By James Massara
UPPER SANDUSKY – The Galion boys basketball team struggled to find the bottom of the net in its game at former league foe Upper Sandusky.
The Tigers failed to score in the first five minutes of the game, before falling to Upper Sandusky, 87-46.
The Rams opened the contest with a 3-point basket by Evan Young in the first minute of play, and followed up with a Jason Holly score.
Galion Coach Matt Valentine chose to call a timeout just two minutes into the game.
“The turnovers really hurt us,” Valentine said. “I told them we needed to settle down and control the ball and limit the turnovers.”
The struggles for the Tigers continued as they notched seven turnovers before Isaiah Alsip put the Tigers on the scoreboard with a steal and basket with two minutes remaining in the quarter. Alsip finished with a team-high 17 points.
Including Alsip’s basket, Galion finished the quarter on an 8-2 run to close the gap, but trailed the Rams, 14-8.
“We were still in it” Valentine said. “We were able to fight and find a way to hang in there.”
The start of the second quarter mirrored that of the first with Upper Sandusky igniting a 12-0 run with two Trevor Clifford baskets in the opening minute. Two baskets by Holly and two by Jevon Dible, who finished with a game-high 20 points, pushed the Rams to a comfortable 26-8 lead.
The Rams finished with four players with double-digit point totals.
“That was really big for us,” Upper Sandusky Coach Jeff Winslow said. “Anytime you have four players score like that, it really helps your chances of winning.”
Winslow also credited his bench players for coming in and performing as needed. Upper Sandusky had 11 players score in the game.
Galion’s first basket of the second quarter came on a Zhamir Anderson basket almost halfway through the quarter. The Tiger’s then scored one basket for every two of the Rams to close the half and trail, 37-14.
The Tigers competed and went nearly identical with Upper Sandusky as the offense showed up after halftime, but Galion still found itself trailing, 55-29.
Then came the valiant effort of the Tigers’ leading scorer of the game.
Alsip scored nine of his 17 points in the final quarter of play before fouling out with just more than three minutes remaining in the game.
“Isaiah is a true scorer,” Valentine said. “He takes it upon himself to move and get open looks.”
Winslow said he told his team at halftime that Alsip’s two first-half points were not the norm and he was still someone to watch for.
Despite Alsip’s efforts, the Tigers still could not claw back into the game.
Foul shots kept Upper Sandusky comfortably ahead of the Tigers, as the Rams went 13 of 14 from the free throw line in the final quarter.
Valentine said moving forward the Tigers need to focus on defense and not getting out of position, as was the case against the Rams. Winslow had similar sentiments about his team. Winslow said Upper Sandusky had a good scoring night, but still had to many turnovers and missed rebounds for his liking.
Upper Sandusky scored another strong victory over Galion in junior varsity action, winning 84-24.
The Rams had five players finish in double digits and were led by Jaidyn Thiel with 19 points and Cole Sowers with 14 points, respectively.
Carter Keinath led the Tigers with seven points and Matt Kingseed with six points.
The Tigers next open Mid-Ohio Athletic League action at Pleasant tonight and Upper Sandusky next travels to Shelby tomorrow for another nonconference game.