01-04-05
BY JACK BULLOCK
BLUFORD - In games between evenly matched teams, a 5:18 scoring drought will doom any squad.

Unfortunately for Webber Township, its dry spell came during a Galatia hot streak.

That combination provided nearly all of the final margin during Tuesday nights' 56-44 Galatia win over the Trojans on the road in a game between ABV ranked squads.

With a scorching defense that forced Webber into 19 turnovers Galatia, the fifth ranked team in the ABV Deep South rankings, went on a 13-0 run to close out the third quarter and break open a close game.

Derek Sloan was once again the scoring leader for coach Rod Wallace's team.

His 26-points were just slightly over his average and his three 3-pointers in the third quarter helped the 'Cats catapult themselves past a very good Webber team on the road.

Forcing seven third quarter turnovers, Galatia made the Trojans look like a team that hadn't played a game in 17-days.

"I am not going to use the 17-day layoff as an excuse and I hope the kids don't use it either," said Webber mentor Clarence Gross, whose 14th ranked ABV club fell to 9-2 on the season.
"They (the Bearcats) just played harder than us tonight. It seemed like they got every loose ball and they beat us on the boards tonight as well."

Webber's nightmare of a finish started in that ill-fated, mistake plagued third quarter.

After three baskets by Joey Ullery and two free throws by Jabe Michel gave the Trojans a 30-28 lead, the wheels came off of the Webber wagon courtesy of Galatia's pressure defense that took control at this point.

Sloan scored a quick five points on a back door lay in and then the first of his three 'trifectas' in the third quarter, which gave the Bearcats their first lead of the game at 33-30.

Eli House got into the thievery act as he made a steal of an errant Trojan pass and went the length of the floor for a lay up that started the Galatia snowball rolling down the mountain.

Sloan closed the quarter by hitting two more long treys.

His rainbow shot from the top of the key made it 38-30 with 1:17 left.

After yet another Webber miscue on the offensive end gave the ball back to Galatia, the Bearcats worked for the final :36 of the quarter to get a good shot.

A skip pass found Sloan on the left wing and his 20-footer found the bottom of the net as the horn sounded, sending the 'Cats sailing into the break at 41-30.

"We turned it up a notch in the third quarter and took control," said Wallace, whose team now stands at a school-best 11-1 after twelve games. "Our defense picked up in the second half and created a lot of easy stuff."

The Trojans actually played even with Galatia in the final frame, but they had little choice but to send the Bearcats to the foul line where they closed the game out with a 5-of-6 performance in the last 2:00.

A window-dressing 3-pointer by Ullery closed the gap to the final 56-44 score.

"They (Galatia) are on a high-note right now. They just won the Sesser Tournament and they played well," said coach Gross. "We had a lot of missed opportunities tonight but we didn't convert our shots, which is a tribute to their defense."

As the game began, it looked like Galatia had the Christmas break cobwebs as Webber jumped out to a quick advantage with baskets by Bryce McKenzie, Cody Swartz and Michel.

The 6-foot-4 Michel canned a turnaround bank shot on a pass from Ullery to make it 7-3 with 4:52 to go in the opening stanza.

With Seth Cockrum and House both scoring early, Galatia created the games first tie at 7-7.

But back came Webber with McKenzie scoring four points on two free throws and a fast break basket to go with another Michel bucket in close to make it 13-7 at the end of one.

Galatia gave a brief preview of things to come with a strong second quarter to get back close.

The Bearcats scored seven of the first nine markers in the quarter, with Cockrum underneath the basket doing damage while Sloan was heating up from behind the arc.

Cockrum provided a pair of shots in the paint during the run, one on an offensive rebound and another on a feed from House.

When Sloan again connected from 20-feet, the game was evened at 17-all.

McKenzie and Ullery closed out the Webber scoring in the second frame with five points coming from a pair of baskets and a 1-of-2 free throw chance by Ullery.

Sloan again scored, this time on a fast break lay in, making it 22-21 Webber at intermission.

But when the Trojans hit the wall in the third quarter, Galatia put them away for the teams' ninth-straight win.

"They have three players out there on the perimeter that are tough to defend and we didn't do a very good job of that tonight," added Gross. "There is no shame in losing to Galatia, they are a pretty good ball club."

Sloan's 26 lead both teams in scoring and teammates House and Cockrum added 11 and eight.

Ullery topped Webber Township with 15-points while Michel and McKenzie chipped in 11 and 10.
The Trojans were a paltry 14-of-43 from the field (32 percent) while Galatia was much more successful at 22-of-46 (47 percent) in the game.

Galatia did a far superior job on the boards as they held a 29-16 advantage.

But the 19 turnovers stood out for Webber, as they must regroup quickly with conference games coming up at Thompsonville Thursday night and then Waltonville and Woodlawn next week at home.

"We can't hang our heads on this loss because we have three tough games in a row coming up," said Gross. "All year long we have handled the ball well against pressure but tonight we fell asleep for about two minutes in the third quarter and it was over."

Galatia heads back to work Friday night at home against Carrier Mills.

"This was a good game as far as we are concerned. They (Webber) are a good ballclub but we were ready tonight," finalized Wallace.

Galatia (48) - Cockrum 3 0 2-2 8, Moore 3 0 0-0 6, Sloan 3 6 2-3 26, Hodson 2 0 2-2 5, House 3 0 5-6 11. 2FG-14, 3FG-6, FT-10-13, PF-14.
Webber Township (61) - Porter 1 0 1-2 3, McKenzie 3 0 2-2 10, Ullery 6 1 0-0 15, Michel 3 0 5-8 11, Swartz 1 0 0-0 2, Trout 00 3-4 3.
2FG-14, 3FG-1, FT-11-16, PF-17.
Fouled Out - None.
Technical Fouls - None.