The Gilmer High Bobcats came away with two more basketball wins last week.
GHS hosted Cherokee Bluff Tuesday, and the Bears began to pull away in the second quarter and never looked back in a 71-48 region win.
Gilmer got back in the win column Friday on the road versus the West Hall Spartans. The Cats’ defensive effort in the fourth allowed them to come home with a 54-51 win.
The Cats were back on the road the next day in Pickens. For the third time in four tries this season, the Bobcats defeated their southern rival and did so this time by a score of 53-46.
While Cherokee Bluff sits in sixth place in the region, the matchup gave GHS fits.
“Their guards are quick and athletic and we just don’t have the speed to keep up with them,” head coach Jordan Hice said. “Every time we stopped them from getting a layup, they’d kick it out and hit a three. When we stopped the three, they’d get a layup. Defensively, we need to fix a few things and find some offense. It seems like we’ve been having that one quarter where we can’t put the ball in the hole.”
That quarter came in the second, which GHS entered down, 21-16. But after only scoring four points, the Bears opened a 42-20 lead by the half.
Post players Cade Carter and Lewis Mulkey led GHS with 17 and 15 points, respectively. They combined to score 21 of 28 GHS points in the second half as Gilmer attempted to get back into the game.
GHS was limited to two three pointers on the night while the Bears made nine from outside to go with 26 points in the paint. Ethan Banks added 11 points for GHS.
The Bobcats got off to a slow start against West Hall and were behind 34-28 at halftime. Some defensive adjustments curtailed the Spartans’ offensive effectiveness as the Cats began their comeback.
“We got down by nine in the first quarter and the biggest concern was we couldn’t stop layups and them getting to the hole,” Hice said. “We were in a man to man and shifted to a 2-3 zone. It kind of slowed them down and got them out of rhythm. After that, it wasn’t that we sped up, we just slowed them down.”
Gilmer started to mount its comeback in the third where Mulkey tallied seven of his team-high 16 points. By the end of the period, GHS had tied the score, 44-44. The Bobcats did just enough in the fourth, and a Spartan three pointer at the buzzer gave GHS a three-point win.
Mulkey also collected 11 rebounds and Carter finished with nine to go with eight points. Banks scored 10 points, and Christian Sumner added nine.
Gilmer went cold in the opening quarter Saturday, which Pickens ended by going on a 12-3 run.
The Cats got their offense in gear in the second. Carter got things rolling with two points in the post before Banks drew a foul and made both free throws. GHS continued to attack the lane as guard Mark Tyson hit a floater to cut the Dragons’ lead to 21-15. It was part of a 7-2 run GHS went on to close out the half to even the score at 23-all.
Carter re-aggravated an injury three minutes into the third quarter and did not return to the game. Pickens immediately looked inside to Luke Rogers, who scored eight of the Dragons’ next nine points.
Banks picked up the slack and tallied nine of his team-leading 17 points in the third, and Gilmer led 38-33 with eight minutes to play.
Dragon Colin Kellogg’s three pointer with 2:30 on the clock cut the Cats’ edge to 46-44. However, Mulkey and Noah Ballew both grabbed a pair of defensive rebounds on four of the Dragons’ next five possessions to kill any chance of them overtaking the Cats.
“We didn’t turn the ball over as much, and I kind of went with a four-guard set and spread them out to open the inside a little bit,” Hice said. “Our guards could control from the outside, penetrate in and then find their kicks (passes to the perimeter).”
GHS got a boost in the quarter from Tyson, who attacked the lane for two layups while drawing fouls on two other occasions for two more points from the free-throw line.
“The big savior of the game was Mark. He came in strong in the very beginning,” Hice said. “He hit that three at the start and it was on from there. He hit a bunch of layups and shot 50 percent from the free-throw line, which is amazing for him. He had help from Banks, but he took control of the game. There are things he can fix and work on, but it was a good game for him.”
Tyson finished with a season-high 13 points, and Mulkey, Sumner and Will Kiker added six apiece.
Gilmer is 14-5 overall and 5-3 versus region opponents.
GHS heads to White County Wednesday and will host Lumpkin Friday at 8:30 p.m. Gilmer travels to Southeast Whitfield Saturday for a 4:30 p.m. game.
Junior varsity
The junior varsity Bobcats were 1-1 last week.
After a 43-37 loss to West Hall Friday, the Bobcats downed Pickens the next day, 53-40.
West Hall hit four threes in the first quarter to spring to a 16-11 lead. Not much offense followed in the second as WHHS led 22-17 at the half.
The game remained close in the second half, and GHS trimmed the Spartans’ advantage to 29-26 entering the fourth. West Hall held off the Cats to win by six.
Jackson McVey scored 17 points for GHS, and Ryder Wofford was there for 10.
Each team made a run Saturday, but it was the Bobcats who did enough when it mattered most.
After beginning the second quarter with a four-point lead, the Cats totaled 20 points ahead of the break for a 29-14 advantage.
Pickens got hot from outside in the third. The Dragons drained 10 three pointers on the day, and seven found the bottom of the net in the quarter as they reclaimed the lead, 37-33.
GHS responded in the fourth and outscored PHS by seven for the win. McVey was there for 25 Gilmer points and was followed by J.D. Taylor (11), Wofford (nine), Jacob Becerra (six) and Blane Banks (two).
The JV Bobcats have a 9-4 overall record.