Finishing strong

Cameron Spillane, Staff Writer|March 1, 2017

The boys found their groove late in the season, winning five of their last seven regular season games.  They were able to take the victories in their games against Potosi, Scales Mound, River Ridge, East Dubuque and Stockton winning most by large margins.  The only losses that the Pirates took were on tough road games against the Warren Warriors and the Pearl City Wolves.

One of the main turning points for the boys was getting a win against River Ridge.  The boys had lost to River Ridge earlier in the season by a score of 57-61.  They stepped up their intensity in the second matchup against the Wildcats, and in an impressive showing defeated their opposition 75-53.

“The first game against River Ridge we had poor team effort, poor player decision making, and poor coaching.  In the second game we decided that wasn’t going to happen again,” said coach Scott Schaber.

Ever since that game, the boys seemed to have found their rhythm.  They felt that this helped them to push to beat their rivals from East Dubuque for the first time in eight years.  This victory against a top ten rated team in the state gave the Pirates the huge confidence boost that they needed to launch them into the postseason.

“After beating East Dubuque, we really felt as if there wasn’t anyone we couldn’t play with.  Now we feel very confident in ourselves as we head into regionals,” said junior Eddie Wilhelm.

In the first round of class 1A boys basketball in Stockton, the boys faced off against the Warren Warriors for a fourth time in the season.  Determined to prove that the one loss to Warren was a fluke, the boys started out strong, and never let off the gas as they won 63-52.  This victory set the Pirates up for a second round matchup against East Dubuque.

The Pirates started the second round regional game strong, and went into the half with a score of 14-14.  The boys went flat in the fourth quarter and fell short of their mark in a tough season ending loss.

“It’s never fun to lose, but this was a game we felt that we could win.  And adding the fact that it’s the last game we will play as Galena Pirates makes it that much tougher,” says senior Kane Hyde.

With the end of the season, the Pirates look forward to working hard in the offseason to prepare for a strong performance next year.