The Gilmer High Bobcats earned an overtime region road victory at Ridgeland.
GHS met the Panthers last Tuesday, and a crucial turnover at the end of regulation allowed Ridgeland to tie the score. Gilmer outlasted the Panthers in overtime to win, 86-83.
Versus Calhoun at home Friday, the Yellow Jackets provided matchup problems for the Bobcats. Gilmer kept it close for a quarter and led briefly, but CHS pulled ahead in the second and never looked back. The Bobcats trailed by 13 points at the half, and Calhoun came away with a 75-55 win.
Head coach Jordan Hice discussed the Ridgeland game and what the Panthers had to offer in the teams’ second meeting of the season.
“They had some players who didn’t play the first time, so they had more scoring,” he noted. “I’m pretty sure they had three who were either injured or didn’t play the first time. That kind of threw us for a loop defensively for what we had planned for. We couldn’t get a lot of stops defensively. Offensively, we didn’t have a hard time scoring, but every time we’d get a little momentum, they would get on a roll.”
GHS had a solid shooting night at 43 percent. Gilmer made six three pointers, and J.D. Taylor hit three on his way to a 43-point performance. Teammate Keegen Bryant was there for 20 points. Four Panthers finished with at least nine points, and Tavion Foster led the way with 23.
Scoring was never an issue for either team, and GHS trailed 18-16 after a quarter and 38-36 at halftime.
The score was tied 59-59 entering the fourth, and the Bobcats were ahead 76-74 with 24 seconds to play. An errant inbound pass led to a layup for RHS. Gilmer was able to call a timeout and set up a final play with 7.6 seconds left. Another turnover on the inbound gave Ridgeland a final wide open shot before the buzzer, but the attempts smacked the backboard and nothing else.
Taylor scored seven of Gilmer’s 10 overtime points with four coming in transition and three from the line. Jaden Sevcech scored two in transition as well to give GHS an 85-83 lead in the waning moments of the game.
Bryant knocked down a free throw with 5.5 seconds to play, and another open RHS shot at the buzzer missed.
Boston Teague finished with eight rebounds and seven points. Sevcech had seven rebounds to go with seven points, and Taylor snatched seven boards as well. Bryant added nine assists and seven steals to his 20-point night.
Calhoun nearly lapped the Bobcats when it came to rebounds at 47 compared to 24.
Twenty-two of the Jackets’ rebounds came on the offensive end, which led to 22 second-chance points. The rebounding disparity also led to 19 more shot attempts for CHS.
“We did well in the first quarter, but the second quarter is what killed us,” Hice said. “We gave up a huge lead. Giving up offensive rebounds was the big thing. It’s hard for us to match up defensively during switches and being able to get defensive rebounds against that team because they’re athletic and tall. We’d do good things defensively, but then rotations kill us when it comes to boxing out and giving up offensive rebounds.”
While Calhoun took a 17-16 lead after a quarter, the Jackets were up 39-26 at the half. CHS continued to add to its lead in the second half, and Gilmer fell behind 56-41 with eight minutes to play. Calhoun extended its lead by five more points by game’s end.
Four Jackets scored in double fugues, and Taylor led all with 23 points, and Bryant finished with 10. Mack Kiser scored four and Teague, Sevcech and Cooper Farmer added four points. Teague and Taylor both collected five rebounds.
GHS is 9-10 overall, which includes a 3-5 region record. Gilmer played LaFayette at press deadline and will be at Murray County Friday for an 8:30 p.m. game.