By Shannon Fagan, WEIS Sports Director
SAND ROCK – The Sand Rock Wildcats are learning how to become a grind-it-out team.
The Spring Garden Panthers are already there.
The Panthers’ experience in the clutch situations down the stretch Tuesday evening proved crucial as they rallied from an early 10-point first-half deficit to take a 64-58 victory.
Senior guard Cole Bailey scored 23 points, including five 3-pointers, to lead the Panthers (8-1). He had three treys and 11 points in the fourth quarter.
Class 1A, No. 6 Spring Garden didn’t have its first lead of the game until the 7:02 mark of the fourth quarter. That’s when John Welsh connected on a basket inside the paint and was fouled on the play. He made the ensuing free throw to give the Panthers a 47-45 edge.
Later on, Bailey hit two 3-pointers less than a minute apart to help stretch Spring Garden’s lead to 57-49 with 3:40 remaining. The Panthers held on down the stretch for the final.
“That fourth quarter was big because we limited our turnovers,” Spring Garden coach Levi Hatcher said. “We hit a couple of big buckets and defensively we kind of bowed our backs down the stretch. I was happy with them grinding it out.
“Even thought it was a gritty, grind-it-out win, I’m still mad at the first half because I like to pride myself on the defensive stuff. I don’t care who the team is, but if you give up 35 at halftime and one kid (eighth grade guard Ty Traffanstedt) got 21 of them, there’s got to be a little self-pride. I challenged Cole and Chapel (Pope). I don’t know how many he (Traffanstedt) had in the second half, but they did a better job of at least contesting his shots.”
As Hatcher alluded, Traffanstedt was a thorn in the Panthers’ paws the majority of the contest. He scored a game-high 28 points, with 18 of those coming off six treys.
“He played well, but he’s got to get more consistent,” Traffanstedt’s father and first-year Sand Rock coach Nick Traffanstedt said. “We need him to do that every night, but also he needs to get better in the passing game. He needs to see the corners a little better. He’s still got a lot of things to learn, but he did well tonight. He’s kind of a shooting guard right now having to play point guard, but I’m proud of him. Tonight he stepped up for us and scored some big buckets.”
Jake Welsh added 16 points for Spring Garden. John Welsh tossed in 10 points. Connor Bates and Noah Barber finished with six and five points respectively.
“Those Welsh boys are so strong and athletic. All the credit to them. They’re the reason they got back in the game. They battled back,” Coach Traffanstedt said. “I think it was mostly because of their grit. We have grit, but there’s a difference between freshman grit and 11th and 12th grade grit. They played their butts off there at the end.”
Minus two starters who were out with sickness, Sand Rock still managed to take a 19-13 at the end of the first quarter and a 35-31 advantage at halftime. The Wildcats maintained their four-point cushion at the end of the third quarter at 45-41.
Bailey opened the fourth-quarter scoring with a 3-pointer to bring the Panthers within a point, helping set the tone for the stretch run.
“We finally hit a couple of shots to push us over, and after that we scored a few more trips,” Hatcher said. “We kept it to two possessions and that was big.”
Cam Gifford came away with 15 points for the Wildcats. Elijah Hood finished with eight points.
“We’ve played some tight games, but they have to learn how to win,” Coach Traffanstedt said. “We led through three quarters, but at the end you’ve got to learn how to finish. That’s where we’re at right now. That’s the stage of development they’re in. A lot of them are freshmen, and they give everything they’ve got, but there is something to be said about learning how to win.”
Spring Garden plays Faith Christian in Oxford on Friday. Sand Rock has a few days off for Christmas break before heading to Panama City, Fla., for a tournament beginning on Dec. 27.
Girls
Spring Garden 66, Sand Rock 38
SAND ROCK – In a battle of ranked girls basketball teams, Class 1A top-ranked Spring Garden remained undefeated with a 66-38 thrashing at Class 2A, No. 7 Sand Rock.
Ace Austin delivered a game-high 33 points, including four 3-pointers, to go along with 10 assists, nine rebounds, four steals and three blocks. Chloe Rule contributed 12 points, seven rebounds a pair of blocks. Maggie Jarrett added 12 points, three assists, three steals and two rebounds. Olivia Law finished with seven points, seven boards, two steals and two blocks.
Spring Garden (12-0) jumped out to a 15-4 first-quarter advantage and held a 30-12 edge at halftime. The Lady Panthers led 47-27 after three quarters.
Katelyn St.Clair led Sand Rock (11-3) with 21 points, including four 3-pointers. She also had six rebounds. Kennedy Henderson finished with eight points and 10 rebounds.
