Boys varsity basketball gets back
into win column after Martin
A good start and strong defense in the third quarter helped the Galesburg-Augusta boys varsity basketball team to a 43-35 win over Martin Monday in a makeup game at G-A High School.
The loss snapped a three-game skid for G-A, now 4-4.
The Rams raced out to a 17-7 lead after one quarter behind six points from Giovanni Evans and six points from Hayden Pritchard.
G-A settled for a 23-17 advantage at halftime.
Gio Evans (8 points) and Dontrell Bowden (7 points) combined to score 15 of G-A’s 17 points in the third quarter when the Rams held Martin to four points and took a 40-21 lead into the fourth quarter.
Evans finished with 14 points and six steals. Pritchard had 12 points, four rebounds and four steals and Bowden added 10 points, four steals and two blocked shots.
Martin 7 10 4 14 - 35
Galesburg-Augusta 17 6 17 3 - 43
Ethan Metty 2, Dontrell Bowden 10, Gio Evans 14, Zane Lenz 2, Patrick Armock 1, Hayden Pritchard 12, Aidan Moses 2
Free throws: G-A 10-18/Martin x-x
3-point baskets: G-A 3 (Gio Evans 2, Dontrell Bowden 1)/Martin 0
G-A Stat Leaders
Rebounds: Dontrell Bowden 7, Patrick Armock 5, Hayden Pritchard 4, Aidan Moses 4
Assists: Patrick Armock 2
Steals: Giovanni Evans 6, Dontrell Bowden 4, Hunter Pritchard 4
Blocked shots: Patrick Armock 6, Dontrell Bowden 2
G-A Falls to Gobles
The free throw line proved to be a big difference in Galesburg-Augusta’s 58-46 loss to Gobles January 9 in a boys varsity contest at G-A High School on Hall of Fame night.
Byron Cox, the long time “voice of the Rams” announcer from 1975-2005, G-A Athletic Director Mike Woodard and the 1985 G-A football team, who were inducted into the Hall of Fame January 10, were recognized in between the girls and boys varsity games.
Trailing 45-37 after three quarters, the Rams started the fourth quarter on the right note when Dontrell Bowden scored a basket at the 7:18 mark.
But for most of the remaining time, G-A struggled with foul trouble and Gobles capitalized.
The Tigers knocked down 10-of-16 free throws in the final stanza to hold off a G-A rally.
Overall, Gobles took advantage of 21 more free throw opportunities, meshing 17-of-29 for the game. G-A was 5-for-8.
A free throw by Giovanni Evans with 2:01 left pulled G-A to within 55-46, but the Rams were unable to score a point the rest of the quarter.
G-A struggled to get into an offensive rhythm most of the game, trailing 11-10 after one quarter and 27-22 at halftime.
G-A’s offense did come to life midway through the third quarter when a basket by Giovanni Evans and a fast break basket by Dontrell Bowden moments later gave the Rams a 31-28 lead with 5:00 left in the stanza.
Gobles moved back in front 36-35 on a free throw by Nathan Ray and the Tigers closed the quarter strong with a 7-2 run for a 45-27 lead entering the final quarter.
Evans finished with 18 points and Bowden had 13 points to go with three rebounds.
Gobles 11 16 18 13 - 58
Galesburg-Augusta 10 12 15 9 - 46
Ethan Metty 3, Dontrell Bowden 13, Gio Evans 18, Tristan Jackson 2, Patrick Armock 6, Hayden Pritchard 2, Aidan Moses 2
Free throws: G-A 5-8/Gobles 17-29
3-point baskets: G-A 3 (Ethan Metty, Dontrell Bowden 1, Gio Evans 1)/Gobles 7 (Carter Crippin 4, Aiden Beam 3)
G-A Stat Leaders
Rebounds: Patrick Armock 5, Dontrell Bowden 3, Hayden Pritchard 3
Rams Fall to Hackett
The Galesburg-Augusta boys varsity basketball team suffered a second straight close loss January 6, this time 64-60 to Kalamazoo Hackett at Hackett.
G-A dropped a 60-58 decision to Mendon January 2 in the Mendon Holiday Tournament championship game.
