Urbana held off a sharp-shooting Graham squad and beat the visiting Falcons, 55-45, in CBC inter-divisional boys basketball on Tuesday.
Graham got off to a hot start, hitting 4 three-pointers in the first quarter and leading, 12-10. The Falcons continued to slow the pace and make jumpers, taking a 23-20 lead into the half.
“(Graham) had a good night. They made 10 (three-pointers) tonight, so hats off to them for making them,” Urbana Coach Jeremy Dixon said. “But we held them to 45 points, so we feel pretty good.”
Urbana took the lead after halftime and maintained a slim margin going into the fourth quarter, thanks in large part to better offensive execution.
“The turning point, I think, was coming out of the half, they made a little run at us,” Graham Coach Julian Grasso said. “But I knew we were going to be able to respond.”
The defense also helped pad the Hillclimbers’ lead, with players jumping in front of a couple of Graham passes and scoring in transition.
“We made a couple of adjustments to the way we were playing our defense and it happened to work out,” Dixon said. “Offensively, we still missed some easy ones, but we definitely got more of the shots we wanted.”
Jace Underwood led the scoring for Urbana (7-5) with 17 points. Riley Emmons and Levi Boettcher each scored 12.
For Graham (3-9), Andrew Ford scored 19 points, including 4 three-pointers.
“I don’t know if there’s anyone in the area that’s as locked in mentally as he is right now,” Grasso said. “In a game with very few possessions, he still carried us. And what we talk about more than anything is loving each other, helping each other, caring for each other. And you can feel it.”
In the jayvee game, Graham won, 54-34. For GHS, David Bailey had 17 points and Eli Palmer scored 14. For Urbana, Grant Hower had 13 points.
In the freshman game, Urbana won, 37-25. Braiden Portis had 13 points for UHS.
On Friday, Urbana plays at Kenton Ridge while Graham hosts Benjamin Logan.
