“It’s a huge win for us because they’re such a good team,” Godlove said. “They’re a great team and they’re having a great season. I’m just proud of our guys. I felt like at their place we had a very young team, played them early in the season and I felt like we played scared and timid and didn’t give it our best shot. I was hoping tonight we’d come out and give it our best shot and just play and see what happens and we did that.”
Cedarville sophomore Tyler Cross scored a game-high 21 points, hitting five 3-pointers as the Indians (13-3, 9-2 OHC South) won their ninth straight game. Junior Drew Koning scored 14 points, while senior Hayden Hanson had 10 points and four blocks for Cedarville.
“It was a really fun atmosphere, everybody being crazy and loud,” Hanson said.
Catholic Central senior Ian Galluch scored 17 points, hitting five 3-pointers, while junior Tyler Galluch scored 13 points and Cole Ray added 10 points as the Irish fell to 15-1 and 11-1 in the OHC South Division.
“(Cedarville) caught fire from (the 3-point line),” said Irish coach John Detling. “They played their hearts out. They definitely wanted this game. We made a couple mistakes, but what can you say with how hot that they stayed, especially at the end when we gave them opportunities. … It stings, but we’ll regroup and get back on track.”
Credit: Name Test
Credit: Name Test
The game saw 20 made 3-pointers, including 11 by the Irish. Catholic Central led 28-27 at the half and twice led by seven points in the fourth quarter. They took a 50-43 lead on a bucket by Tyler Galluch with less than four minutes remaining.
That’s when the Indians caught fire. Cross hit back-to-back 3-pointers and senior Caden McKinion hit one of two free throws to tie the score at 50. On the next possession, Koning hit a 3-pointer from the top of the key with less than a minute remaining to give Cedarville a 53-50 lead it would never relinquish.
Ian Galluch hit a layup to cut the lead to 53-52 and McKinion hit one of two free throws to give the Indians a two-point lead. The Irish missed a layup with about 10 seconds remaining and Tyler Cross converted a fast break layup to seal the victory.
“They made some big shots, especially 3s,” Detling said. “A couple times we made some mistakes that we just shouldn’t have made there towards the end. As I told the guys, there’s nothing that we can do, we can’t beat ourselves up about it. We’ll learn from it and move forward.”
The Indians used multiple defenses throughout the game, including man-to-man, a 2-3 zone and a triangle-and-two zone, to keep Catholic Central from getting in a rhythm. Godlove was proud of the way his team never gave up despite trailing by seven points midway through the fourth quarter.
“The guys just stayed focused and kept playing,” he said. “We had some big shots that really pulled us through at the end. Our defense was great. I felt like we had them frustrated and that helped. We don’t score a bunch of points so that was important.”
With the win, the Indians trail the Irish by one game in the tough OHC South Division, which has four teams with 12 or more wins. The Indians were scheduled to play at Greenon (12-3, 8-2) on Saturday night, while the Irish host the Knights on Tuesday. Both teams also have a game remaining against Greeneview (12-5, 8-4), which fell at Greenon 50-48 on Friday night.
“I hope we continue to stay focused and take it one game at a time,” Godlove said. “We feel like our league is extremely tough. No matter who you’re playing, you’ve got to show up and play every night.”
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