Galena finishes third in Arizona tournament
Staff Reports
It was a game plan very familiar to any Northern 4A boys basketball team that plays against Galena High.
Up against an opponent that prefers racehorse basketball, the Grizzlies played their trademark deliberate style and came away with a 48-45 victory against Deming, N.M., in the third-place game of the Santa Cruz Shootout Tuesday night in Tucson, Ariz.
Chad Siedenstricker scored 15 points and 6-foot-8 senior Iain Hill added 13 to lead the Grizzlies offensively in a game they start to finish against the Deming Wildcats.
"I'm really excited," Galena coach Tom Maurer said. "I asked all of our team to step up and they did. This was a tremendous team effort."
The Grizzlies won without standout junior forward Derek Lorenzen, who missed the game due to a bout with stomach flu. Furthermore, they were up against a talented opponent, according to Maurer.
"We played great defense because that team (Deming) is very explosive. They've been averaging almost 90 points a game; they lost 98-90 in overtime in the semifinals last night," he said. "That and we played our game. We took the air out of the ball and the kids did a very good job of taking care of the ball because they really pressured us."
Galena led 28-23 at halftime and 39-32 at the end of three quarters.
Ryan Bristol contributed eight points, all of which came in key situations, according to Maurer.
The Grizzlies play host to Nevada Union on Friday night and then host La Jolla, Calif., on Saturday. La Jolla won a San Diego Section championship last season and is now led by 6-foot-5 blue chipper Grayson Moyer.