The Glendale Falcons defeated the Branson Pirates in a nip and tuck affair, 73-67, on Tuesday night. Neither side could hold a lead of more than eight points as both would make runs and have defensive stops when needed.
Branson held a 20-18 lead after one quarter. The Pirates led by eight with a minute to go in the first half before Glendale tied the score 34-34 going into the half. Branson dominated the offensive boards in the first half and continued to do so in the second half, while Glendale sophomore Monty Johal had a game high 35 points for the Falcons.
“We started off rough at first,” said Johal. “They outworked us at the beginning but we managed to outwork them in the fourth quarter. We did what we had to do to win even though it wasn’t pretty. In the beginning we couldn’t get them stopped, they had a bunch of points in a row and then we got a bunch of offensive rebounds. What we did wrong in the first half, we made sure to fix that in the second half.”
Glendale attacked the bucket throughout the night but in the second half managed to get the Pirates in foul trouble. Glendale took the lead to start the fourth quarter, 50-47, but it was a precarious lead. Branson continued to battle their way back and when Nick Dapprich drained a three point shot with 5:04 to go in the game the Pirates took the lead, 55-54. Glendale answered quickly and regained the lead at the free throw line putting them up 62-57 with 4:20 left to go. Branson senior Colby Sutton tied the game at 63 with 2:00 remaining, but again, Glendale answered and regained the lead by making a free throw to put them up one.
“We pulled it out, that’s for sure,” said Glendale senior Zach Helm. “We made plays so we could win the game. We made our free throws, we stopped them most of the time, and we kept our composure.”
Glendale would not score another basket the rest of the night but they would knock down seven of ten free throws down the stretch. With :55 to go in the game, Dapprich hit another three to give Branson the lead, 67-66. Glendale’s Johal and Jordan Walton each made two free throws and Branson could not get a shot to fall. Glendale missed five free throws in the fourth quarter but Branson could not capitalize on the missed shots. Glendale held on for the 73-67 victory.
“Very nice ballgame, it was entertaining for everybody,” said Branson coach Kirk Hanson. “We were in it the whole way and the game was decided at the free throw line. I was told the free throws were 37-15 in their favor in a six point game. I thought we played well. Our effort was there. Foul trouble hurt us. We had, I think, four players foul out and that hurt us at the end of the game. I had guys with JV experience in there trying to play and they did their best. We played hard and I’m pleased with their effort.”
“Branson out-played us, plain and simple,” said Glendale coach Brian McTague. “Their effort was better than ours tonight for three quarters. I told our kids that good teams win games when they don’t play well and Branson had a lot to do with us not playing well. We just, for whatever reason, didn’t have the passion and the effort that we needed tonight. On the defensive end, they kicked our tail on the boards and a lot of their first half stuff was off the offensive glass. We made the plays that we had to make at the end of the game to win, but I was disappointed with our effort overall; sloppy and just too nonchalant.”
“We need to get back in the gym tomorrow and talk about some things,” said McTague. “I was proud of our kids for finding a way to win at the end of the game. I think they got the lead on us twice. I thought we did a good job of running it right back at them and were able to get back to the free throw line and get the lead back each time. It was just one of those games and hopefully we learn from it and get better going forward.”
Glendale 18 17 16 22 -73
Branson 20 14 13 20 -67
Glendale— Monty Johal-35, Jordan Walton-14, Zach Helm-12, Tristan Baker-7, Spencer Wester-5
Branson— Seth Wood-19, Christian Powell-18, Nick Dapprich-17, Colby Sutton-8, Montana Myer-4, Cameron Banks-1
