Camden Griffith launched a three quarters court shot at the halftime buzzer in the Hawks’ first-round game against Grundy County to break a 34-34 tie. He launched a half-court shot at the end of the third quarter to cap off a 26-point third quarter and spark the Hawks into an HDC title run that fell short at the hands of Braymer.
Playing a team back to back can be difficult, and the Panthers made life difficult for the Hawks in the first half, launching seven threes and going toe to toe. But Gilman City pulled away in the second half and won 76-49.
Camden Griffith had 37 points. Bo Eads had a career high 12 points. Mason Preston had 9, Jace Estrada 6, Alex Young 5, Jackson Alldredge 4, and Beckett Williams 3.
That put the Hawks into a semifinal game with Mercer, who had beaten them earlier in the year and were on their home court this time. But Gilman City got its revenge and beat the Cardinals 57-46 to get into the finals.
The Hawks got off to a slow start again, but unlike the first game, did not dig themselves into a big hole to start out with and didn’t turn the ball over in their first four possessions of the game. The score was stuck at 0-0, and then 3-2, until Jace Estrada converted a putback into a free throw and Mason Preston scored off a drive to make it 6-2. The Cards hung around for much of the first quarter, with Brett Hashman cutting it to 10-7 with 50 seconds left. But Dakota Meringa hit a free throw, and then as time was winding down, an errant Mercer pass got tipped around before Mason Preston came up with it and was fouled, hitting both free throws to make it 13-7 after one.
In a rarity for the Hawks, they only needed two points from Griffith to build up the lead.
Griffith was missing his shot in the first quarter, but got himself going in the second when Alex Young grabbed an offensive board and fed him for a drive. He took on the entire Cardinal army, converting it to make it 15-7.
But Mercer kept hanging around, with Kobe Hill knocking down an NBA 3-pointer to get his team going. By the 1:15 mark, the Hawk lead was down to 18-17 before Griffith hit a free throw and then slashed and scored, and Jace Estrada hit two free throws to rebuild the Gilman City lead to 23-17 at the half.
The second half started off well for Mercer, who got a baseline shot from Kobe Hill and a 3-pointer from Dylan Lewis (no relation to the long-time Winston coach and Gilman City girls assistant Eric Lewis) to cut it to 22-21.
But after Bo Eads stopped the bleeding for the Hawks, Camden Griffith started going to the basket and drawing fouls at will, as the Hawks built the lead back up to six at 35-29. But Grady Beavers got the hot hand for Mercer late in the third, scoring five points in the last 1:06, including a guarded three that cut it to 36-34 at the end of the period.
Brett Hashman cut it to 36-35 to start the fourth quarter, but Mason Preston, who had been quiet since the first quarter, suddenly knocked down a shot on the right wing, got a steal and drive, then hit a triple from the top of the key off a pass from Dakota Meringa to make it 43-35.
Mercer continued to hang around from the three point line, with Hashman and Mason Stark both connecting from there to make it 49-43, but with both Camden Griffith and Mason Preston going off for the Hawks, they were able to withstand the rally. Jace Estrada countered with an inside shot and then Griffith made four free throws and Preston one down the stretch as the Hawks were able to pull away for the win.
Camden Griffith had 26 points for the Hawks. Mason Preston had 16; it was not his career high as he had 19 against Princeton in the Hawks’ second meeting with them. Bo Eads had 9, Jace Estrada 5, and Dakota Meringa 1.
Camden Griffith had 1 block.
Camden Griffith had 12 boards. Jace Estrada had 6, Alex Young 5, Dakota Meringa 4, Mason Preston 3, and Bo Eads and Beckett Williams 1.
Alex Young had 7 assists. Camden Griffith and Mason Preston had 5 each, Bo Eads 2, and Dakota Meringa 1.
Camden Griffith and Mason Preston had 7 tips. Alex Young had 4 and Jace Estrada 3.
Mason Preston had 6 steals. Camden Griffith had 3 and Bo Eads and Alex Young had 2.
The game with Braymer started off with some ups and downs. First, it looked like Dakota Brandon would take over for Braymer early, scoring 9 of his team’s first 11 points as the Bobcats led 11-7 in just the first few minutes of the game. But then Gilman City responded as Camden Griffith got himself going with a three point play, Bo Eads hit a 3-pointer, and then Griffith got consecutive steals to make it 17-11 in the Hawks’ favor.
But Braymer is one of those teams which starts slowly, but turns into a juggernaut as the game progresses. They chipped away for the rest of the quarter, getting their deficit to 17-16. Finally, a costly turnover, when Jamesyn Haley stole a lazy inbounds pass at the first quarter buzzer and drained it to put Braymer up 18-17, swung the momentum permanently in their favor.
Griffith kept hitting, scoring all nine of his team’s points in the second quarter, but Braymer gained some separation despite Wade Kincaid, their skyscraper, and Mason Whittington, their defensive stopper, getting in foul trouble. They had five different players find their way into the scoring column as they built up a 36-26 halftime lead.
With Kincaid back on the floor, the Braymer juggernaut was rolling again, and they scored the first nine points of the third quarter as they threatened to pull away.
But just as it looked like it would go into running clock territory, Mason Preston started finding daylight against Whittington, who had to be careful because of his three fouls. He drove and scored to break the Bobcat run, and then Camden Griffith drew Kincaid’s fourth foul, converting a three point play. Bo Eads cashed in a 3-pointer off a Griffith steal to make it 49-34.
Braymer kept hitting from deep, and Corbin McBee’s triple put Braymer back up 54-36, but the Hawks kept coming as Alex Young converted a putback and Camden Griffith drove and scored to make it 54-40. But Mason Whittington cut inside and cashed in at the free throw line, and Charlie Anderson’s steal put Braymer up 20 again at 60-40. Gilman City only had eight turnovers, but Braymer was opportunistic, cashing in six of them on the other end, including a 3-pointer.
Gilman City responded with a flurry in the last 57 seconds, getting five from Griffith and three from Preston to cut it to 63-48. A push by Corbin McBee at the start of the fourth put Braymer back up 68-50, but Gilman City made its biggest push to get back in the game as Camden Griffith got a putback, Mason Preston hit a pullup three, and Griffith went coast to coast to make it 68-57 with 4:13 left, still plenty of time. But the Hawks ran out of time as the Bobcats were able to go to the basket at will in the last few minutes and pull away to the 76-61 win.
Camden Griffith had 39 for the Hawks. Mason Preston had 10, Bo Eads 9, Alex Young 2, and Beckett Williams 1.
Camden Griffith had 11 boards. Mason Preston had 5, Jace Estrada 3, Beckett Williams and Alex Young 2, and Bo Eads, Dakota Meringa, and Jackson Alldredge 1.
Mason Preston had 10 assists. Alex Young had 3, Bo Eads 2, and Camden Griffith and Dakota Meringa 1.
Camden Griffith had 6 tips. Mason Preston had 2 and Beckett Williams 1.
Mason Preston and Camden Griffith had 2 steals. Jackson Alldredge and Dakota Meringa had 1.
No comments:
Post a Comment