CRESTLINE — According to coach Ryan Stover, his Galion Tigers played their most complete game of the season Saturday night.
“It took to game 22 but we finally played defense,” Stover said. “As a whole, that’s our best game. We played offense, we played defense.”
The Tigers shot better than 50 percent from the floor and limited an explosive Crestline offense to just 48 points in a 62-48 win in Crestline.
With the win, the Tigers enter tournament play with a 5-17 record. Crestline enters the tournament with a 13-9 record. Galion, which is the ninth seed in the Division II sectional, plays eighth-seeded Mansfield Senior at Bucyrus High School Wednesday at 7 p.m.Crestline, which is the fifth seed in Division IV sectional, faces ninth-seeded Norwalk St. Paul Tuesday at 5:30 p.m. at Crestview High School.
“Crestline is a good team,” Stover said. “We came out and we played our best game, and we did what we were supposed to do. We executed and we held a good team to 48 points.”
Crestline coach Tyler Sanders said that his team is coming off the back end of a back-to-back weekend.
“It’s the back-to-back of a doubleheader and we didn’t play well,” Sanders said. “It looked like we had dead legs. It is what it is. But we’re not going to allow that to affect the run we’re going to make in the tournament.”
Galion held a 13-12 lead after one period but exploded in the second period. After Crestline’s Connor Lusk scored to tie the game at 20-20 with 4:55 left in the half, Galion’s Rece Payne scored seven straight points and the Tigers held a 31-23 lead at the half.
“We moved the ball and we attacked when attacked and we didn’t force anything” Stover said. “We got some good shots out of it.”
The Tigers held a 44-30 lead after three frames and increased the lead to 59-41 with 3:07 left on two free throws by Carson Teynor.
On a lighter note, Galion allowed Crestline senior Keyes Claypool, who was badly injured in a car accident last summer, to score a basket in the junior varsity and varsity games. Crestline principal Kevin Fourman said on Facebook that “a tip of the hat to the classy Galion basketball program and the Crestline coaching staff and to the fans on both sides.”
The Tigers finished the night shooting 25 of 48 from the floor to just 20 of 47 for the Bulldogs. Galion committed only eight turnovers to 19 for Crestline.
“We were disciplined and did what we were supposed to do, and the guys bought into it,” Stover said. “And we did well.
“Hopefully, this carries into our next few practices, and we go into the tournament with a real good chip on our shoulders, and we play well,” he added.
Sanders felt that his team executed their game plan but didn’t score like he wanted to.
“We held Galion where we wanted them, we just didn’t score the basketball tonight,” Sanders said. “We missed layups in and out and we missed free throws once again. We’ll be fine.”
Sanders added that, despite the double losses over the weekend, his team will respond in the tournament.
“This team is the best shooting team I’ve ever been around, and we have not shot the ball well this year,” Sanders said. “We shoot all the time in practice, and we can’t figure it out. I do know that it’s gonna come out against St. Paul and Monroeville, and I really feel that if they play the way they are capable we’ll cut the nets down next Friday.”
Box score
Galion 13 18 13 18 — 62
Crestline 12 11 7 18 — 48
Stats
Galion (5-17): Shots 25-48; 3-pt. shots 5 (Hudson Miller 2, Jaxon Oswald, Rece Payne, Carson Teynor); Free throws 4-6; Rebounds 28; Turnovers 20. Scoring: Jaxson Oswald 3 0 7, Rece Payne 6 2 15, Steven Glew 2 1 5, Garrett Ison 4 2 10, Carson Teynor 1 2 5, Cooper Kent 6 0 12, Hudson Miller 3 0 8.
Crestline: (13-9): Shots 20-47; 3-pt. shots 3 (R.J. Johnston 2, Isaiah Perry); Free throws 5-12; Rebounds 27; Turnovers 19. Scoring: Connor Lusk 2 1 5, R,J Johnston 4 0 10, Trevor Shade 1 2 4, Isaiah Perry 1 0 3, Josh Hall 4 0 8, Lucas Cochran 7 1 15, Jake Bruce 0 1 1, Keyes Claypool 1 0 2.
JV: Galion 52-2.