Garfield takes down rival Windham 59-50
WINDHAM, OH- It was the annual rivalry matchup at Marty Hill Court in Windham between long time rivals in the Windham Bombers and Garfield G-MEN. Lots of storylines in this one including Garfield coach Matt Hill making his first return to Windham as a head coach. Hill starred as a member of the Bombers basketball team and his father Marty Hill was the head boys basketball coach at Windham for 47 years. Garfield would play spoiler on Bombers senior night as they took home the 59-50 win.
The Bombers would jump out to a 6-2 lead scoring six straight after a Devin Bates basket to open the game for Garfield. Four of those six points came from Bombers senior big man Matt Kolaczek who made a nice move inside on his 2nd bucket for the score.
Matt Kolaczek with the nice move inside for Windham in the 1st
Garfield would come back scoring four of the next six to pull within two before the Bombers Dejuan Ramsey scored inside with the foul. He would miss the free throw making it a 10-6 Windham lead.
Dejuan Ramsey with the nice score inside with a foul for Windham
Devin Bates would tack on a free throw before the quarter ended with Windham holding a 10-7 lead.
Garfield would start quarter two strong after a Nate Grabowski three ball and a Brandyn Bogucki put Garfield up 12-10. After a Windham score, Camden Chapman sank a three for Garfield giving them a 15-14 lead. Keegan Kiser scored on the other end for the Bombers before Bogucki splashed a corner three for Garfield to put them back on top.
Brandyn Bogucki hits a three for Ravenna in the 2nd
The teams would go back and forth the next two possessions before Parker Gill ended the 1st half with a top of the arc three to give the G-MEN a 23-20 lead at the break.
Parker Gill hits a three for Garfield to end the 1st half
The Bombers would come out of halftime with a purpose as they began the 3rd on a 6-0 run after back to back layups from Gavin Kiser and a bucket from Keegan Kiser made it a 26-23 Windham lead.
Gavin Kiser with the layup for Windham in the 3rd
With the Bombers leading 28-25, the G-MEN would go on a 13-0 run that featured six straight points by Oliver Walker and a big momentum swing to open up a 38-28 lead.
Oliver Walker with the big rebound and putback for Garfield in the 3rd
The teams would exchange two more scores each as the G-MEN took a 42-32 lead into the 4th quarter.
Windham would get back to back scores from Keegan Kiser and Ethan Thornton to open the 4th cutting the G-MEN lead to 42-36. Following a Bates driver and score at the other end, Keegan Kiser would hit a big corner three ball followed by another jumper to make it a 44-41 game.
Devin Bates drives and scores for Garfield in the 3rd
Keegan Kiser with a big 3rd quarter three for the Bombers
Garfield would follow with four straight before a Gavin Kiser and-one conversion cut the G-MEN lead to four at 48-44. The G-MEN would then go on an 8-2 run with a couple big buckets from Oliver Walker to push the lead out to 56-46.
Oliver Walker with the score off the near turnover for Garfield in the 4th
The Bombers would run out of time as Garfield converted late free throws to take home the 59-50 win.
Devin Bates led the way with 16 points while Oliver Walker chipped in 10 points and 7 rebounds. Keegan Kiser led the Bombers with 11 points
Garfield will wrap up the regular season with home games vs Brookfield, Ravenna and Southeast next week while Windham travels to Badger on 2/20.
I spoke with Devin Bates, Oliver Walker and coach Matt Hill postgame.
