The Gilmer Bobcats found themselves in the losing column for the first time this basketball season.
Gilmer hosted Dawson County last Friday, and the Tigers erased Gilmer’s eight-point lead in the fourth quarter. The Tigers doubled Gilmer’s points in overtime to come away with a 67-63 win.
The Cats were in Lumpkin County three days earlier. The nip-and-tuck game came down to the fourth where GHS overtook the Indians for a 52-47 victory.
“It was kind of a slow game. There wasn’t a lot of intensity or energy,” head coach Jordan Hice said of the Lumpkin win. “We got down by five with three minutes to go in the fourth quarter and caught fire. We didn’t score much, but we went on a 10-0 run in the fourth.”
GHS had a well-balanced attack against Lumpkin. Gilmer drained nine three pointers on the night, and Bobcat Christian Sumner was there to make five. Senior post player Cade Carter added 15 points down low.
The Cats finally separated themselves in the fourth quarter. GHS led 14-11 after the first, and 28-27 at the half before LCHS slipped ahead following the third, 42-41. However, GHS held the Indians to five points in the fourth and got hot offensively to escape with a 52-47 win.
It was Gilmer’s first region road game after playing five straight at home.
“We’ve had some kids sick, and that’s been hurting us,” Hice said. “We had to make an adjustment to the drive. It was our first road game, and there weren’t many people there. Traveling and adjusting to the atmosphere was probably the biggest thing after playing so many games at home.”
Aside from Sumner and Carter’s 15 points, Ethan Banks finished with nine and Will Kiker scored six.
Versus Dawson, Carter and fellow post player Lewis Mulkey combined to score 32 points, which included 20 and 12, respectively. Banks led all scorers with 23. He made four three pointers and shot 5/5 from the free-throw line.
GHS was up 31-28 at halftime and pushed it to 43-35 with eight minutes to play. DCHS came alive for 24 points in the fourth led by Caden Reed’s 11. Carter left the game with an injury and missed four minutes as the Tigers started their comeback.
“Dawson caught back up, we had a technical foul in the fourth that hurt us a little bit, and they hit a three at the buzzer,” Hice said.
With the score knotted at 59-all, Dawson outpaced GHS 8-4 in overtime. The Tigers made 3/6 free throws in the extra period and 16/24 on the night. The Bobcats only went to the line seven times and shot 100 percent.
The loss dropped Gilmer’s record to 9-1, but Hice was happy with the Bobcats’ effort.
“I wasn’t disappointed with how they played. I thought they played hard and played great,” he said. “Dawson just hit a lot of shots. They shot a high percentage, higher than they normally do; not really from the three-point line, but were just getting to the rim. Plus, they were able to get to the free-throw line, which helped them out a lot.”
Kiker added four points for Gilmer, and both Mark Tyson and Britt Taylor scored two points apiece.
GHS will travel to Pickens Dec. 28 to play Creekview at 3 p.m.
JV wins pair
The junior varsity Bobcats defeated Lumpkin County (54-22) on the road last Tuesday before Friday’s home win over Dawson County, 74-21.
Jackson McVey led GHS with 23 points against Lumpkin, and 19 came in the first half. While he did most of his damage in the post, he also knocked down a three pointer along with J.D. Taylor and Kohan Davis.
Lumpkin’s offense was held in check, and the Cats opened a 32-12 lead at the half. Cooper Farmer and Jacob Becerra joined McVey and Taylor in the scoring column in the third as GHS extended its lead to 45-18.
Cooper and Blane Banks handled all of the scoring in the fourth as GHS rolled to victory.
Taylor and Davis both scored eight points, Cooper added six, Banks had five and Becerra finished with four.
McVey and Ryder Wofford were a powerful scoring duo versus Dawson and tallied 22 and 21 points, respectively.
GHS surged ahead 16-2 after the first quarter, and the Bobcats expanded their advantage over the next two quarters. A 28-point second quarter was followed by a 24-point performance in the third for a 68-19 Gilmer lead.
The Tigers were not able to mount a 49-point comeback in the fourth.
John Ponders added 10 points for GHS and was followed by Davis (seven) and Banks (six).