Hackett, trailing by a 46-44 count after three quarters, outscored G-A 20-14 in the fourth quarter to secure the win.
G-A, behind a trio of three-point baskets by Hayden Pritchard and a 7-for-8 free throw performance by the team, took a 17-11 lead after one quarter.
Hackett reduced the deficit to one point (28-27) at halftime.
The second half was close too, with the Rams taking a 46-44 lead into the fourth quarter.
Giovanni Evans, who scored 16 points in the second half, led G-A in scoring with 24 points. Dontrell Bowden added 15 points and Hayden Pritchard, who knocked down four three-point baskets, added 12 points.
Galesburg-Augusta 17 11 18 14 - 60
Kalamazoo Hackett 11 16 17 20 - 64
Gavin Lock 1, Ethan Metty 6, Dontrell Bowden 15, Gio Evans 24, Patrick Armock 1, Hayden Pritchard 12
Free throws: G-A 18-26 /Hackett 12-16
3-point baskets: G-A 4 (Ethan Metty 2, Dontrell Bowden 1, Gio Evans 1)/Hackett 6 (Leland Berg 2, Cullen McBride 2, Elijah Brooks 1, Joseph Gamslo 1)
G-A’s Grace Gibson wants the ball
in pressure situations
When the result of a game is on the line, Galesburg-Augusta High School senior Grace Gibson wants the ball in her hands.
She made that very clear with her fourth quarter performance in Galesburg-Augusta’s 44-43 win over Martin Monday and another strong fourth quarter in a 42-40 win over Gobles January 9 on Hall of Fame night.
Gibson came up with a steal, scored a layup, was fouled and then made a free throw to put G-A ahead of Martin with eight seconds left to secure the win.
Gibson came up with her second straight clutch fourth quarter performance against Martin. She scored 12 of her 20 points in the quarter, but also claimed four steals and knocked down a three-point basket in the final stanza to pull G-A to within two points late in the quarter.
Overall, she was 11-for-13 from the free throw line.
The G-A senior scored nine of her game high 20 points in the final 4:40 and made 5-of-6 free throws in the final stanza against Gobles, including three of four free throws in the final 3.5 seconds to help G-A to the win.
The two close wins follows a two-point 50-48 win over Climax-Scotts December 30 when Gibson scored 18 points, and a last second 38-36 win on a basket by Emily Coleman over Centreville December 23.
“I love pressure. Even in volleyball I love pressure. I’ve done that so much. I guess that’s where I like to be. I’ve done it a lot over the past four years,” said Gibson following the win over Gobles.
“She’s my go to (player). Just leadership wise. I have to have the ball in her hands. And then everyone else wants the ball in her hands. That’s the biggest thing too, is that they trust that senior guard to get it done at the end of the game, which she does. This is two games now that she’s in the clutch, drove, got the foul and made her free throws. You can’t deny that when she’s so great at accomplishing that. And her teammates know that too,” added Dunithan after the Gobles win.
G-A, now 5-2, trailed Martin 30-18 at halftime, however the Rams outscored Martin 11-3 in the third quarter to pull to within 33-29 after three quarters.
Dunithan said Brooklyn James, who scored six points in the third quarter, set the tempo for the second half.
According to G-A statistician Dale Martin, the Clippers led the Rams 43-36 with four minutes to play but G-A came back for the win.
Martin said G-A jumped out to a 7-0 lead, however the Clippers cut the deficit to 7-5 at end of the first quarter.
James finished with nine points, six rebounds, six steals and two assists.
Rayonna Alexander chipped in with nine points and three assists.
Martin 5 25 3 10 -43
Galesburg-Augusta 7 11 11 15 - 44
Grace Gibson 20, Rayonna Alexander 9, Jeni Klimp 1, Brooklyn James 9, Kayla Bortolussi 5
Free throws: G-A 18-27/Martin 15-23
3-point baskets: G-A 2 (Brooklyn James, Grace Gibson 1)/Martin 6 (A. Jager 3, K. Jager 1, A. Bacon 2)
G-A Stat Leaders
Rebounds: Brooklyn James 6, Kayla Bortolussi 5, Grace Gibson 4
Assists: Rayonna Alexander 3, Brooklyn James 2
Steals: Brooklyn James 6, Grace Gibson 5
G-A Overtakes Gobles
G-A senior Grace Gibson scored nine of her game high 20 points in the final 4:40 and made 5-of-6 free throws in the final stanza, helping the Lady Rams to a 42-40 win over Gobles January 9 at G-A High School on Hall of Fame night.
