On Tuesday, January 7, the Galena Pirates hosted the River Ridge Wildcats for a NUIC Conference game. The final score was 51-47; Galena was able to muster the strength needed to secure a respectable victory.
The night’s top scorer was Myles Schumacher 25’, with the top score of 16 points. Just five points behind him was Drew Koenigs 26’, with 11 points. These two players combined made up more than half of the final score! However, without the rest of the team, they wouldn’t have been able to win the game and set themselves in a better position for the playoffs. With this win the record for the Pirates is 11-6.
In the first quarter, the Pirates worked as hard and fast as possible. Schumacher had a total of 2 three-pointers this quarter. Owen Hefel 26’ had a total of 5 points this quarter including a three-pointer! On the Wildcats Joe Winter 25’ had 9 points this quarter, helping him with his 3 free-throws. I think we could have won without the scores” commented Schumacher, “everyone on our team can score”.
The second quarter started strongly. The Wildcats were behind by one and wanted to get ahead of the Pirates to take the win. The Wildcats had a tough quarter with only 9 points, Winter made 2 shots and Nate Haas 25’ had 3 points. Unlucky for the Cats Mason Smith 26’, Roman Romer 26’, Koenigs, and Schumacher all made shots making the Pirates up by 4 points. “I think with the shots I made helped us for sure,” said Koenigs.
Third Quarter Braden Kevern 25’ made a 3-pointer early in the game. The Pirates had an overall of 11 points this quarter. River Ridge comes back with 15 points. Winter makes 4 shots and two free throws. Then Damon Dittmar 25’ helped his team with a 3-pointer and Logan Keleher 25’ made a shot. The final score is 39-39. “The tie for sure helped us stay conservative with the ball,” said Kevern.
Everyone was on the edge of their seats for the game’s last quarter. The Wildcats jumped back, every point the Pirates made they would come back and make. Tied 47-47, the Pirates had the ball, but
the three points made by Koenigs and the three-pointer made by Schumacher made it hard for a comeback. Score 50-47 the Wildcats still had a shot at tying with the Pirates all they needed was a three to go into overtime. The foul on Sam Raif 26’ gave the pirates 2 chances to win the game. The first free-throw Schumacher shot he missed. The pressure was on whether he made this with the guarantee the Pirates would win or miss the chance of losing the game. The shot with less than 7 seconds left secured the Pirate win. “Since everyone can score on our team we definitely would have won this game in overtime,” said Schumacher.
