Last week, the Garretson Boys Varsity Basketball team hit the road to take on Baltic on Tuesday, and hosted McCook Central/Montrose on Friday. While the Dragons were unable to overcome their opponents at both games, it was the match against MCM that left fans heartbroken. That's because Garretson made a solid comeback play and nearly emerged the winner.
Right away in the game against Baltic, the two teams battled hard but Garretson had trouble sinking some baskets, allowing Baltic to get the upper hand. Despite some solid plays by the Garretson boys, ensuring that Baltic was unable to widen the lead, they went into the half 23-27.
In the third quarter Garretson couldn't find its footing, and Baltic charged ahead, forcing the Dragons to go into the fourth running behind at 34-52. Garretson pulled out a few more baskets in the fourth quarter, but were unable to close the lead, leaving the game 39-58 when the buzzer sounded.
In the game against MCM on Friday evening, the home team was raring to go, and the game didn't disappoint. The two opponents stayed neck-in-neck throughout all four quarters, with Garretson snagging a small lead late in the first quarter and refusing to let go.
In the second quarter, MCM attained a one-point lead, but gave it up to Garretson soon after, leaving the game at 22-21. When a foul allowed MCM to re-tie the score, the Dragons plowed across the court to take it back, bringing the score to 24-22 and going into half-time shortly after. The third quarter went the same way, with one team attaining the lead and the other tying it up, and went into the 4th 33-34.
The decisive fourth quarter saw the Cougars pull out in front, at one point widening the gap to a 9-point lead. Determined not to have a hometown loss, the Dragons bit down and closed it back to 44-45 with 1:38 left in the game. With 14.8 seconds on the clock, a called foul put MCM on the free throw line, allowing them to attain another point, 44-46. Both teams used timeouts to try and get the upper hand. Another foul again put MCM on the free throw line, putting the score at 44-48 with 12 seconds remaining. Fast moves from Blaine Trower and Ian Buettner, plus a good corner shot from Garretson's Ramsey Schweitzer put the score at 47-48 just before the buzzer sounded.
The referees backed the clock up to 1.2 seconds after Garretson's Collin Olson collided with an MCM player on the rebound, turning the ball over, and then a foul was called on Garretson as they attempted to reclaim possession of the ball, putting MCM back on the free throw line with 0.2 seconds left in the game. The free throw was good, ending the game at 47-49.
The Dragons were back on the home court on Tuesday in a double header with Beresford (results not available at press time), and will play Elkton-Lake Benton on Saturday with the game starting at 1:30 p.m. in the Dragon's Lair. They'll play their final home game of the season next Tuesday in a double header with Parker, with varsity boys beginning at 7:15 p.m.
