Houston Blair had a solid night in leading the Galion boys basketball team to a 55-50 road conference victory over Pleasant Thursday night.
Blair led the team with a game and personal high of 35 points that evening.
“That’s pretty impressive,” said Galion boys basketball head coach Colby Bright. “It was good to see Huey kind of get into a rhythm there.”
The Tigers were neck and neck throughout the game with Spartans junior Ryan Wood spilled first blood after scoring a two-pointer, while Hayden Craycraft followed up with another two-point basket.
Galion senior Colton Moore got the Tigers rolling with a 3-pointer with Blair keeping up the momentum for a 14-9 lead over Pleasant. Wood eventually evened the score at 14 with three charity shots, but the Tigers scored an additional seven points, while the Spartans scored just two more in the first quarter.
“I felt good during the game,” Blair said. “But I just had to keep my composure up and my teammates up.”
The Spartans continued to trail the Tigers in the second period, but Galion maintained its lead 30-27 at halftime.
The Spartans recovered briefly in the third quarter tying at 36, but Galion recovered quickly as Chase Cooke was able to get in a a few free throws and a basket near the end of the end the period – giving the Tigers a 47-40 lead before the fourth quarter.
“Chase really rebounded the ball real well,” Bright said.
The scoring went back and forth between Nico Sansotta and Blair in the final stretch. But Blair took advantage of some free throws that widened the lead.
After the game, cheers could be heard from the Galion locker room as they celebrated getting payback over Pleasant, who defeated Galion 70-57 in Mid-Ohio Athletic Conference action in December.
“That felt good,” Bright said.
The Tigers made 21 shots and 9 of 12 free throws, while the Spartans had 15 shots and 9 of 12 free throws. Bright said he would like to see other team members score more.
Sansotta led the Spartans with 16 points.
Zach Phelps added six points for Galion, while Moore had five.
“I still want us to play team basketball,” he said. “There’s going to be times when they take him (Blair) out of the game. We need to have other guys step up.”
Galion (9-8, 4-7 MOAC) will travel to play North Union in league play on Feb. 5.
