Galena boys escape vs. Fallon

By STEVE RANSON

Appeal News Service

FALLON - Another Tuesday and the Galena boys' basketball team almost suffered another upset to a High Desert League foe.

Instead, the Grizzlies put together a 9-1 run in the fourth quarter and outscored the Greenwave, 20-9, to rally for a 52-43 victory at the Elmo Dericco Gym.

Going into tonight's game, Galena coach Tam Maurer said his team had to play well to beat Fallon on its home court.

"Fallon's a good team," said Maurer. "There's a good reason why they are in third place."

Galena clinched first place in the HDL at 10-1, 16-14 overall. Fallon falls to 5-5, 8-14 overall.

Maurer said his team played outstanding defense in its last two games, but he felt the Grizzlies didn't put everything together against Fallon until the final two quarters.

"We were back on our defense," Maurer said of the second half. "Our rebounding was outstanding."

Fallon saw too much Luke Babbitt in the fourth quarter as the 6-foot-8 senior scored 13 of his game-high 33 points.

Despite being triple-teamed on occasion, Babbitt positioned himself effectively near the basket for layups and putback shots after hauling down numerous rebounds.

The Wave led 34-32 going into the fourth quarter and extended its led to 37-32 after Dexter Daum canned a 3-pointer. Babbitt then scored a pair of free throws and slam dunked the ball after a steal to slice the Fallon lead, 37-36.

For a 2-minute span, Fallon couldn't make two layups and three free throws.

"At the 7-minute mark, we didn't execute," Daum said. "We panicked and played to the scoreboard."

Fallon coach Corey Williams said the missed free throws hurt Fallon.

The Grizzlies then surged ahead on a 9-1 run until Alex Rodriguez drained a 3-pointer, cutting Galena's margin to 45-40. Both teams traded baskets and Babbitt's tip-in with 54 seconds remaining in the game completed a 15-3 Galena run.

Galena move into four corners for the rest of the game.

Galena took its first lead in the third quarter when Devon Ashley unleashed a trey. Fallon regained the lead, but Babbitt then shot a 3-pointer from the corner for a 28-26 Galena lead.

The Wave came back in the final two minutes and scored the final four points to regain the lead.

Fallon had upset on its mind in the first half. The Wave jumped out to a 6-0 lead on three layups, one each from Billy Sorensen, Jared Floyd and Rodriguez. The Grizzlies then responded with five unanswered points before Floyd let the ball roll off his finger tips for a basket and an 8-5 lead.

Each team scored four points in the final 1:17.

"Our zone was effective in the first half," Williams said.

Fallon increased its lead to 15-9, but Galena stormed back to trail by one point, 15-14. Both teams closed out the first half with each squad scoring four points.

Williams said he was disappointed in the perimeter shooting.

"Our outside shots didn't go in," he said. "We were rushing a little bit. We needed to get our feet down."

Sorensen led Fallon with 11 points, and Daum added 10. Rodriguez finished with eight points, and Adams had seven.

Markis Robinson and Jake Mansfield each added six points for Galena.