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GARRETT – Compete, make an effort and the victories will come.
That’s all a coach of any struggling program can ask for.
The Garrett Railroaders boys’ basketball team competed, shooting back a 10-point deficit in the fourth quarter and had the ball in the end.
They did everything but win, losing to Heritage 42-41 on Wednesday in Andrew Evertts’ debut as Garrett’s new coach.
“You always want to win, but I’m so proud of our guys. They played so hard, â€he said afterwards.
“Heritage is good. We’re going to look back at the end of the year, and it’s a team of over 15 wins that will compete for a section title, â€Evertts said. “We gave them everything and more and we had a chance to win.
“We’re not going to watch that last game. We’re going to be looking at a lot of little things throughout the game where if we had done that, we’re at the end, not looking for that shot.
“We told our guys at halftime that we had to shoot in the fourth quarter and we did.”
The Railroaders (0-1) led 11-10 after the first, but went almost five minutes without a point in the second quarter. This is where Heritage (1-0) got ahead.
Sophomore’s Jaxson Fugate bucket with 6 minutes and 55 seconds left in the half would be Garrett’s only points for the longest time.
Sophomore Kobe Meyer scored all nine points in the race, all three. Tanner Whitman added a bucket to the paint as the Patriots scored 11 straight points to take a 24-13 lead.
During that streak, Garrett missed seven shots and returned the ball twice.
The active hands of Heritage played a role in the struggles of the Railroaders. Later, a defensive adjustment by Garrett caused trouble for the Patriots.
Junior Kyle Smith finally ended the Railraoders’ dry spell with 2:03 left at halftime. Junior Tyler Gater hit a three before the end of the half to reduce the lead to eight.
Garrett appeared to be ready to chase after his sophomore Luke Coffman scored in the paint with 3:30 left in the third, reducing him to seven.
The hosts, however, would return the ball twice, be called up for an offensive foul and miss a shot on their next four possessions.
Luke Saylor of the Patriots, who led all scorers with 12 points, had a three with 1:22 left in the quarter to increase the lead to 38-28.
The Railroaders made their push early in the fourth, escaping 10 straight, with six by Fugate, one three by Christian Hess senior and a free throw from Coffman to tie at 38-all with four minutes left.
Jasen Bailey stole the ball which led to a Fugate score. Fugate grabbed an offensive board which resulted in three from Hess.
The Patriots’ Dalton Wasson responded with a three, but Bailey led the lane and scored, completing the stipulated three-runner game to tie the game again with 2:37 remaining. A free throw from Wasson with 1:50 to go provided the final margin.
The Railroaders had a chance in the end, but Bailey’s shot was irrelevant.
In his comeback streak, Garrett went from man-to-man to a 1-3-1 defense on the half court, which forced Heritage to shoot quickly. The Patriots got long rebounds but couldn’t put the ball in the hole.
Coffman led the Railroaders with 10 points. Fugate and Gater had eight each, and Smith added seven.
Garrett hosts Prairie Heights on Saturday in a boys-to-girls doubles program.
Garrett’s Drayton Myers led all scorers with 19 points. The Patriots led 22-16 at halftime but were outnumbered by the Railroaders 16-4 in the third quarter.
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