Galena Bears Win 1st District Game in 5 Years
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Galena Bears Topple
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February 25, 2021
Winning in districts is not something the basketball Bears have been accustomed to for several years. Early exits and broken dreams have been a mainstay for many years. With an 85-57 victory over the Fordland Eagles, the Bears live to fight another day. The Bears started off a little slow, taking a tie score at 19 into the second quarter. Hot shooting by Junior Ethan Bailey and improved defense gave the Bears a 10-point edge at the half. Bailey had 4 three-pointers in the first half. The sharp shooting Eagles attempted to get back in the game in the third quarter, but sophomore Brayden Sartin entered the game and provided an immediate spark for the Bears. “Brayden put us on his back and carried us for about 45 seconds.” stated Coach David Sherer. In that 45 seconds, Sartin had three steals and fivepoints. Sartin finished with eight points in the game. The Bears were led in scoring by Wyatt Snelson with 24 points. Senior Jake Poole dumped in 16, and had a triple double with 16 rebounds and 10 assists. In the fourth quarter, the Bears were able to put enough distance between themselves and the Eagles so that injured Senior, Grant Harness, was able to see some court time with his fellow seniors. The Bears won the game 85-57. The Bears will be in action in the District 11 semi-finals at Billings Wednesday night, February 24 at 7:00 p.m. |
February 25, 2021
“We finally get to play a game after almost three and a halfweeks off, and it’s against Lakeland?” This is a statement that Coach David Sherer heard multiple times last Friday after he scheduled a game with the number one team in the state of Missouri in Class 2. “Our kids just needed to play.” Coach Sherer stated after losing almost a month of the season to COVID-19 quarantine and snow. “The boys have been itching to get out there. I put an email out on the athletic director’s email chain, and Lakeland responded within a couple of minutes. From there, we just had to find a neutral site to play the game.” After several calls, Sherer finally got in touch with Parkview, who had a game scheduled that day anyway, and Parkview agreed to host the two Class 2 teams. The Bears, after being down by 9 at the end of the first quarter, responded with a 22-8 run in the second quarter. That gave the Bears a 6-point lead at the half. The Bears owned a 9-point lead during the third quarter, but hot shooting by the Lakeland Vikings led to a tie score after three. Tough defense and taking care of the basketball in the fourth quarter is what led the Bears to a 52-48 victory. Down by one, with less than two minutes to go, Senior Jake Poole completed a spin move in the paint to give the Bears a one-point lead. After a tough rebound by Junior, Ethan Bailey, he was able to outlet to Senior Wyatt Snelson, who found a streaking Zayne Gale for the uncontested layup to put the Bears up by three. The Vikings missed a couple of opportunities to tie the game, and with 2.7 seconds left, Bailey secured the defensive rebound and was fouled. He hit one of his two free throws to cement the victory. Snelson led the Bears with 24 points and 14 rebounds. “We’ve had a (games like that) a couple of times against good teams, like Norwood and Strafford,” Snelson said. “We know what to do and what it takes to get over the last hump in the final three or so minutes.” Galena held All-State player Rafe Kalberloh to 14 points. The Bears move to 15-5 on the season. |