Pirates fend off Hawks in spirited IVC showdown

After a sluggish start to the season, the Garaway Pirates finally have gotten their basketball legs under them, after a run to the state semis in football left many of their key players behind the eight ball in terms of basketball practice time.

The Pirates hosted the Hiland Hawks on Friday, Jan. 19 in a battle of Inter-Valley Conference rivals that goes way back, and after dropping a 41-36 contest to the Hawks in the early going, Garaway rallied for a 51-40 win that improved the Pirates to 8-4 after a 1-3 start to the year. Hiland fell to 8-3.

Garaway led at every stop.

With the Pirates up 22-13 late in the first half, the Hawks rallied to score the final five points to gain some momentum, capped off by Alex Yoder’s steal, driving the length of the floor to beat the buzzer.

Then came a key play to start the second half. The Hawks ran a picture-perfect backdoor play to Nick Wigton, whose layup went up and rattled off the rim after Gabe Amicone’s attempt to block it shook the backboard.

No goaltending was called, despite Hiland head coach Mark Schlabach’s dispute, and the Pirates then went to work to build their lead to 33-22 on the strength of Bronson Speedy’s five points, with the Pirates defense limiting Hiland to just four points.

“I thought it was goaltending, but we have to let that go, and right now we’re not mentally strong enough to not let something like that affect us,” Schlabach said.

Hiland didn’t relent in its effort to come storming back, something Rowe said they expected.

“That team never gives up,” Rowe said of Hiland. “They are as relentless as they come, and we knew they were going to give maximum effort to do anything they could to get back in the game.”

Things didn’t look good for the Hawks early in the fourth. Jackson Reifenschneider’s steal and an and-one from Jenson Garber pushed the Pirates’ lead to 15 at 40-25 with 3:49 to play.

Then came one of the keys to the game.

Springing to life
in the fourth

Garaway’s lengthy defenders held sharpshooter Nick Wigton scoreless through the first three quarters. Wigton has been a potent scoring threat for the Hawks all season but was struggling to find the mark, until the final period rolled around.

Wigton caught fire, drilling a trio of 3-pointers to help the Hawks claw back to within seven after being down by 13 earlier in the quarter.

“He’s so dangerous from the outside when he gets hot,” Rowe said of Wigton, who scored all 11 of his points in the final period. “All he needs is a little crease, and he can hurt you. We did a nice job on him most of the game, but he really helped keep them in the game late.”

Wigton canned a trey at the 3:33 mark to get the Hawks to within 12. A steal and ensuing and-one from Hiland guard Alex Miller trimmed the deficit to nine. With 1:36 to play, Wigton struck again from downtown to make it 44-36.

The pressure was building for Garaway as momentum turned Hiland’s way.

Another steal on the inbounds pass put the Hawks in position to further cut into the deficit, but Blaine Raber’s leaping block of a jumper in the lane gave the ball back to Garaway, and Raber hit two free throws to push the lead back to 10.

Sammy Detweiler’s two free throws gave the Hawks hope, but Garaway was able to handle the ball and make free throws down the stretch to put the game away.

“With them spreading the ball and playing slow, it made it tough to get into a rhythm offensively,” Schlabach said. “It felt like they had the ball in their hands the whole night.”

An early advantage
holds up

Garaway felt it was immensely important to get a lead, especially at home, where the home crowd would be a factor.

Led by senior Gabe Amicone, the Pirates forged a 13-7 advantage that they never relinquished.

“Against a team like Hiland, you have to work hard every single possession, and I thought tonight we put together 32 minutes where we played hard, smart basketball,” Rowe said. “We created quality shots, and we stuck with our game plan, and to get on top early really helped give us a boost of energy and confidence.”

A 10-day holiday

Schlabach wasn’t about to use it as an excuse, noting Garaway simply played harder than his Hawks did for the first three quarters.

However, he did say his team was never in sync from the start, struggling to get things going, especially in the “little things” department every coach says is a key difference-maker in a big game.

One of the reasons that may have been the case is Hiland had not played a game in 10 days, and Schlabach said at times it looked like it.

“They just outplayed us,” Schlabach said. “They were getting to all of the loose balls, and that means they were playing harder than us. I thought we played like we’ve been off for 10 days, so we just need to play games to get back in sync.”

A balanced diet

Hiland had the game’s big gunslinger in Sammy Detweiler, who poured in a game-high 17 points.

Despite giving up that many, Rowe was pleased about his team’s defensive effort against a player who can seemingly score at will.

“He’s about impossible to stop altogether,” Rowe said of Detweiler. “I thought we did a nice job on him overall, despite giving up 17 points to him.”

To combat Detweiler, the Pirates employed a balanced scoring attack that proved to be worth its weight in buried Pirate treasure.

Jenson Garber led the way with 14, Jackson Reifenschneider scored 10, Gabe Amicone and Bronson Speedy popped in eight apiece, and Blaine Raber added seven.

“Our balance over the past several games has been one reason for our turnaround,” Rowe said. “We’ve been putting several guys in double figures, and everyone is contributing. That’s kind of how we’re built. It’s a different brand of ball than Garaway has played in the past, but we’re playing this way for a reason. It gives us the best chance to compete against really good teams like Hiland and others.”