GAHS tops Chillicothe, 48-46

[jottings]

Streak over, GAHS tops Chillicothe
Cav five first time in 85 years, 48-46

The streak is over!

After 85 years.

Coach Tom Moore’s Gallipolis Gallia Academy High School Blue Devils defeated visiting Chillicothe 48-46 in a nail bitter on Senior Night in the Centenary gym Friday to post the school’s first boys victory over a varsity Chillicothe team in 85 years.

The two schools first played each other in the 1928-29 post season tournament with the Cavs winning, 31-7. They played five more tourney games in the 1930s, 1940s and 1950s and three regular season games in 1979-80, 1980-81 and 1981-82. And they played 13 SEOAL games since joining the league in 2006-07, and GAHS lost them all—22 total—during that time.

Chillicothe, playing without its top player and scorer, Zack Johnson, who was ill, jumped out in front 9-2 early in the game and led 13-9 after the first break.

Gallipolis outscored the Cavs 15-4 in the second period to take a 24-17 halftime lead.

At one point in the third period, GAHS was up 32-19 on a three-point goal by Jeremy Wilson. GAHS led 39-31 going into the final period.

GAHS was up 10 points, 43-33, with five minutes left on a put-back by Justin Bailey. However, a series of GAHS turnovers during the next four minutes almost cost GAHS the victory.

Chillicothe pulled within two points, 48-46, with 14 seconds left on a goal by Tim Beard. GAHS missed two foul shots with 12.7 left. CHS got the rebound, came down the floor and had a chance to win or tie the game, but a last-second shot missed its mark and GAHS hung on for its eighth win of the year against 13 setbacks and improved to 4-6 in 2012-13 SEOAL play.


Chillicothe fell to 7-14 overall and finished 5-5 inside the league for the last time. Chillicothe is changing leagues next fall.

Gallipolis connected on 14 of 37 field goal attempts for 37.8 percent. At the line, GAHS was 15 of 25 for 60 percent. The Gallians picked off 34 rebounds, 11 by Justin Bailey and seven by Jimmy Clagg. Gallipolis had 14 personal fouls and committed 16 turnovers, six in the final period.

Bailey led GAHS scorers with 23 points, giving him a double-double for the night. Reid Eastman added eight and Jeremy Wilson six.

Chillicothe connected on 17 of 36 field goal attempts for 47.2 percent. At the line, CHS was 10 of 17 for 58.8 percent. Chillicothe picked off 18 rebounds, seven by Nate Taylor. CHS had 14 personals and 11 turnovers, five in the first period.

Tom Bolte Nate Rosenbauer led the Cavs in scoring with 13 points apiece.

Gallipolis will be idle until Friday, Feb. 22, when the Blue Devils take on Athens in the Division II Sectional Tournament at Logan. Tipoff will be 6 p.m.

Chillicothe finished its regular season at 7-14.

Gallipolis won the freshman game 35-29 to complete its season with a 15-2 record.

The GAHS yearlings of Coach Greg Atkins led 9-6 after one period, 18-15 at halftime and 24-19 going into the final period.

Devin Henry led the winners with 11 points. Kole Carter and D. J. Drennen each had eight points. M. Valentine led CHS with 10 points. The freshman Cavs dropped to 12-5 on the year.

In the JV game, Gallipolis lost another close one as the Little Cavs rallied to post a 52-47 triumph over Coach Streiter's reserves.

Gallipolis trailed 7-4 after one period, but rallied to take an 18-16 halftime advantage. The score was tied at 32-32 going into the final period.

The Blue Imps built up a 36-32 lead with 6:18 left on back-to back goals by Devin Halley and Michael Putney, but Chillicothe then converted 10 straight freebies to take a 42-36 lead with 4:05 left to play, then held on for their 13th win against five losses. CHS JVs finished league play with an 8-2 record.

Gallipolis dropped to 7-14 overall and 3-7 in SEOAL play.

Alex White led GAHS scorers with 11 points. Devin Henry had 10 and Michael Putney eight. Joe Sabastian had six points. D. J. Vinson led Chillicothe with 18 points. D. Zachman and C. Harris each had 10 points for the winners.

In an unusual event, Chillicothe also honored its senior players and cheerleaders on senior night.

Gallipolis seniors playing their final home game were Nick Clagg, Cody Call, Justin Bailey, Aaron Jackson, Jeremy Wilson and Jimmy Clagg. Senior cheerleaders honored before the game were Taylor Loveday, Andrea Edelmann and Maggie Bostic.

Varsity box score:

CHILLICOTHE (46)—Ed Wells, 1-0-0-0-2; Adam Bixler, 0-0-3-4-3; Tom Bolte, 4-(1)-2-3-13; Carl Harris, 0-0-0-0-0; Nolan Taylor, 1-0-0-0-2; T. Harris, 0-(1)-0-0-3; Nate Rosenbauer, 5-0-3-8-13; Tim Beard, 3-0-2-2-8; D. Veeland, 1-0-0-0-2.TOTALS 15-(2)-10-17-46.

GALLIPOLIS (48)—Reid Eastman, 1-(2)-0-1-8; Nick Clagg, 1-0-1-2-3; Cody Call, 0-0-2-6-2; Justin Bailey, 5-(1)-10-14-23; Aaron Jackson, 0-0-0-0-0; Jeremy Wilson, 0-(2)-0-0-6; Seth Atkins, 0-0-0-0-0; Wade Jarrell, 0-0-2-2-2; Wes Jarrell, 0-0-0-0-0; Jimmy Clagg, 2-0-0-0-4. TOTALS 9-5-15-25-48.

Score by quarters:
Chillicothe…..13 4 14 15 -- 46
Gallipolis…..9 15 15 9 -- 48

Freshman score—Gallipolis 35 Chillicothe 29
Reserve score—Chillicothe 52 Gallipolis 47.

[GalliaGrad78]

Great win by The Blue Devils!! Even if Chilly was without Johnson.
Now work hard and get a sectional win!

[JIMMY THE GREEK]

We had our chances, just didn't finish. Hopefully Zach will recover and be ready for tourney time!

[bettis]

Great win Blue Devils!

[Spartan]

Did Chilli finish 7-14 or do they have a make up game between now and the sectional tourney?

[Bronc21]

They host canal Winchester tonight

[jottings]

Chillicothe ends season with 58-53 loss to Canal Winchester. Wind up 7-15.

[dewdrinker]

First time all year Gallia has had to hang on to a lead against a press D. Need to work on this as it will be needed again if we plan on winning another game this year .