Tuesday night was a night that had been circled on the calendars of many people for the last few months.
For the Carmi-White County Bulldogs, it was the beginning of another season on the hardwood. Coming off a 26-6 season a year ago which included a conference championship, the Bulldogs had a lot to look forward to.
As did the Gallatin County Hawks.
GC got hot at the end of the 2022-2023 regular season, and ended up pulling an upset and winning the 1A Crab Orchard Regional.
For the Bulldogs, it was a chance to start the year with a win over a talented 1A team that is destined for a big season.
For the Hawks, it was a chance to upset a larger school in front of their home crowd, just 24 hours after a tough road loss against Grayville.
Oh boy, did this game live up to the hype.
Gallatin County began the game on fire, especially from the beyond the arc.
Senior Maddix Sandifer and junior Grant Jackson traded three-point shots in the first few Hawks possessions as GC began the game 5-for-5 from three-point range. All of the sudden, Carmi found themselves down 15-5.
Gallatin grew that lead to 26-11 with 5:30 to go in the 2nd quarter, but the Bulldogs would end the 1st half on a 10-0 run, capped off by a three-point buzzer beater from senior Landon Driscoll to make it a 26-21 game at halftime.
That run for the Bulldogs was huge.
The Hawks were able to extend their lead back to six early in the 3rd quarter, but the Bulldog offense finally got things figured out. Carmi ended the 3rd on a mini 6-0 run to take their first lead of the game 34-33 heading into the 4th quarter.
This is where it gets really good.
Carmi’s lead grew and shrunk from as big as 5 to as small as 2 throughout the 4th quarter. Both teams traded big shots and the Bulldogs found themselves in front 44-41 with just under 30 seconds to go.
Kevin Wolff called a timeout to draw up a play to get a basket and give Carmi a two-possession lead, but Gavin Holloman slipped when driving to the basket resulting in a turnover.
Craig Utterback called a timeout of his own, looking to set up a game-tying three, and that is exactly what he did.
With just 10 seconds to play in the game, Hawks senior Noah Richardson got open and nailed the game-tying 3. Or at least he thought.
Actually, everyone in the gym thought he just made the game tying 3. Even the Bulldogs as they raced down the court and tried to make a game-winning basket, only to come up empty.
Through all the commotion, one referee clarified that Richardson’s foot was on the line, making it worth 2 points and not 3.
Therefore, ending the game and giving the Bulldogs one of the craziest wins in recent memory.
Kevin Wolff’s thoughts during the final 10 seconds:
After the smoke cleared, the Bulldogs left Gallatin County with a 44-43 win and a 1-0 record to start the 2023-2024 season.
Carmi was led in scoring by sophomore Mitchel Edwards who scored 23 points, Gavin Holloman and Landon Driscoll each scored 10 points, and Trey Dixon scored 1 point.
The Bulldogs will have the rest of the week off before they begin action at the DuQuion Tip-Off Classic against Sparta on Monday.
Link to WRUL Sports YouTube Broadcast vs Gallatin County – https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1z7dvUJlljY
