GALION — For Galion, shooting can come and go, but defense can be a constant.
It was for the Lady Tigers on Tuesday night.
In the first half, Galion was 12 of 30 shooting and finished 24 of 56, but it was its ability to turn steals from the perimeter into easy baskets en route to a 55-39 win over Crestline.
With the win, the Lady Tigers improved to 2-5 on the season, while the Lady Bulldogs fell to 1-3. But it was Galion’s defensive effort that impressed coach Jim Hart.
“They played really well, our perimeter defense,” Hart said. “The girls communicated, our backside rotation was nice, and they played really hard.
“We got out into the passing lanes, and we got some deflections; they got up the court and ran and got some easy baskets,” he added. “That’s kind of what we’re trying to do; pressure the wings and get some easy baskets.”
The Lady Tigers took advantage of a very young Crestline team. The Lady Bulldogs have no seniors, one junior and 10 freshmen and sophomores.
But, despite their extreme youth, coach Mickie Spears said this was their best shooting night of the season.
“This was our best game of shooting the ball,” Spears said. “I was really pleased with the girls. (Kori) Nechovski stepped up, (Jocelyn) Noblit stepped up. Our perimeter shooting has not been there all season.”
After the two teams battled to an 8-8 draw after the first period, the Lady Tigers took control of the game in the second.
Crestline held an 11-8 lead on a Nechovski three to open the second, but Galion scored 10 of the next 12 points. Cameron Eckert had eight of the points on the run and two buckets from Kenzie Halbisen gave the Lady Tigers a 26-13 lead at the half.
The Lady Bulldogs were not to be deterred, however, scoring the first seven points of the second half to cut the lead to 26-20. Noblit scored five of the points and Amarie Silverwood added a basket.
Crestline actually cut the Galion lead to 33-29 on a Nechovski three with 1:51 left in the period. Then, Galion got a huge three with 12 seconds left to increase the lead to 38-30, entering the final frame.
Crestline’s early run didn’t deter the Galion players, according to Hart.
“Give (Crestline) credit, because they came out and won the first few minutes of the second half and kind of had us on the ropes there for a little bit,” Hart said. “We told the girls to kind of settle down, be patient and keep doing what we were doing in the first half.”
“We told them to do the little things,” Spears said of his team. “These are things that we keep preaching about. When we were doing them, we played pretty good ball. But then, we get tired.”
Crestline never got to within eight the rest of the way.
Eckert scored seven of her game-high 19 points in the quarter and Kayla Halbisen added a pair of threes. Halbisen finished with 11 points.
“We knew it was going to be a physical game; kinda the approach and both sides played really physical,” Hart said. “It was a good game.”
Nechovski paced Crestline with 16 points and Noblit added 13 more.
Spears said that his young team is going to make some mistakes, but they need to keep the miscues to a minimum.
“I have a short bench,” Spears said. “I have a big bench, but I have a short bench. Some of my subs aren’t in shape and not ready to play at the varsity level.
“(We have to) keep the heart and care. They have the heart right now; they just have to start caring.”
Box score
Galion 55, Crestline 39
Crestline 8 5 17 9 — 39
Galion 8 18 12 17 — 55
Crestline (1-3): Shots 14-35; 3-pt. shots 6 (Kori Nechovski 4, Jocelyn Noblit, Amarie Silverwood); Free throws 5-17; Rebounds 21; Turnovers 18. Scoring: Jocelyn Noblit 5 2 13, Kylie Kelly 0 1 1, Amarie Silverwood 3 0 7, Kori Nechovski 5 2 16, Bridget Belcik.
Galion (2-5): Shots 24-56; 3-pt. shots 4 (Makayla Halbisen 3, Cameron Eckert); Free throws 3-9; Rebounds 29; Turnovers 11. Scoring: Makayla Halbisen 4 0 11, Cameron Eckert 8 2 19, Jaiden Jones 2 0 4, Kenzie Halbisen 2 0 4, Elliott Freyman 1 0 2, Audrey Glew 1 1 3, Jayda Miniard 2 0 4, Maryssa Scott 4 0 8.