IBERIA — Defense made the difference for Galion.
A game-high 29 points from Cooper Kent and 16 more from Tiger teammate Jackson Hart didn’t hurt either as the visitors pulled out a 63-58 win between backyard rivals Tuesday night in non-conference boys action.
“We played defense,” Tigers head coach Ryan Stover said without hesitation. “The Bentley kid. I don’t know what he ended up with, but he had a good night. But as a whole, that’s the way we need to play defense.
“That’s a good Northmor team. They can shoot. We were just able to close out. I felt our rotations were a lot better tonight than they have been.”
Bentley scored 21 and grabbed 6 rebounds. Maxton Lower added 13 and 9 rebounds for the Golden Knights before exiting with an injury in the closing seconds.
Galion (4-5, 2-3) raced out to a 23-10 lead after the first quarter — and that was the difference, according to Northmor (4-4, 4-2) head coach Blade Tackett.
“The first quarter, hands-down. I got mad at the quarter break, but not really that mad overall. Being down 23-10, it was tough. But we fought back and chipped away. We cut it under 10,” he said.
A 19-point third quarter allowed Northmor to get back into the game. Lower got inside for a basket to make it 36-29 and Bentley scored 13 in that quarter.
Lower had 7 in the final stanza, but Kent got 10 to push Galion to the win. Northmor cut it to 52-46 but missed a couple of one-and-one free throw opportunities.
“They battled hard. Grant did a good job of keeping us in the game there late. Galion scores really well. Hart stepped up when Chafin got in foul trouble and didn’t hurt us as much tonight.
“Kent’s a great player. We lost him a lot more than I would have liked tonight. We did a good job of face guarding him, but he came off the dribble and got loose and found a groove.
Stover was pleased with the efforts of Hart, a senior, and Steven Glew, a junior.
“Jackson stepped up huge and that’s what we want. We want guys to step up. Northmor did a great job of trying to take away Kent and (Elijah) Chafin. We had to have other guys step up. I thought Steven was borderline close to a double-double and played really well.”
Chafin was held well below his average to 6 points, but Glew added 8 and a half-dozen rebounds.
Northmor outscored Galion 11-10 in the second period and cut the halftime lead to 33-21.
“We had a good couple of stretches. I’m real proud of the guys tonight,” Stover said.
“Looking forward our stretch doesn’t get any easier. I feel like we’re getting better after the 75 Mount Gilead dropped against us last week. A short day of practice yesterday, so I was happy with the game plan defensively.”
Competing in the MOAC is a challenge for the Tigers.
“Great group of kids. They’re buying into the program and want to help us be better. I think we are on the right track. Tonight was a very good win to end the (calendar) year and we can look forward to next year and hopefully things can continue to build off what we did tonight.”
Galion hosts Pleasant Jan. 5 in a Mid-Ohio Athletic Conference game, while Northmor plays Loudonville Wednesday in a Knox Morrow Athletic Conference contest.
Lower injured his right arm/shoulder while going for a loose ball.
“We’re all thinking about Max. Everyone loves him to death. He does everything. He’s definitely the best defender I’ve had to this point. When he’s aggressive to the basket he’s really hard to stop,” Tackett said.
“That’s him, you know. With under 15 seconds left he’s diving for a ball out of bounds. He goes hard all the time; he’s an energy guy and a great teammate.”
Box score
Galion 23 10 16 14 — 63
Northmor 10 11 19 18 — 58
Galion (4-5): Shots 22-43; 3-pt. shots 8-11 (Jackson Hart 4, Cooper Kent 2, Elijah Chafin 2); Free throws 11-22; Rebounds 27 (Jackson Hart 8, Cooper Kent 5); Turnovers 14. Scoring: Elijah Chafin 2 0 6, Jackson Hart 6 0 16, Steven Glew 3 2 8, Cooper Kent 10 7 29, Braylen Hart 1 2 4.
Northmor (4-4): Shots 19-45; 3-pt. shots 5-9 (Grant Bentley 3, Max Lower, Caleb Schnuerer); Free throws 15-23; Rebounds 27 (Max Lower 9, Grant Bentley 6); Turnovers 12. Scoring: Grant Bentley 6 6 21, Max Lower 4 4 13, Hunter Fulk 1 5 7, Jax Wenger 3 0 6, Caleb Schnuerer 3 0 7, Isaac Black 1 0 2, Bryson Keirns 1 0 2.
JV: Northmor 56-17.