The Galion boys basketball team suffered its first road defeat for the season against Jonathan Alder with a 62-41 loss.
The Tigers trailed the Pioneers 35-21 at halftime.
“We think they’re the best team in the (Mid-Ohio Athletic Conference),” said Colby Bright, Galion boys basketball head coach. “They’re very balance; they’re a disciplined basketball team.”
Galion made 13 shots and 9 of 14 free throws, while Jonathan Alder made 24 shots and 3 of 7 free throws.
“The disappointing thing we didn’t do was that we didn’t do things to control like boxing out, sprint down the floor and playing with a lot of energy.”
The Pioneers defeated the Tigers in the second half 26-20.
Houston Blair led the Tigers with 10 points, while Zach Phelps added nine. Bright took out Blair and some other starters near the end of the third quarter to prevent them from getting hurt, recognizing the inevitable.
“It wasn’t our night, it was theirs,” he said.
Andrew Koenig led the Pioneers with a game high of 17 points, while Trey Pugh added 15 points and Jacob Koenig had 11.
Galion (7-5, 3-7) will host to play Bucyrus in non-league play on Monday. The game was originally set for last Tuesday but was postponed because of heavy snowfall.
The Redmen’s record is 0-8 in the Northern 10 Athletic Conference and 0-12 overall, after recently becoming Crestline’s first win for the season on Thursday.
Bright said he told the team to not let two consecutive defeats slow them down, focusing more on the technical aspects of the game.
“I don’t care what the score is against Bucyrus,” he said. “We have to do the things I taught them and do them well.”
