Thomas Jefferson drops close overtime contest with Galena

Jan. 16—LIBERAL, Mo. — It was a close battle all game long when the Thomas Jefferson girls basketball team faced off with Galena, Kansas, on Tuesday evening at Liberal High School in the opening round of the Tony Dubray Classic.

The two teams were never separated by more than 5 points during the second half and the fifth-seeded Galena Bulldogs were able to avenge a 50-34 loss to the fourth-seeded Cavaliers on Nov. 30 by claiming a 49-42 overtime victory this time.

TJ (7-6) only managed 3 overtime points and they all came from the free throw line.

"Honestly, in the overtime period we didn't come to play," TJ head coach Lindsey Showalter said. "It did hurt not having Gabbi (Hiebert), but I told the girls at some point in time we're going to have to adapt and adjust, and we just didn't make the moves."

Galena was sparked in overtime by Rylee Boyes, who made seven straight free throws and only missed one — her final attempt.

"It was big because she missed a couple at the end of regulation," Galena head coach Zach Shockey said. "She's a great free throw shooter for us. She's good at getting to the line and finishing when she gets there.

"She takes care of a lot of the ball-handling for us, as you saw there in the fourth quarter and overtime. She can hit big shots. She's one of the few kids we have that can create their own shots. But what I was most proud of was the way she dished the ball out today."

Boyes totaled 26 points in the contest and was 10 for 14 at the charity stripe.

Showalter knew coming in that her team would have to defend Boyes closely.

"We had a hard time shutting her down and the game plan was to shut her down," Showalter noted.

Offensively, the Cavaliers looked to get the ball on the interior to Lannah Grigg and then work it back out for an in-and-out game. They were able to use that at times with four 3-pointers and Grigg collecting 9 points.

Trailing 21-17 at the half, Thomas Jefferson came out with an important run scoring 8 straight points to take a 22-21 lead. Point guard Sarah Mueller made a 3-point basket and a layup to get that advantage. Gabbi Hiebert then lined up a triple to make it 25-21.

But Galena then responded with 5 of its own to grab the lead back at 26-25. The run continued to 9 straight points to make it 30-25 — the largest lead of the second half.

The Bulldogs held a 32-29 lead after the third quarter.

Thomas Jefferson then scored 6 of the first 9 points in the final stanza to tie the game at 35 apiece. That's when coach Shockey used a timeout with 3:52 left in the game.

The next score came on two free throws from Grigg to put TJ ahead 37-35 with three minutes left.

A timely basket from freshman Rylie Meyr went in for Galena from beyond the arc to regain the lead at 38-37 with 1:40 left to play. Thomas Jefferson trailed 39-37 with less than a minute to go and Alexis Stamps converted a basket at the rim after an entry pass from the corner to tie the game with 35 seconds left.

Galena took another timeout with 14.8 second to go. The final shot was blocked by Grigg to force overtime. Grigg showcased her defense by blocking shots and defending at the rim, but she also used her ability to shuffle her feet and stop defenders at the baseline on multiple occasions in the game.

"I stressed to the girls how we needed to be disciplined enough to get one stop and force overtime," Showalter said. "She did a good job cutting off the baseline."

Galena scored to open the bonus period and never looked back on the strength of Boyes' free throws.

"I hope that this was a huge wakeup call for them," Showalter said of her team. "Galena was very beatable. We actually beat them earlier this season. ... Sticking to what we are. Getting out in transition. Being disciplined and doing the little things. Not doing the little things is what lost us the game tonight."

The Bulldogs were out to prove they had gotten better since that loss a month-and-a-half ago.

"We really want to stay in the winner's bracket," Shockey said. "We have one senior whose never been in the loser's bracket. We didn't want to go there with her. ... They beat us in the first game of the year and we wanted to show everybody how much better we've gotten."

Galena is also learning to play without the program's all-time leading scorer in Mia Sarwinski who graduated last year. The Bulldogs will meet top-seeded St. Mary's Colgan Wednesday at 5:30 p.m.

TJ will play at 5:15 p.m. Wednesday in the FEMA gym against eighth-seeded Bronaugh.