The jumper capped a 9-0 run for the Irish, who trailed 59-51 with less than two minutes remaining.
“That was crazy,” Galluch said after the game. “It was the best feeling.”
Final: Catholic Central 60, Greeneview 59. The Irish trailed by eight points with less than two minutes remaining. Junior Ian Galluch hit the game-winner with 7.5 seconds remaining. pic.twitter.com/66SRFmTsa7
— Michael Cooper (@ByMichaelCooper) February 10, 2021
Sophomore Tyler Galluch scored 20 points, junior Ashton Young had 15 points, Ian Galluch had 11 and Cole Ray added 10 for Catholic Central (14-4, 11-3), which kept its OHC South Division title hopes alive.
“What a great team effort all the way around for us,” said Irish coach John Detling. “We never gave up. They fought to the very end.”
Greeneview senior Rhett Burtch scored 20 points, hitting four 3-pointers in the game. Sophomore Carter Williams had 15 points and senior Cole Allen added 13 for Greeneview, which lost its third straight game. The Rams fell to 13-5 and 9-4 in the OHC South, three games back of league-leading Cedarville.
“It takes that out of the picture, but everyone of these adverse situations is a learning experience,” said Rams coach Kyle Fulk. “We’re just trying to get better for the tournament. We weren’t good enough tonight. Catholic Central did a great job of hanging in there. We thought we had them down. We were still preaching to keep playing, the game’s not over yet and we didn’t do that.”
The Irish led by as many as eight points in the first half, but the Rams fought back to claim a 53-51 lead on two free throws by Allen with 3:08 remaining. Back-to-back 3-pointers by Burtch and Williams gave a 59-51 lead.
On its next possession, Allen missed a dunk and the Irish countered with a 3-pointer by Ian Galluch with 1:39 remaining.
“We had to get the ball and go,” Ian Galluch said. “We couldn’t give up any fast break layups. We were lucky they missed two layups and their free throws. We capitalized every time they missed.”
Ray hit one of two free throws with 1:07 remaining and a layup by Young with less than 40 seconds remaining brought the Irish to within one point at 59-58.
Greeneview’s Myles Witt missed a free throw with 23.8 seconds remaining. On its next possession, Ian Galluch’s jumper gave the Irish the lead for good. The Rams were unable to get a shot off as time expired.
A year ago, Ian Galluch was a 3-point specialist, Detling said. This season, the junior has worked hard developing a midrange pull-up jumper.
“In practice, we’ll compete and that’s his patented pull-up jumper — from that spot and everything,” Detling said. “When he took it, I knew it was going to be a good shot for us.”
Cedarville is 15-1 and 11-1 in the division, but have four conference games remaining against Greenon, Catholic Central, Greeneview and Southeastern.
The Irish remain two games back of the Indians with two games to play. They travel to Madison Plains on Friday and host Cedarville on Saturday night. The Irish will need to win both of those games and get some help to win their third OHC South title in four seasons.
“We’ve been through so much, two quarantines,” Detling said. “This is the first time since the Kenton Ridge game we’ve had a 100 percent healthy team. Tonight’s game was a prime example of what they can do. They never gave up. I’m so proud of them.”
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