against Hamilton in Thursday night’s semifinal round, falling to #6 Braymer in an upset, 49-46. The Lady Bulldogs came out flat Tuesday night and turned in an uneven performance that put them in today’s (Wednesday) 4:30 p.m. consolation semifinal against #7 Richmond.
One night earlier, Richmond’s #3 boys dropped their tournament opener to #6 Trenton in what was a rematch of a Lawson Tournament contest that ended in Richmond’s favor.
Both girls’ teams suffered sluggish starts Tuesday night. Gallatin led, 7-5, after the first quarter but slipped in the hole, 24-16, by half time. Megan Cox’s three-pointer gave the Lady Bulldogs a 12-7 lead at the 6:26 mark of the second period but her team would add only four points more up to the break.
The Lady Bobcats extended their lead to 28-16 early in the third quarter but Gallatin rallied behind a Hayley Michael trey and buckets by Kelsey Maxwell, Cora Stout and Karley Salmon. Gallatin opened the fourth quarter with a Salmon 3-ball and Michael layup off a Courtney Shubert steal and assist. Maxwell muscled in a shot underneath to tie the game at 31-31 but Kelsey Stone answered with a trey to put the Lady Bobcats back in front.
Gallatin chipped away at a 37-31 deficit, beginning with a pair of Cox free throws. Maxwell buried a 12-foot shot on the baseline to close the gap to 38-37 but Stone again answered with a trey from the wing. Salmon’s three-pointer on the other end made it a one point game but Stone, absent in the two teams’ meeting back in the Gallatin Tournament, nailed a two-pointer for the Lady Cats.
Trailing by just one possession, 45-42, Gallatin shooters at the foul line missed four consecutive tries inside the final 1:40. Braymer fared a little better in the closing moments, cashing in on only 2-of-5 attempts from the stripe, but those two successful free throws made it a two-possession game in the final seconds.
Salmon, who led her team with 17 points, hit a shot ahead of the buzzer to account for the final 49-46 margin. Maxwell finished with 11 for the Lady Bulldogs, who combined to shoot 36% from the field and 30% from the foul line.
Hamilton boys 71, Gallatin 56
Gallatin’s #7 boys tip off tonight at 9 p.m. against Richmond following Tuesday night’s gutsy, 71-56, loss to #2 Hamilton.
The Bulldogs led early on, 15-5, and trailed by only two points at the half, but the Hornets got their bearings in the second half and went on a 42-29 scoring surge.
Gallatin worked for a 5-0 lead off the tip on a trey by Jett Simmons and two-pointer from Aidan Adkison. A second 3-ball from Simmons, bucket and free throw from Colin Beck set the Dogs up, 11-2, with three minutes left in the first period.
Hamilton finished the first half on a 16-8 run to take the lead. The Bulldogs trailed by as many as 13 points and by as few as seven late in the third period. A Simmons trey and Beck chip shot closed the gap to 51-46 with 6:43 to play. Simmons, Adkison, Beck and Tristen Gibson contributed Bulldogs buckets the rest of the way.
Simmons finished with 24 points on 47% overall shooting. Beck added 13 points and grabbed nine of his team’s 19 rebounds, including eight on the defensive end.
PICTURE: Janee Filbeck tries to force a jump ball with Braymer’s Kelsey Stone.; Tristen Gibson looks to kick start the Bulldog offense.