Tallon’s fourth quarter explosion leads Granite to Consolation title

HAMILTON – In what may have been his final game as a Prospector, Andrew Tallon went out like a house on fire.

Granite staged an epic fourth quarter comeback to beat the Valley Christian Eagles 46-42 Saturday in the Consolation Finals of the District 13C Basketball Tournament At Hamilton High School. The victory gives the Prospectors a chance to challenge the loser of the tournament finale for a spot in the Western Divisional Tournament starting Feb. 23 in Butte. That is, provided its Drummond.

Trailing 36-28 heading into the final quarter, Tallon went on a scoring spree that had fans rising to their feet with every shot. He scored 16 straight points including four long-range three-pointers for Granite’s only buckets of the period. Their other two points came on free throws by Cavan Babbitt and Eric Pitcher.

Pitcher’s proved to be the death knell for the Eagles as he sank the front end of a 1-and-1 to give the Prospectors a four-point, two possession margin that Valley couldn’t overcome in the final seven seconds of the game.

The change of tide in the game came at halftime when GHS Head Coach Mindy Avila switched her team to a 1-3-1 defense to counter the Eagles’ three-point shooting.

“We hadn’t run it but once all year,” said Avila after the win. “As we were coming out of the locker room at halftime I was talking with Cash (Laslovich, GHS Boys Head Coach) and she suggested the 1-3-1. I pitched it at the guys in the last 30 seconds before the third period. They were a little leary and I said, ‘Let’s give it two possessions’. Two turned into three and then the second half. It’s what made the difference.”

Tallon finished with a game-high 20 for Granite, with fellow senior Cayhel White adding 10.

Zeke Glidewell was the leading scorer for Valley Christian.

SCORING

Granite – 5/9/14/18 – 46

Valley Christian – 7/20/9/6 – 42

Granite – Pitcher 8, Tallon 20, Babbitt 8, White 10

Valley Christian – CGlidewell 6, ZGlidewell 16, McKethan 2, Stoltzfuss 12, Lorenz 2, Karavandi 4