By Gene Schinzel
sports@joplinglobe.com
HUTCHINSON, Kan. — Adam Donyes is getting used to watching his Kansas City Christian boys basketball team play nail-biters.
“The last five or six games, we’ve started playing well. The great thing about those last five games is that they’ve all been close. I feel like all those close games are starting to pay off,” Donyes said.
Kansas City Christian played well in the final minutes Wednesday at the Class 3A state tournament. The Panthers scored six points in the final 53 seconds to pull out a 44-41 win over Galena.
Kansas City Christian improved to 18-6 with its victory over Galena, which came into the game ranked second in the state and was the second seed behind defending champion Wichita Collegiate.
“When you get to Hutch, you can throw the records out the window,” Donyes said. “Everyone’s 0-0. We didn’t look at it as a (No. 2 vs. No. 7) game.”
Galena slowed the tempo in the first half and led 16-9 with four minutes left before halftime. But the Panthers were able to tie the score at halftime and then grabbed a 36-26 lead early in the fourth quarter after an 11-1 run.
“We went through that drought in the second quarter and third quarter whre we couldn’t make shots,” said Galena coach Matt Meyr. “We had some easy looks inside, but we couldn’t get them to fall.”
Galena shot 30 percent from the field and hit just 12 field goals on the day.
But despite those offensive struggles, Galena gave itself a chance to win down the stretch.
Trailing 38-29 with four minutes left, Galena’s pressure defense created some transition baskets as the Bulldogs grabbed a 39-38 lead with 1:20 after a Troy Albright layup.
On Kansas City Christian’s next possession, Blake Spencer, who finished with 14 points and 10 rebounds, sank two free throws with 53 seconds left. The Panthers then got an uncontested layup from Lenard Manuel with 30 seconds left for a 42-39 lead.
After trading baskets, Galena had two chances to tie it, but both 3-point attempts were off the mark, including one at the buzzer.
Galena was led by Colton Leet, who had 17 points and four steals. Albright finished with 10 points and nine rebounds, and Jonathan Clark also had four steals.
