Jackson McVey snatched a school-record 30 rebounds to go with 37 points in Gilmer’s victory.
The GHS Bobcats were in Murray County to take on the Indians last Tuesday, and Ryder Wofford and J.D. Taylor gave Gilmer a potent scoring trio. Murray trailed throughout and GHS earned an 87-69 nonregion win.
Sonoraville hosted Gilmer Friday, and the Phoenix were hot from outside while the Bobcats continually turned the ball over. SHS morphed its 16-point halftime lead into a commanding 87-47 victory.
Discussing the win over Murray, head coach Jordan Hice said, “It feels like everyone is slowly getting back into rhythm and the swing of things. I feel like our conditioning is getting better, and we’re getting our legs under us. Everyone has been getting used to the system.
“We still had some moments where we started kind of slow. We were able to fight through that and normally have one or two really good quarters to make up for mistakes I see at the start of the game.”
Whether it was in transition or with its half-court offense, GHS took advantage with 60 points in the paint. Twenty six of those were scored by McVey, and he tallied 18 points following 17 offensive rebounds.
Gilmer’s ability to cash in on higher probable shots offset its 4/18 effort from three-point range. The Cats’ offense slowed in the second quarter, and they led 35-33 at halftime.
However, Gilmer made up for it in the third. GHS concentrated its efforts inside while MCHS only made four shots from the field. Gilmer emerged with a 22-point advantage with a quarter to play.
Points were traded almost evenly over the final eight minutes, and GHS won its second game of the season. Wofford scored 20 on the night and Taylor had 16. Both collected six rebounds, while Keegen Bryant and Jacob Becerra finished with six and five assists, respectively.
Sonoraville made 15 three pointers, and Jordyn Storey and Jaxon Pate were their deadly outside shooters, respectively, with 26 and 18 points.
GHS committed 33 turnovers and at least seven in every quarter. The Bobcats had 10 turnovers in the first period where SHS jumped to an 11-point lead.
“They got caught up in ‘Oh we’re down, so now we have to do everything to catch back up,’” Hice said of the turnovers. “It just got worse as it went on. After they continued to keep hitting shots in the second half, we kept continuing to keep trying to do whatever we could, and it made it worse.
“They were just a bunch of dumb turnovers. It wasn’t like they were pressing, and they took a bunch of charges (four). We couldn’t weather the storm, and the storm lasted for four quarters. They were hitting everything they threw up. We couldn’t shake off their outside shooting and our offense kind of collapsed. We couldn’t get anything going.”
Sonoraville converted those GHS turnovers into 23 points. Gilmer shot just 38 percent from the field, which included a 2/13 performance from outside. McVey was double and triple teamed in the moment he received the ball.
The Bobcats entered the third quarter behind, 48-32, and it only got worse over the final 16 minutes. Turnovers continued to mount and shots were not falling for Gilmer.
The Phoenix led 70-41 with a quarter to play, and Hice put reserves in the game with six minutes remaining.
Bryant (15 points), McVey (14) and Wofford (10) led GHS offensively.
The Bobcats are 2-2 overall and hosted Pickens at press deadline. GHS travels to Dawson County Friday for an 8:30 p.m. tipoff and hosts Fannin County Saturday at 4:30 p.m.
Junior varsity
The junior varsity Bobcats fell in their games to Murray (47-43) and Sonoraville (55-46).
Following a closely played first quarter versus Murray, GHS was down, 12-9. However, the second was a different story as the Cats had trouble getting shots to fall and saw the Indians’ lead increase to 31-14 at halftime.
GHS regrouped over the final two quarters, but the Indians were able to come away with a four-point win.
Jaden Sevcech had the hot hand for the Bobcats with 17 points. Teammate Boston Teague added nine, and both Chase Little and Preston McVey scored seven.
Sonoraville drained four three pointers to jump ahead 19-6. Sevcech, Teague and Alex Miltiades all contributed points in the second to trim the Phoenix’s lead to 30-19 at the half.
Teague and Sevcech continued to power the offense in the third quarter, and Little hit a pair of threes in the fourth. While GHS outscored Sonoraville by a point in the third and three in the fourth, SHS made 6/8 free throws down the stretch to solidify the win.
Teague (14) and Sevcech (13) led the way offensively. Little and Peyton Chancey scored six points apiece, Tyler Wright had three, and Miltiades, Mason West and McVey all finished with two.