Galbreath, Hornets dismantle Mexico in season opener

Fulton junior guard Makygh Galbreath (4) dribbles toward the basket as senior forward Justin Adams (20) sets a pick during the Hornets' 62-48 North Central Missouri Conference win over the Mexico Bulldogs during the season opener Nov. 22, 2016 at Roger D. Davis Gymnasium.
Fulton junior guard Makygh Galbreath (4) dribbles toward the basket as senior forward Justin Adams (20) sets a pick during the Hornets' 62-48 North Central Missouri Conference win over the Mexico Bulldogs during the season opener Nov. 22, 2016 at Roger D. Davis Gymnasium.

Makygh Galbreath emerged in a rivalry game to energize the Fulton Hornets.

Fulton's junior guard delivered a game-high 21 points to direct the Hornets to a 62-48 North Central Missouri Conference victory over the Mexico Bulldogs in Tuesday night's season opener before a packed crowd at Roger D. Davis Gymnasium.

"He's a stud," Fulton head coach Justin Gilmore said of Galbreath. "We knew he was going to be something special. The kid freaking works hard every day in practice and he's in here (gym) every morning shooting at 6 a.m., as do a bunch of the other guys. He puts the work in and it's showing off.

"He did an awesome job at the free-throw line (made 11-of-12 attempts) and he did an awesome job of carrying the ball and getting to the rack. He's a true talent."

The Hornets trailed by two points to open the second quarter, but immediately responded with a 9-0 run to go in front to stay. Junior forward Cameron Vaughn - who finished with 18 points - topped off the run with a layup to give Fulton a 20-13 advantage with 5 minutes, 24 seconds left in the period.

The Hornets traded baskets with Mexico the rest of the quarter and owned a 26-21 edge at halftime.

"We played hard in the paint," Gilmore said. "We made them shoot over us and didn't allow anything in the middle, and then rebounded."

Fulton started to pull away in the second half. The Hornets produced the first six points of the third quarter on a pair of Galbreath layups and another one from senior guard Devin Masek at the 6:13 mark to make it 32-21.

The Bulldogs were then able to trim their deficit to seven points on consecutive layups from junior guard Cameron Holman and senior guard Isaac Troy. Fulton, though, countered with a 16-8 run to close out the quarter, widening its lead to 48-33 when senior forward Justin Adams - who had 13 points - connected on a pair of free throws with :04.3 to play.

"We started attacking the rim a little bit more in the third," Gilmore said. "We didn't have Mak in the second quarter because of foul trouble, but we got him back in the third and we kept using him to attack the rim and everyone else crashed with him. We got a bunch of layups."

The Hornets spent most of the fourth quarter consuming the clock. Fulton used up at least 40 seconds on four separate possessions, including the final 47 seconds of the game.

"Protecting the lead is something we practiced a lot," Gilmore said. "Something we talked about a lot tonight was manage the game. Any time we have the lead and we can steal a minute, we're looking to do that.

"I'm just super-proud of the guys. They went out and laid it all on the court, they did everything I asked them tonight. We made free throws, we rebounded and we took care of the ball in the second half."

Holman led Mexico with 15 points and Troy added 12.

Fulton also won the junior varsity game 45-32. Sophomore guard Taeon Logan logged a team-high 16 points.

The Hornets will be the No. 3 seed in next week's Montgomery County Tournament. Fulton will play sixth-seeded Wellsville-Middletown in the first round at 7 p.m. Tuesday in the middle school gym.