Hawks stunned as rally falls short to New Athens in 1A Sectional Semifinal
They say where there is a will, there is a way.
For Gallatin County Tuesday night in the semifinals of the IHSA Class 1A Sectional at Goreville High School, that way was Hailey Chubb.
The Gallatin County senior combo guard, who was held to 11 first half points thanks in large part to a New Athens Box-And-1 all night, came storming out of the gate in the second half, finishing with 21 points - 32 in all - but it paled in comparison to the two points that the Hawks needed.
New Athens' Danika White took an inbound pass under the Yellow Jackets own basket with 4.6 to play for the game winner in a 51-49 thriller.
Gallatin County trailed by as many as 14 points in the second half and rallied to take a 45-44 lead with 2:00 to play in the fourth quarter off a Gracie Sauls jumper.
From there, the two teams played through four lead changes and Chubb hit a pair of free throws with 32.8 to go, giving the Hawks a 49-48 lead.
On the other end, New Athens' Joelli Wahlig made one of two free throws to tie the game at 49-all.
On the ensuring possession, Chubb was stripped and prevented at least one Yellow Jacket basket on the other end with a block, stopping the clock before White hit the game winner.
Gallatin County led 9-2 in the early going and after a free throw by Chubb to make it 10-7, the Hawks went nearly eight minutes without a bucket.
Gallatin trailed 14-10 after one quarter and 24-16 at halftime. It wasn't until the 2:18 mark in the second quarter when Chubb drilled a 3-pointer to break the scoring drought.
New Athens closed out the third quarter up 37-23 before the Hawks started their rally.
Gallatin County first year head coach Tiffany Sauls pointed to the Hawks' effort in the first half as being the difference.
"We didn't really show up the first half and I think if we would have brought the same effort that we did in the fourth quarter, we would have been fine."
On the inbounds play for the game winner, Sauls said the timeout was spent preaching about communication.
"We told the girls to matchup and communicate," Sauls said. "We lost 23 (Danika White) coming off that screen."
After Chubbs' 32 points, Molly Newton scored six points, while Audrey Jackson finished with five points. Sauls flipped in four and Emma Brockett tossed in two points.
White had a double-double for New Athens, scoring a team-high 23 points and finishing with 12 rebounds.
"I couldn't be more pleased with the way my girls played (in the fourth quarter)," Sauls said. "But, I told them at halftime, you have to play defense and we didn't play very well defensively. We didn't play well at all. One of the keys in us getting back in this game was making them come together. Chubb showed up when we needed her too, she came in and contributed, but it was just too late."
New Athens will meet Meridian in the championship game Thursday night, beginning at 7 p.m. at Goreville High School.
Michael Dann covers prep and college sports for the Harrisburg Register, Eldorado Journal & The Gallatin County Democrat. Follow him on Twitter: @spydieshooter.