EHT: Establishing A Presence
By MICHAEL DANN
mdann@dailyregister.com
ELDORADO - There were a few things that Galatia head coach Kendall Hankins preached to his team before and during their Saline County showdown with Carrier Mills on the consolation side of the Eldorado Holiday Tournament bracket Monday morning.
At the onset was discipline, during the game was patience.
Both paid off as Galatia won its first EHT game under Hankins with a 64-57 overtime victory.
The Bearcats, who are playing in their last EHT and will be replaced by Vienna next season, are now 4-20 over a nine-year span and will play Gallatin County in the 10 p.m. matchup late this evening.
The Bearcats put three players in double figures, outscored CMSF 17-11 in overtime and went 7-8 from the free throw line in OT to pull out the victory.
"It was a great win for us," Hankins said. "It's my first win at the EHT and it was maybe a better win because it came against a conference opponent that we haven't played yet. We were trying to establish our place in the conference and I think this goes a long way in establishing that. The boys were excited to get a win and now we have two more to go."
Late in the fourth quarter, Galatia held a 37-36 lead, but three straight buckets by Brody Walker and two by Rahmann Fann gave Carrier Mills-Stonefort a 42-37 lead with 4:41 to play.
Galatia fought back to get back to within one after Austin Stricklin made it 42-41 and after CMSF's Dylan Schwartz made it 44-41, Kody Matthews pulled up from the top of the key, draining a 3-pointer to tie the game at 44-all with 1:41 to play.
Schwartz put the Wildcats back on top 46-44 with a 3-pointer at 1:26, but Stricklin played hero in regulation, knocking down a pull up jumper to pull the two teams even after four quarters of play.
In the overtime, Galatia made its first three out of four shots to take a 54-47 lead with 1:48 to play and closed out the game by knocking down free throw shots when they mattered most.
"Free throw shooting in these kind of games are going to make or break you and when you have the lead and have a chance to go to the line and put points on the board, you have to step up and make the shot. The boys did a really good job of taking advantage of that tonight and I'm proud of them for that," Hankins added. "It just takes a lot of patience to go to the line and slow things down and do what you have to do."
Carrier Mills had three good looks to tie the game with the three ball in OT, but the iron was unkind to the Wildcats.
"It's easy to second guess after it's all said and done," CMSF head coach Keil Peebles said. "We had the five point lead with about four minutes to go in the game and Galatia comes down and drills a big 3. If they don't do that, we're on top and have the ball. Our guys had a chance to give up, got down several times and we got back, so I'm proud of our guys effort."
Galatia (3-5) was led in scoring by Luke Lawrence's 18 points, while Austin Stricklin scored 15 points and Kody Matthews finished with 14 in the win for the Bearcats.
Brody Walker paced the Wildcats with a team-high 17 points in the loss, while Micah Childers and Justice Hill each put up 12 points and Rahman Fann finished with 10.
Michael Dann covers prep and college sports for the Harrisburg Daily Register. Follow him on Twitter: @spydieshooter.
Galatia 13 11 13 09 17 - 63
Carrier Mills 14 11 09 12 11 - 57
Galatia: Stricklin 7 1-2 15, Lawrence 7 1-2 18, Matthews 4 5-6 14, Verbeck 3 2-2 9, Mondino 1 0-3 2, Patterson 2 1-2 5. Totals: 24 10-17 63.
Carrier Mills: Childers 5 0-0 12, Fann 4 1-4 10, Austin 0 0-2 0, Hill 5 2-2 12, Schwartz 3 0-0 6, Walker 8 1-3 17. Totals: 25 4-11 57.
3-point FG: GHS 4 (Lawrence 2, Matthews, Verbeck), CMSF 3 (Childers 2, Fann). Fouls: GHS 12, CMFS 15.