It became clear very early in Friday’s Class 1, District 16 girls’ semifinal that if the Gallatin Lady Bulldogs could handle the ball against Mid-Buchanan’s pressure defense, they had a chance to move into Saturday’s finals. But ball handling problems plagued the Lady Bulldogs from the opening tipoff and proved to be the deciding factor in a 61-40 loss.
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The Lady Bulldogs turned the ball over three times in their first five possessions but at the end of the first quarter were just down by one possession, 19-16. Even with six more turnovers in the second quarter, Gallatin trailed by only five, 27-22, at the half time break.
The Lady Dragons began to pull away early in the second half with a 9-0 run off the third quarter start. Gallatin suffered a two-minute scoring drought, finally relieved at the 3:48 mark by a Kelsey Maxwell bunny shot under the rim. The Lady Bulldogs managed only one free throw to go with a Karley Salmon three-pointer in the quarter’s final three minutes.
Consistent fourth quarter scoring failed to materialize for Gallatin. The Lady Bulldogs hit only two of 13 shots in the fourth quarter and were dependent on three Cora Stout free throws and a last second shot by Aubrey Feiden to boost their final total.
All eight varsity Lady Bulldog seniors were in and out during the final minute of play. Those seniors, Stout, Feiden, Megan Cox, Hayley Michael, Courtney Shubert, Janee Filbeck, Maelea Coulson and Briar Roll, averaged nearly 18 wins over the course of the last four seasons.
Maxwell led Gallatin with 12 points. Salmon finished with seven. Maxwell finished the season with 283 points and Salmon chalked up 286 for the year.
Stout, who finished the season as the Lady Bulldogs’ leading rebounder with 164, pulled down nine in the contest.
Representing Gallatin on the 2017-18 All-Grand River Conference East boys’ honor squad are seniors Colin Beck and Jett Simmons.