St. Paul takes hard hit from Galena

By Camden McFarland

camden@hometowngirard.com

St. Paul High School’s boys and girls basketball teams came face to face with their toughest opponent yet, the Galena Bulldogs, last night in Galena.

Throughout the girls’ game, the Indians fought hard and played down to the wire.

The Indians quickly established a lead in the first quarter, scoring 12 points and holding Galena to only five.

However, Galena switched roles in the second quarter and only allowed St. Paul to score 4 points. After scoring 13 additional points, Galena took the lead heading into halftime with a score of 18-16.

Neither team backed down in the second half, both eager to achieve the victory.

St. Paul outscored Galena in the third quarter, scoring 12 points and only allowing seven, reestablishing the Indians’ lead.

Heading into the fourth quarter leading 28-25, St. Paul continued to battle as Galena strived to close the gap. The Indians managed to score 11 more points, but Galena topped that with 14 points to tie the game.

During overtime, St. Paul could not find their way past Galena’s defense and only managed to score six points. Galena scored 11 additional points to win with a score of 50-45.

This was the Indians’ first loss of the season, moving their record to 6-1.

Katelin O’Brien carried the Indians’ offense, scoring 18 of the team’s points.

During the boys’ game, St. Paul struggled to lock down on defense, which led to a large point gap.

In the first quarter, Galena’s defense managed to allow St. Paul to score only three points, while their offense scored 14.

The second quarter presented much of the same, as Galena increased their lead drastically by scoring 23 additional points. The Indians fought to keep up, but could only score 10 additional points.

St. Paul entered the third quarter trailing 13-37, but showed a much more aggressive demeanor by scoring 21 points and holding Galena to only 11. This brought the score to 44-48 heading into the fourth quarter.

The fire sparked in the Indians during the third quarter was quickly extinguished by Galena in the fourth quarter. St. Paul could not keep up with Galena, scoring only five additional points and allowing 16.

On that note, Galena delivered St. Paul’s second loss of the season with a final score of 64-39.

Brenden Doherty composed the majority of the Indians’ offense throughout the night, scoring 21 individual points.

St. Paul’s teams will seek to redeem themselves Tuesday, Jan. 9, during their away game versus Altoona-Midway.