WEBB CITY, Mo. — College Heights Christian boys basketball trailed by double digits late in the third quarter before rallying to tie the game with less than five minutes in regulation. Galena never allowed the Cougars to gain the lead in the waning minutes, holding on for a 60-52 win to open the 4-States Challenge on Saturday.
“We were down there (late) and could have given up,” College Heights coach Eric Johnson said. “We fought back and tied the game. We had an opportunity for more, but we gave up five points with free throws and offensive rebounds. It was kind of like the season for us so far—turnovers and giving up offensive rebounds. It gives us a lot of things to work on over Christmas.”
Galena took a five-point lead into the intermission and scored the first two baskets out of the break on a drive from Brett Sarwinski and a 3-pointer from Deacon Henson to give the Bulldogs a 10-point, 33-23 lead.
Galena and College Heights traded baskets before Kenyon Martin scored inside and Sarwinksi followed with a 3-ball at the 1:49 mark to give the Bulldogs a 45-30 advantage.
College Heights’ Miller Long put the Cougars on his back to close the third quarter, scoring seven unanswered points by himself to trim CHC’s deficit to eight, 47-39, to start the fourth. Long started the personal run with a three-point play, which was followed by a fast-break score off a steal and a pair of free throws following another steal with 12.5 seconds left.
“They weren’t going to let him do what he wanted to do after he scored 27 on them last time,” Johnson said of Long’s play to spark the Cougars. “They defended him tight, but once he gets going, he gets on a roll. We just had a hard time getting him open and getting him the ball when he was open.”
College Heights used the spark and opened the fourth quarter as hot as it closed the third, going on a 10-2 run in less than four minutes of game action to tie things up at 49-49. Ethan Adel got the run started with a score on the drive. Ben Thomas added a 3-pointer from the wing before Ethan Meeks hit a turnaround shot in the post to cut the Galena lead to three. Long knocked down a 3-pointer from the wing at the 4:39 mark to tie up the game.
“Probably the pressure defense,” Johnson said when asked what fueled the game-tying run to start the fourth quarter. “We got active on defense, and that’s probably something we should have done the whole game. … You hate to get 15 behind before you start that, but maybe we will learn from it and do it earlier in the game, now.”
Unfortunately for CHC, that would be where the momentum swing came to a close. Galena answered with a Sarwinski driving score and a three-point play from Garrett Lawson to stretch the lead back to five, 54-49.
Long knocked down a catch-and-shoot jumper from the perimeter to bring the Cougars within two, 54-52, with 2:20 to play, but Galena closed the on a 6-0 run to seal the win.
SCORING LEADERS
Long led College Heights with 20 points, including two four-quarter 3-pointers. Adel finished second in scoring with 13 points, while Hagen Beck added six in the loss.
“Scoring-wise, that was probably (Ethan’s) best game all year,” Johnson said. “They double teamed Miller a lot, so he had some opportunities there. He finished better today than he had been.”
Sarwinksi led Galena with a game-high 21 points, while Kobe McGlothlin finished with 11 points.
UP NEXT
College Heights is at Jasper for a 7 p.m. matchup on Jan. 4.
