By Jim Henry
jhenry@joplinglobe.com
Galena had some preparation last month for today’s Class 3A boys basketball quarterfinal game against Kansas City Christian.
“They are big ... 6-7, 6-5, 6-4,” Bulldogs head coach Matt Meyr said. “It will be like playing Seneca all over again, I think. They have a big, tall point guard like Seneca has.”
Tipoff is at 3 p.m. at the Hutchinson Sports Arena for the Bulldogs (21-2) and Kansas City Christian (17-6).
The Bulldogs have advanced to the quarterfinals for the third straight year and fourth time in the last five years, but they are still looking to get past the first round.
“The experience of the whole situation ... they’re probably will still be some nervousness but hopefully not as much as the other team, which hasn’t been there,” Meyr said. “That should be an advantage to us.”
The Bulldogs are seeded second behind once-beaten Wichita Collegiate, but Meyr doesn’t put much importance on seeds.
“All eight teams will be really good,” he said. “The 8 seed (Council Grove) has 10 losses, but it won its sub-state championship by 20-some points. It sounds like they played a tough schedule. Every team has a chance to win it.”
Galena won its sub-state crown 49-37 over Cherryvale on Saturday night at Frontenac after building a 30-14 halftime advantage.
“Foul trouble killed us,” Meyr said. “We played pretty much the second half with three senior starters on the bench. Offensively that slowed us down quite a bit, but these kids have always done a good job on defense.”
Galena’s starting lineup has 6-footer Cody Clark, 6-3 Colton Leet, 6-1 Troy Albright, 5-9 Jacoby Martin and 6-3 Zac Gougler. All are seniors except Gougler, a sophomore.
Clark leads a balanced scoring attack at 13 points per game. Leet and Albright are next at 11 and 10, respectively.
Dilan Lansford (6-4 junior), Codie Perry (6-2 junior) and Tyler VanCleave (5-11 freshmen) are the top reserves. Four sophomores complete the state tournament roster —Chad Shepherd (5-5), Levi Sturgis (5-10), Ty Albright (5-10) and Zac Roberts (5-8).
Galena has won 10 straight since losing to Olathe North, a 6A school added to the schedule to fill an open date created by winter weather. The Bulldogs’ other loss came to Thomas Jefferson, a Class 1 state qualifier in Missouri, in the semifinals of the Tony Dubray Classic in Liberal.
