The Gilmer Bobcats are undefeated after their first run through the region schedule.
The Bobcats were on the road at Wesleyan last Wednesday, and the Wolves felt the wrath of Gilmer’s outside shooting. The Cats hit nine three pointers and never trailed beyond the first period for a 65-55 win.
GHS hosted West Hall two days later for senior night. While the visiting Spartans found their rhythm from outside in the first half, they were not as fortunate over the final two quarters. Gilmer’s offense came steadily for the victory, 80-70, which marked head coach Jordan Hice’s 167th of his career to establish a new school record.
The Cats closed out the week Saturday at Cartersville. Strong second and third quarters allowed GHS to pull away and hold on for a 69-61 win.
Gilmer’s play versus Wesleyan was a welcome sign to Hice. Inclement weather kept GHS off the practice court ahead of the game as the Bobcats made best use of remote preparations.
“I’m just glad we played as well as we did considering we didn’t practice all week,” said Hice. “Everything got canceled on Monday and Tuesday so we were just winging it by Wednesday. We watched a little bit of film, and I sent them stuff to watch on their own.
“Our guards played well and shot really well. They finally got into a groove shooting, and that was probably one of our best games from outside. Jackson (McVey) was off his normal average, but defensively, he picked it up and did a lot for us.”
Ryder Wofford was Gilmer’s top scorer with 16 points and J.D. Taylor added 13. McVey still maintained his double-double average on the season with 11 points and 11 rebounds. The Bobcats were absolutely deadly from three-point territory where they made 9/14 attempts, which helped offset their 35 percent two-point performance. The Wolves struggled to get shots to fall as well and made just 32 percent.
Gilmer was also able to trim its turnovers down to seven and none resulted in Wesleyan points. Meanwhile, the Wolves’ six turnovers were converted into nine points for the Cats.
GHS jumped to a 20-12 lead after a quarter and were up 36-32 at halftime. Not much separated the teams over the final 16 minutes as GHS maintained a comfortable lead in its 10-point road victory.
Gilmer’s unselfish play versus West Hall saw the Cats repeatedly drive to the basket before finding open teammates. McVey was often the one awaiting the pass for easy points, and he scored 20 of his team-high 34 in the first half.
Spartans Troy Smith and Xavier Bennett combined to make eight of West Hall’s 12 three pointers, and they scored 24 and 20 points, respectively.
GHS clung to a 34-33 lead at halftime and were ahead 56-40 heading into the fourth. WHHS was able to threaten Gilmer’s lead late, but the Bobcats went on a run to put the game away in the fourth.
“That last three-minute stretch when they pulled within three points, we went on an 8-0 run,” Hice said. “They kept missing and we were going down getting easy layups and finding the wide-open pass.”
While Gilmer’s opponents have been able to hang early with three pointers, the Bobcats’ ability to consistently score from inside has been the difference.
“It’s OK if they hit a lot of threes as long as we keep doing what we’re supposed to in the paint,” Hice said. “That’s what kept us in the game in the first half. In the second half, they didn’t hit as many threes. I do feel like there were some big chances for us to put the game away (early in the fourth) and we were just missing layups or turning it over.”
Wofford added 14 points in the win, Becerra scored 11 and Keegen Bryant finished with 10.
Cartersville had a poor shooting afternoon and made a mere 27 percent of its shots. Gilmer’s 22 turnovers helped keep the Canes in the game, and they were converted into 28 points.
GHS fell behind 18-12 after a quarter, and CHS led 29-27 at the half.
“It was a slow start and kind of took us a while to get going,” Hice said. “They came out hot and hit the first few threes, and we were able to balance it out and it went back and forth. We were down at halftime and then took a big lead at the end of the third quarter.”
The Cats’ shots began to fall in the third as they made 8/15 from the field. CHS continued to struggle, and Gilmer opened a 58-37 lead with eight minutes to play.
Cartersville got hot again in the fourth, but it was not enough to overtake the Cats.
“They started hitting every three they took in the fourth quarter and then we’d go down and miss. They made a run on us and we should have done a better job. We were still able to get the win, and it was our third game of the week. We exerted a lot of energy the night before versus West Hall, so I was really proud of how they played,” said Hice.
McVey scored 26 points, had 18 rebounds and blocked five shots. Wofford scored 17 and grabbed 10 boards, while Becerra added five assists and eight rebounds.
GHS fell to Jackson County Monday afternoon and are 12-5 overall and 6-0 versus region opponents.
The Bobcats will travel to take on archrival Pickens Friday for an 8:30 p.m. game.