Gallatin County reaches sweet 16 by edging Christopher
Seth Ramsey scored 28 points including a game-winner in the final seconds of Gallatin County's 42-40 win over Christopher at the NCOE 1A sectional semifinals Tuesday night.<br />The win for the Hawks (21-8) means the school is into the Sweet 16 and will meet either Meridian or Woodlawn in Friday night's sectional final.<br />Ramsey scored the first 10 points out of the gate for his team which was deadlocked with the Bearcats (17-13) after eight minutes.<br />After Gallatin County had built a 17-12 lead midway through the second quarter, Christopher then went on an 8-2 run before halftime to grab a 20-19 lead at the break.<br />Gallatin County enjoyed a big third quarter in which it outscored the winners of the Crab Orchard regional 17-6 and led 36-26 entering the fourth.<br />The Bearcats were able to tie the game and even had a chance to take the lead with 40 seconds remaining, but junior Bradley Young missed a free throw which kept the score even.<br />That's when the Hawks elected to hold for a last second attempt and with time winding down, Ramsey pulled up from the right baseline to give his team the win with 2.1 second left.<br />"We've got tons of heart in that locker room," said Gallatin County coach Doug Miller. "We were down and out several times. They (Christopher) are a well-coached team, they're a great basketball team. You beat Sesser by 30, you've done something. We watched video on them, we practiced hard the last three or four days for Christopher, and we kept emphasizing there was still time to get better."<br />Audie Goebel scored six points, Robbie Prince and Dawson Hish both scored three and Aaron Walters dropped in a field goal.<br />Gallatin County last won a sectional four years ago when the Hawks made it to a 1A supersectional before losing to Nokomis.<br />Meridian will meet Woodlawn in the other sectional semifinal at NCOE Wednesday at 7 p.m.<br /><br />Christopher 10 10 6 14- 40<br />Gallatin County 10 9 17 6 -42<br /><br />Christopher (40): Pedigo 5 4-4 14, Schimpf 1 2-2 4, Young 2 1-4 5, Pratt 2 0-0 4, Curry 6 1-2 13. Totals 16 8-12 40.<br />Gallatin County (42): Ramsey 11 5-9 28, Goebel 3 0-0 6, Prince 1 0-0 3, Walters 1 0-0 2, Hish 1 0-0 3. Totals 17 5-9 42.<br /><br />3-pointers: Gallatin County 3 (Ramsey, Prince, Hish). Team fouls: Christopher 10, Gallatin County 10. Records: Christopher finishes 17-13, Gallatin County is 21-8.