Longtime G-A football game announcer the late Byron Cox, G-A Athletic Director Mike Woodard and the 1985 G-A football team were recognized in between the girls and boys varsity games.
Gibson followed two free throws with 4:40 left that pulled G-A to within 34-33 with two straight baskets, giving the home team a 37-34 lead with 3:20 left in the game.
A three-point basket by Gobles’ Kylee Killeen with 1:48 left, gave Gobles the lead again, 40-38.
Gibson’s calm demeanor emerged late when the G-A senior calmly sank two free throws with 3.5 seconds left that gave the Rams a 41-40 lead.
Gibson was fouled again following a Gobles turnover with one second left and split a pair of free throws for the final score.
Gibson feels coming from behind in the fourth quarter and holding on for the win down the stretch, injects a big boost of confidence in the team.
“It helps us believe that we can win close games. Teams I’ve been a part of in the past, if we let it get close then we kind of like fall apart. We don’t make our free throws. I feel like we do a very good job of holding ourselves together and playing where we need to play,” said Gibson, who also had five rebounds, three assists and three steals.
Despite seeing a 2-3 zone for the first time this season, Dunithan felt her team adapted well. She was also pleased how well her taller players, Brooklyn James and Kayla Bortolussi did under the boards, especially under the offensive boards where G-A collected 10 rebounds.
“Our bigs were big today. Our offensive boards, we haven’t had much of, and today they really were great on the offensive boards. I think that was our biggest growth, is that both of my bigs were offensive board minded and put back a lot of shots that we really needed to put back,” offered Dunithan.
G-A took an 11-6 lead into the second quarter, but turned up the defense in the second stanza, holding the Tigers to a pair of baskets and a free throw for a 22-12 lead at halftime.
Gobles, behind eight points from Daisy Jackson, came roaring back in the third quarter to pull to within 30-26 after three quarters.
Freshman Rayonna Alexander added nine points, three assists and three steals for the winners. Brooklyn James had five points, four rebounds and three blocked shots.
Gobles 7 5 14 14 - 40
Galesburg-Augusta 11 11 8 12 - 42
Grace Gibson 20, Rayonna Alexander 9, Jeni Klimp 2, Brooklyn James 5, Kayla Bortolussi 4, Aarlyn Gains 2
Free throws: G-A 9-14/Gobles 10-17
3-point baskets: G-A 3 (Grace Gibson 2, Brooklyn James 1) Gobles 4 (Kaylee Killeen 4)
G-A Stat Leaders
Rebounds: Grace Gibson 5, Emily Coleman 5, Brooklyn James 4
Assists: Grace Gibson 3, Rayonna Alexander 3
Steals: Grace Gibson 3, Rayonna Alexander 3
Blocked shots: Brooklyn James 3
Rams Fall Short Against Schoolcraft
The Galesburg-Augusta girls varsity basketball team could not overcome a cold shooting night in a 41-23 loss to Schoolcraft January 6 at G-A High School.
G-A, which shot a cool 25 percent (7-28) from two-point range, was held to single digits all four quarters.
Schoolcraft enjoyed a strong start, moving in front 20-6 after one quarter.
While the Rams held the Eagles to five points in the second quarter, G-A only managed one free throw for a 25-7 deficit at halftime.
Only four Rams entered the scoring column. Grace Gibson packed the stat sheet with 13 points, seven rebounds, three assists and three steals.
