Boys’ basketball notebook: Beckman’s Padraig Gallagher off to strong start

Dyersville Beckman's Padraig Gallagher (21) looks to pass during the first quarter of their 2A quarterfinal game at Wells Fargo Arena in Des Moines on Tuesday, March 9, 2021. (Andy Abeyta/The Gazette)

CEDAR RAPIDS - He wasn’t happy about his performance.

Padraig Gallagher criticized his own defense in Dyersville Beckman’s loss Monday night to North Linn. He bemoaned that he didn’t shoot well, simply didn’t do enough to help his Blazers.

Then you looked at his statistics. He had 14 points and eight rebounds, led Beckman with six assists.

Shows you how good this kid is as a player.

“He’s a great kid,” Beckman Coach Michael Molony said. “It makes it easy with kids like that. He does it the right way ... He makes us redo drills when we don’t do them right. He coaches the team (on the floor). He’s a special player.”

One of the best in the area.

The 6-foot-5 Gallagher is coming off a season in which he averaged 20.4 points and 8.5 rebounds, good enough to be named a Class 2A all-stater. He burst onto the varsity scene as a sophomore, scoring at a 13-point clip as Beckman made it to the state tournament.

He had a 21-point, 10-rebound effort last week in a season-opening win over West Branch. Tuesday night in a win over Northeast Goose Lake, Gallagher went off for 30 points, including 6-of-8 shooting from 3-point land.

“I used to be able to not shoot,” he said. “But I’ve been able to get a little bit better every year.”

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That’s because of plain old work.

“He is in the gym countless hours,” Molony said. “He’s always shooting on our gun, 500-plus shots a day, and if he’s missing, it’s just barely. Barely off, at most. Teams know it, they key on him.

“Last year, basically he was our center. We told him this year he might have to play point guard. His ball handling has immensely improved. The other night, when we needed a play against West Branch, when we needed a bucket, he made it every time.”

Gallagher said he doesn’t mind being a lead guard.

“I’m kind of used to it now,” he said. “During the summer, I got to play there a lot. I like it a lot more, making decisions. Honestly, it’s stressful, a lot harder. But I like it.”

Gallagher has signed to play college ball at Northwest Missouri State. That would be the Northwest Missouri State that was last year’s NCAA Division II national champion.

He’ll study sports psychology.

“When I stepped on the campus, I felt it,” he said. “It was kind of an easy decision.”

“Paddy is just pretty special,” Molony said.

Around The Hoop

Cedar Rapids Kennedy’s Colby Dolphin had a career game this past Saturday night as his team blasted Des Moines Hoover, 81-53, in a game matching two touted Class 4A clubs. Dolphin finished with 36 points, including 12 of 16 field-goal shooting, 7 of 9 from distance. Estherville-Lincoln Central’s Owen Larson and Dunkerton’s Preston Gillespie each have the state’s top scoring game so far early this season with 41 points.
Cade Kelderman’s bucket with 1.7 seconds left lifted Waukee Northwest over Waukee in a highly anticipated game Tuesday night featuring top 4A teams and individuals who have signed with Iowa and Iowa State. Kelderman had 30 points to outshine Northwest teammate and Iowa recruit Pryce Sandfort (10 points) and Waukee’s Omaha Biliew, the ISU recruit who had 27 points. Sandfort was labored by a leg injury in the game, while Biliew missed time with foul problems.
Who has the most wins in the first week and a half of the season? That’d be Keota, which is 5-0. Coach Dan Stout’s youngest son, Sawyer, leads the Eagles in scoring in the very early going at 18 points per game.

Comments: (319)-398-8258, jeff.johnson@thegazette.com