Granite teams cage visiting bears in Philipsburg
PHILIPSBURG–Granite got a midseason scare Saturday night, as Lima made a strong fourth-quarter run in Philipsburg. But the Prospectors held off the surge to take away a 55-43 win.
“We’re trying to develop our bench,” said Granite Head Coach Dustin Keltner. “We’re trying to work some of those younger kids in with some of our older kids to get those guys some varsity minutes. Ultimately we did that.
“We played pretty well at the start of both halves … We just turned it off at the end. We can’t go 2-for-8 from the free throw line in the fourth quarter. We just didn’t finish well at all. We just weren’t mentally ready to go in the fourth quarter.”
The Prospectors led by as many as 22 late in the third quarter when the Bears started their final run. When the fourth period started, Granite held a 51-27 advantage and still looked in control. But Lima’s Bobby Cox scored all eight of his points to lead the comeback attempt.
The Prospector reserves went cold from the field and the line; hitting just two free throws of the eight they were gifted. When the lead had been whittled down to 10 points, Keltner put his starters back in to the seal the deal.
Guard Brian Ward led the charge for the locals with 15 points, followed closely by Daniel Brabender with 14.
The Prospectors will now get ready for to play the Trojans in Drummond Thursday, January 24.
SCORING
LIMA – 5/10/12/16 – 43
GRANITE – 18/16/17/4 – 55
Lima – Duck 6, WNygren 3, Cox 10, Haws 10, Messenger 12, JNygren 2
Granite – Ward 15, Grange 1, Parret 8, PMetesh 6, Brabender 14, Cutler 11
Girls Varsity
Granite 49, Lima 22
The Lady Prospectors started fast and kept their foot on the pedal in defeating the visiting Lady Bears, 49-22.
“After last night where I thought we started slow, our biggest thing was playing intense the whole game and I thought our girls did a good job of that,” said Granite Head Coach Brandon Piazolla. “We’re taking good shot selections; our perimeter game is really starting get better.
“I think we’re definitely making strides to be the team we want to become by Districts.”
The Lady Prospectors dialed in their game from long distance in the first eight minutes, with Sarah Goff hitting two of the team’s four three-point baskets.
Amelia Hill led Granite with 10 points on a night that saw nine of their team’s 10 players get into the scorebook.
SCORING
LIMA – 7/8/2/5 – 22
GRANITE – 20/12/4/13 – 49
Lima – MCrafton 8, Williamson 4, Perrnoud 3, PCrafton 2, Lessley 5
Granite – Hill 10, Tallon 4, Struna 3, Grange 8, Pitcher 2, Lilyquist 2, Metesh 4, Goff 6, Radtke 8