Galesburg-Augusta 6 1 8 8 - 23
Schoolcraft 20 5 8 8 - 41
Grace Gibson 13, Rayonna Alexander 6, Brooklyn James 2, Kayla Bortolussi 2
Free throws: G-A 6-11/Schoolcraft 4-10
3-point baskets: G-A 1 (Grace Gibson 1)/Schoolcraft 5 (A. Sziede 3, A. Walter 2)
G-A Stat Leaders
Rebounds: Grace Gibson 7, Emily Coleman 7, Brooklyn James 6
Assists: Grace Gibson 3, Jeni Klimp 2
Blocked shots: Kayla Bortolussi 3
Steals: Grace Gibson 3
JVs remain undefeated
The Galesburg-Augusta boys JV basketball team captured two more wins to improve to 9-0.
The Rams defeated Gobles January 8, 50-41.
Connor Welker scored 15 points and Hunter Pritchard added 14 points to lead G-A in scoring.
G-A defeated Hackett January 6, 62-49.
Hunter Pritchard scored 22 points, Jerome Bailey had 11 points and Cayden Allie pitched in with 10 points.
Girls JV basketball team gets
back into win column
G-A held off a Gobles rally in the fourth quarter to secure the win.
G-A, now 2-5, led by a 33-22 count after three quarters but watched the Tigers come back with a 13-6 surge in the final stanza.
The Rams led by a 9-4 count after one quarter but an 18-10 burst in the second quarter sent G-A into halftime with a 27-14 lead.
Kylin Wetzel, with 11 points, and Sophia Dohm, with 10 points, led G-A in scoring. Sienna Owens added eight points.
Gobles 4 10 8 13
Galesburg-Augusta 9 18 6 6 - 39
Rams Lose to Schoolcraft
The Galesburg-Augusta JV girls basketball team dropped a 35-21 decision to Schoolcraft January 6 at Schoolcraft.
Miley Coburn scored seven points and Kaylin Wetzel added five points for G-A.
Alexis Thomas places at Olivet
Thomas, wrestling at the 155-pound weight class, was 3-2, winning all three matches by pins.
Caitlyn Valadez (170) also participated but did not place. She was 1-2, winning her lone match by a pin in 54 seconds.
Olivet John Burton Classic
1-Romeo 182, 2-Grand Haven 162, 3-Constantine 145.5, 4-Middleville Thornapple Kellogg 128.5, 5-Bellevue 120, 6-Olivet 108.5, 7-Eaton Rapids 90, 8-Lake Odessa Lakewood 84.5, 9-Paw Paw 69.5, 10-Holland West Ottawa 58, 11-North Muskegon 54, 12-South Haven 52, 13-Wyoming Kelloggsville 49, 14-Quincy 40, 15-Marshall 39, 16-Gull Lake 38.5, 17-Leslie 29, 17-Union City 29, 19-Lawton 27, 20-Concord 25.5, 21-Lansing Eastern 22, 22-Burhanan 21, 23-Bronson 19.5, 24-Fulton 18, 24-Galesburg-Augusta 18, 26-Hanover-Horton 15.5, 27-Schoolcraft 7, 28-Potterville 6, 29-Athens 5, 30-East Jackson 4, 31-Leslie 0
Six rams place at Olivet Tournament
Six members of the Galesburg-Augusta wrestling team placed at the John Burton Classic at Olivet January 10.
Owen Cowles (120-pound weight class) placed first, Donaven Tiffany (113) and Jaxsen Ray (138) both placed second, Jonah Ranes (165) placed third and Jaxsen Kasten (106) and Kameron Prince (285) each earned fifth place finishes.
Cowles was 3-0, winning two matches by pins and another by a 24-7 technical fall.
Tiffany was 3-1, winning by a pin, an 11-7 decision and a 17-1 technical fall.
Ray was also 3-1, winning two matches by technical falls (25-7 and 20-4) and another by a pin.
Ranes, who was 3-1, won two matches by pins and one match by an 18-3 technical fall.
Kasten was 1-2, winning one match by a pin.
Prince was 3-2 with two pins and one 19-3 technical fall win.
G-A finished fifth with 128.5 points. Olivet won the tournament with 249.5 points.
