GILBERT —The Gilbert Lions continued their stretch of six games in seven nights with a home game against the Man Hillbillies Jan. 19 and an away game against Mt. View Jan. 20.

The Lions lost the first game of their two nights of play 53-67 with Man scoring 18 points in the final quarter, all of them from the free throw line.

“Man has a very complete team they shot the three-pointer better than any team we have played so far,” said Gilbert Head Coach Walt Cline regarding the game. “Their kids play solid defense and they make their free throws. They were a perfect 18 for 18 from the line in the 4th quarter.

“The biggest difference maker in the game was Man jumping out to a lead, and their ability to make free throws at the end,” continued Cline.

Gilbert did come back at one point to shorten Man’s lead to just 3 points by battling with every possession but Man was able to finish strong in the end.

“Dalton Bailey, Chris Carter, and Cody Houck handled Man’s full court press well, and got the ball to Ryan Altizer, and Kyle Smith to score on our end,” Cline said about his players’ performance. “Josh Carter, Corey Robinette, and Ashton Cline played well off the bench with good solid defense, causing a few turnovers to help get us back in the game.”

Man’s Travis Hurley scored the game high 25 points for the Hillbillies that night along with Jordan Simpson scoring 20, Tyler Browning scoring 12, Andrew Lusk scoring 8, and Ryan Crum scoring 2.

Kyle Smith led the Lions with 14 points while Dalton Bailey and Ryan Altizer scored 11 each. Chris Carter scored 8 points for Gilbert, Cody Houck had 5 points, Corey Robinetter and Ashton Cline each scored 2 points, and Josh Carter scored 1.

Gilbert 14 17 13 10 — 53

Man 20 17 12 18 — 67

WELCH — The tired Lions came out on top in an away game against the Mt. View Golden Knights, 61-54. With their fifth game in six days, Coach Cline said his team played with the heart of their aptly named mascot despite their fatigue.

“ My guys were tired and their legs were heavy last night during warm ups, but we were able to execute offensively, rebound, and transition the ball into points to keep us in the game,” said Cline.

“I am very proud of the effort the guys gave tonight. I knew they were tired as we had played without a break, but they weren’t going to make excuses,” said Cline. “They wanted to win the game.”

Gilbert started out the game strong taking the lead by 6 points in the 1st quarter, but gave way to a 5 point lead to Mt. View at the end of the half.

The Lions battled back in the 3rd quarter keeping the Knights to just 10 points while scoring 26 themselves. Kyle Smith, Chris Carter, Ryan Altizer, and Dalton Bailey Cody Houck scored during the 3rd to help give Gilbert a 10 point lead going into the final quarter, effectively clinching the game for them.

Altizer scored the game high for Gilbert with 22 points, 12 coming in their big 3rd quarter. Kyle Smith scored 12 points for the Lions, Dalton Bailey scored 9, Chris Carter had 8, Houck and Josh Carter each had 4 points, and Ashton Cline scored 2.

Scoring for Mt. View was: Malcolm Brown with 17, Maurice Brown and Antoine Calloway each with 12, Raheen Pounds with 6, Teddy Hazzard scored 5, and Chris Hardy scored 2.

The Lions improved their win-loss record to 3-5 before they took on the Matewan Tigers in an away game Thursday. After a five day break, Gilbert will then take on Westside Jan. 26 and Williamson Jan. 29 in away games.