Galion travelled to Upper Sandusky to take on the undefeated Rams and came away with a loss in a hard fought non-conference game by a score of 61 – 55.
The game appeared to be a blowout from the start as Upper Sandusky scored the first twelve points of the game. The Tigers were having a hard time with the Rams’ defense and ended the first quarter 18 – 8.
Upper Sandusky continued the high pressure defense into the second quarter with Galion having no real answers, heading to the locker room trailing their opponent 35-19 at halftime.
“I gave them the rah-rah speech before the game that this is a golden opportunity to knock an undefeated team off and we just came out flat,” said Galion boys basketball head coach Colby Bright.
When Galion came out of the locker room to start the third quarter, it was a complete turnaround. Galion outscored Upper Sandusky in the third quarter 14 – 8 and was starting to cut into the lead.
“They didn’t like me at halftime, that’s for sure, but at times you can’t always be a player’s coach,” Bright said. “You got to make them feel a little uncomfortable.”
That feeling spread over into the fourth quarter for Galion as they clawed their way to tie the game with 2:49 left to play. From there it was back and forth with both teams making shots and not letting the other pull away.
With 25 seconds left in the game, Galion ran out of energy and lost the game 61 – 55.
“When you make a comeback like that, you expend so much energy and just run out of gas,” Bright said.
Upper Sandusky made 10 out of 10 free throws in the fourth quarter and were 16 for 21 for the game.
“They have the intangibles and the will to win, refuse to lose,” Bright said.
Houston Blair led the Tigers with a game high of 21 points, while Colton Moore added 15.
For the Rams, Wes Vent led with 17 points, while Noah Dible tallied 14 points.
In earlier action, Upper Sandusky JV beat Galion by a score of 70 – 52.
This was the final game of the regular season for the Tigers (11-11, 6-8 MOAC) who play its first tournament game against either Margaretta or Clear Fork at Shelby High School on Feb. 26.