John Burton Classic At Olivet
1-Olivet 249.5, 2-Schoolcraft 159, 3-Climax-Scotts 157.5, 4-Paw Paw 141, 5-Galesburg-Augusta 128.5, 6-Middleville Thornapple Kellogg 108, 7-Hanover-Horton 102, 8-Lansing Eastern 82.5, 9-South Haven 81.5, 10-Lawton 81, 11-Fulton 73.5, 12-Eaton Rapids 70.5, 13-Bellevue 68, 14-Quincy 63.5, 15-Potterville 55, 16-Niles Brandywine 32, 17-Concord 16, 18-Olivet B 14, 19-East Jackson 11, 20-Jackson da Vinci 0
Rams Win Twice
The Rams won two matches at a SAC double dual at G-A against Fennville and South Haven.
G-A defeated Fennville 60-24 and downed South Haven 60-22.
Hunter Kendall (138), by a pin in 1:22, Jonah Ranes (165) by a pin in 15 seconds, and Kameron Prince (285) by a pin in 2:58. The rest of G-A’s wins were by forfeits.
Winning head to head bouts for G-A against South Haven was Jaxsen Kasten (106), by a pin in 1:56, Owen Cowles (120) by a pin in 1:05, Lincoln Hawes (126) by a pin in 2:41, Jaxsen Ray (144) by a pin in 46 seconds, Lance Shoup (157) by a pin in 1:28, Jonah Ranes (165) by a pin in 26 seconds and Kameron Prince (285) by a pin in 2:57.
The other G-A wins came on forfeits.
G-A 60, Fennville 24
106: Jaxsen Kasten (GALEAUG) over (FENNVLE) (For.); 113: Donaven Tiffany (GALEAUG) over (FENNVLE) (For.); 120: Owen Cowles (GALEAUG) over (FENNVLE) (For.); 126: Leo Maciel (FENNVLE) over Lincoln Hawes (GALEAUG) (Fall 5:50); 132: Breckin Vickery (GALEAUG) over (FENNVLE) (For.); 138: Hunter Kendall (GALEAUG) over Jesus Arellano (FENNVLE) (Fall 1:22); 144: Jaxsen Ray (GALEAUG) over (FENNVLE) (For.); 150: Luis Vasquez (FENNVLE) over Colton Robertson (GALEAUG) (Fall 5:40); 157: Lance Shoup (GALEAUG) over (FENNVLE) (For.); 165: Jonah Ranes (GALEAUG) over Kolton Hagger (FENNVLE) (Fall 0:15); 175: Lavell Cody (GALEAUG) over (FENNVLE) (For.); 190: Anthony Mullins (FENNVLE) over Nathaniel Ellis (GALEAUG) (Fall 1:39); 215: Cameron Johnson (FENNVLE) over (GALEAUG) (For.); 285: Kameron Prince (GALEAUG) over Anthony Mullins (FENNVLE) (Fall 2:58)
G-A 60, South Haven 22
106: Jaxsen Kasten (GALEAUG) over Maddie Moore (SHAVEN) (Fall 1:56); 113: Donaven Tiffany (GALEAUG) over (SHAVEN) (For.); 120: Owen Cowles (GALEAUG) over Liam Mott-Cowell (SHAVEN) (Fall 1:05); 126: Lincoln Hawes (GALEAUG) over Oscar Delgado (SHAVEN) (Fall 2:41); 132: Carter Adamson (SHAVEN) over Breckin Vickery (GALEAUG) (Fall 2:32); 138: Ethan Arch (SHAVEN) over Hunter Kendall (GALEAUG) (Fall 2:32); 144: Jaxsen Ray (GALEAUG) over Grant Bugoyne (SHAVEN) (Fall 0:46); 150: Zayden Rowland (SHAVEN) over Colton Robertson (GALEAUG) (MD 14-1); 157: Lance Shoup (GALEAUG) over Keegan Daily (SHAVEN) (Fall 1:28); 165: Jonah Ranes (GALEAUG) over Chase Leadingham (SHAVEN) (Fall 0:26); 175: Lavell Cody (GALEAUG) over (SHAVEN) (For.); 190: Nathaniel Ellis (GALEAUG) over (SHAVEN) (For.); 215: Kenan Harris (SHAVEN) over (GALEAUG) (For.); 285: Kameron Prince (GALEAUG) over Tyler Moorehouse (SHAVEN) (Fall 2:57)
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