The Gilmer Bobcats added another region win to their tally.
GHS hosted Adairsville (2-17) last Friday, and the Tigers hung around for a quarter. The Cats’ offense kept rolling over the final three, and they won easily, 81-38.
Gilmer started the week three days earlier at Northwest Whitfield (9-7), and points were tough to come by for both teams. The Bobcats had a chance to overtake the Bruins in the final minutes but were unable to get shots to fall and lost, 52-45.
The Adairsville game was played at a quick pace, and the Bobcats benefited most when half-court offenses came into play. GHS scored 18 points in transition and added 22 more in the paint. Keegen Bryant continually drove through the Tigers’ defense for layups and scored 25 points on the night with nine rebounds and five assists. Preston McVey scored 19 and pulled down nine boards as well, and Jaden Sevcech added 14 points and four rebounds.
“I thought we did a terrific job of getting into sets and running our stuff and getting great shots,” said head coach Sean Glaze. “And that’s where we’ve really spent a good bit of practice time to try and work on making sure that when the transition opportunity isn’t there, we have the discipline to run a good offensive set and work for a great shot instead of just forcing something up. And to their credit, we only had two turnovers in the entire first half and had a 20-some point lead going into halftime.”
The first quarter was Adairsville’s most productive. The Tigers made 47 percent of their shots over the first eight minutes and hit two three-point baskets. GHS shot 51 percent from the field for the duration of the game, while AHS sputtered after the opening quarter and only hit 27 percent of its attempts overall.
Gilmer took an 18-16 lead into the second quarter where it put the game away. Bryant went off for 12 points and Sevcech was there for nine more. Bryant, Sevcech and Mason West all drained a three pointer, and McVey finished the half with eight points.
The Cats entered the third with a 46-27 lead, and it only got worse for the Tigers. A.J. Callihan made a three pointer to go with two transition baskets. Bryant and McVey continued to score, and Gilmer took a 68-38 lead into the fourth, which was shortened by two minutes.
AHS did not score over the final six minutes, and the Bobcats increased their lead by 13 more points.
Callihan scored seven and collected six rebounds. The Cats forced 22 turnovers on the night. Thirteen of those were due to steals, and Andrew Chastain snatched four. Douglas Callihan finished with six points and West scored five.
“This is the thing I was so proud of our guys — I thought that was the best game our guys have played when you think about the impact of our offensive execution and discipline,” Glaze said. “Keegen did a fantastic job of pushing the ball and us running into the corners to spread the floor and getting some good looks out of that.”
Gilmer shot 37 percent from the field versus Northwest Whitfield, which included a 3/32 effort from three-point territory.
“We did a nice job kind of fighting back after having been down in the first half,” Glaze said. “That was, again, another one of those games, much like Heritage, where we would show flashes of good offensive possessions, but those were kind of few and far between.
“And when we’re not getting the execution on offense, sometimes our defensive intensity can slip. And I thought that happened a lot more than we’d like it to. And even with that, I was proud of our guys for their fight, and they did a terrific job of making a run down the stretch.”
Northwest jumped to a 10-2 lead that Gilmer trimmed to 14-8 by the end of the first. Neither team did much in the second as the Bruins maintained a 23-17 lead.
GHS got hot to begin the third and drew within three, down 31-28. The Cats nearly tied the score late in the quarter before four quick points put GHS behind, 44-38, with eight minutes left in regulation.
A.J. Callihan’s three pointer made the score 44-43 in Northwest’s favor with 4:10 on the clock. However, NHS closed out the game with an 8-2 run to secure the win.
Bryant led GHS with 13 points, as McVey, West and Sevcech all scored nine. Both Chastain and McVey had five rebounds, while Bryant and A.J. Callihan snatched four apiece.
GHS is 6-12 overall and 2-4 versus region opponents. Gilmer hosted Ridgeland (7-10) at press deadline and travels to Calhoun (11-2) Friday for an 8:30 p.m. game.
JV falls to Adairsville
The JV Bobcats ran into a strong Adairsville squad and lost, 65-46.
GHS made nine three pointers on the day, but only two fell in the second half. AHS led 21-9 after a quarter and 43-28 at the break. The Cats trailed 60-38 heading into the fourth, where they outpaced the Tigers, 8-5.
Kayson Taylor netted 15 points for GHS, Noah Rice added 13 and Silas West finished with nine.