It was a somewhat ugly win, but the Galena High boys basketball team managed to pull out a 62-58 win over LaMarque near Houston on Thursday.
"You could see the toll of the trip," said Galena coach Tom Maurer about how his team's road swing through Texas affected his team's play. "They didn't eat right this morning. I think this was a good learning lesson."
But Maurer said the game should be good preparation for a possible meeting with Hug in the Northern 4A playoffs. "It's a team like Hug," said Maurer about LaMarque. "Very good athletes."
But Maurer added about 10-7 LaMarque, "But not a great team. I just felt like we didn't play great defense."
Galena (10-5) did play solid defense in the third quarter, outscoring LaMarque 16-5 to turn a 30-26 deficit into a 42-35 lead. But LaMarque came back to tie the score 51-51 at the end of regulation and force overtime.
The Grizzlies won the game at the foul line in overtime, sinking 9-of-10 free throws. But there was still a scary moment with 3.5 seconds left.
Galena was leading 60-58, but had to call two timeouts after it was unable to inbound the ball. Galena was finally able to inbound the ball to Luke Babbitt, who scored 30 points, and Babbitt sank two foul shots to seal the win.
Brice Crook scored eight points and Maurer also praised the defense and rebounding of Luke Leonard, who added seven points.
Galena will stay in the Houston area today for the third game of its four-game trip when it plays Klein Collins, a team that's allowing just 42 points a game and is ranked No. 8 in Texas. "They're a phenomenal team," Maurer said.