Reserve guard Beckett Williams made a hustle play at the final buzzer to leave the final word on Gilman City’s regular season as the boys clinched a winning season with a 69-54 win over Polo. Gilman City set up a three-point try designed for Dustin Ward in the right corner. But the try went astray, and following a wild scramble, Beckett grabbed it, whirled around in one motion, and banked a 3-pointer home at the final buzzer. Beckett had been earning more and more playing time down the stretch, and it paid off in the end.
The Hawks dug themselves into a 3-8 hole to start the season, but a win over archrival Tri-County jumpstarted it, and the hunger was always there. The team was young, but there were numerous players who couldn’t wait for the first practices to start and who would come to the gym after junior high games were over to scrimmage and play pickup games. Gilman City would catch fire, taking third in their home tournament and riding a six-game winning streak to the finals of the HDC Tournament before losing twice in a row to state-ranked Braymer. The Hawks needed to win Thursday night to ensure itself of a winning season.
Polo came into the game at the tail end of a long season, in which they dug themselves into a 5-15 hole. But they caught fire recently, winning three out of their last four and scoring 64 or more points in three of them. They featured a good post game and mixed up man to man and a 1-3-1 defensively.
The teams started off blow for blow. First, Kyle Kipping’s putback put Polo up 6-3 early. Then, Camden Griffith found some driving lanes open to put the Hawks back up 7-6. Lucas Crews countered with a drive, as did Lukas Ritter to put Polo up 10-7. Jace Estrada ripped away a rebound out of a green shirt’s hands, gave it to Mason Preston, who aired it out to Alex Young for two. Kyle Kipping countered with a three-point play, but Camden Griffith slashed and scored and Mason Preston went coast to coast to tie the game at 13, but Walker Kelley’s free throw put Polo back in front 14-13 after one.
Kyle Kipping sealed and scored for Polo to start the second, but Mason Preston got a monster stuff of a three and went coast to coast, where he was fouled and converted the three-point play to knot it at 16. The game was knotted at 18, but then the Hawks moved ahead to stay, although the Panthers were not far behind until the last few minutes.
Bo Eads and Camden Griffith posted up and scored to make it 22-18. Polo kept hanging around, but Griffith went on one of his scoring bursts, scoring nine straight Hawk points at one point before Jace Estrada was fouled at the buzzer and made one of two to put the Hawks up 30-24.
Polo switched to their 1-3-1 and it took Gilman City a while to adjust, but Camden Griffith kept hitting to keep them ahead. Polo twice cut it to four before Griffith hit a reverse layup and Mason Preston got loose in transition to make it 40-32 before Lucas Crews hit a guarded NBA three at the buzzer to make it 40-35.
Gilman City switched to its 1-2-2 to start the fourth quarter, and it paid immediate dividends as Mason Preston jumped a pass and scored and drew a foul. He missed, but Camden Griffith stole an outlet pass. He missed, but Jace Estrada was there for the putback to make it 44-35.
Walker Kelley kept crashing the boards and scoring for Polo, and Canon Thompson launched a deep three to keep Polo close, and Kyle Kipping got a putback and a three-point play to cut it to 51-45. Mason Preston launched a three and Camden Griffith got loose in transition, only for Canon Thompson and Lucas Crews to launch threes to bring Polo back to within 56-51.
Finally, Polo had to start fouling and their legs gave out at the end as they had played a tough game the night before. Camden Griffith hit four free throws down the stretch, Mason Preston two, and Jace Estrada got loose in transition to put the Hawks up 64-51. Gilman City subbed freely at the end, and the reserves kept up the pressure with Dustin Ward hitting two free throws and Beckett Williams making his play at the end.
Camden Griffith had 34 points for the Hawks. Mason Preston had 17, Jace Estrada 7, Beckett Williams 3, and Jackson Alldredge, Alex Young, Bo Eads, and Dustin Ward 2.
Camden Griffith had 2 blocks and Jace Estrada 1.
Jace Estrada had 10 boards. Mason Preston had 9, Camden Griffith 7, Jackson Alldredge 4, Dakota Meringa 3, Bo Eads and Alex Young 2, and Dustin Ward and Beckett Williams 1.
Mason Preston had 8 assists. Camden Griffith had 4, Bo Eads 3, and Jackson Alldredge and Alex Young 1.
Camden Griffith had 8 tips and Mason Preston 3.
Camden Griffith had 5 steals. Jace Estrada had 4, Mason Preston 2, and Dakota Meringa 1.
No comments:
Post a Comment