Gilmer High continued its region schedule and split with opponents for the second week in a row.
GHS started the week last Tuesday in Lumpkin County. Fouls brought the game to a standstill, and the pace favored the Indians. The game started to open up in the fourth, which is when the Cats took over to come away with a 59-51 win.
Gilmer made the trek to White County three days later to meet the Warriors. GHS was without two of its regular players, and White limited the Cats’ transition points. Jackson McVey was there for a season high 32 points, but GHS trailed after the first and was unable to reel in the Warriors in a 72-66 defeat.
Against Lumpkin, fouls were whistled early and often. Fifty-six fouls were called on the night, and the Indians took full advantage. LCHS made 29/36 free throws while the Cats converted just 12/24.
“Foul calls were probably the biggest issue. It was a very slow game straight off,” said head coach Jordan Hice. “There were a lot of fouls and a lot of free throws. In the third quarter, all they did was score off free throws and didn’t make any field goals. They hit 15 free throws in the third quarter then they kind of let us play in the fourth.
“It seemed like a lot of ticky-tacky fouls, and that led to 1-1 (bonus) and it really slowed the game down. We couldn’t push the ball or really do anything.”
Free throws were the Indians’ best friend as they shot a mere 18 percent from the field. Ryder Wofford (19 points), McVey (16) and Keegen Bryant (12) led Gilmer offensively, and as a team, shots fell at a 48 percent clip.
GHS led 11-7 after the first but fell behind 23-17 at the half. The Indians still maintained a 38-31 edge before Gilmer’s offense picked up some steam in the fourth.
GHS scored seven in transition and also went inside to McVey for four points plus a free throw. Gilmer made four of its five threes in the fourth. Both Bryant and Wofford drained two, and the former’s three with 4:42 to play gave GHS a 44-43 lead.
LCHS once again got the bulk of its offense from the free-throw line, but it was not nearly enough to keep pace with the Cats.
McVey had 11 rebounds on the night, Wofford and J.D. Taylor had six each, while Jacob Becerra dished four assists.
Gilmer was without Kohan Davis and Christian Sumner versus White. Hice noted the Warriors were content with playing a half-court game to stifle the Bobcats’ transition offense.
“They made it hard for us to get any kind of fast break going,” Hice said. “We went inside and Jackson had a big game. They were playing him one on one, so there wasn’t much pressure down there, and he was hitting a lot of his shots. Ryder had a big game from outside, but we had very little anywhere else.
“Their job was to slow the game down and we were trying not to let Jadon (Yeh) score 25 points.”
While Yeh was held to 13 points, Braxton Anderson was there for 15 while Tripp Nix added 12. Three other Warriors combined to score 27 as GHS had its work cut out defensively.
McVey added 12 rebounds to his 32-point tally, and Wofford scored 19 and collected eight boards.
The teams traded the lead often in the opening quarter, which ended tied at 18-all. WCHS gained a lead in the second quarter and maintained for the remainder of the game.
The Warriors led 36-32 at halftime and 53-43 headed to the fourth. While the Cats were able to threaten late in the quarter, White held off their rally for the six-point win.
Junior varsity
The junior varsity Bobcats earned one win on the week.
They were in Lumpkin County last Tuesday and toppled the Indians, 60-45. Three days later, they made their way to White County, and after some adjustments to the roster, the Cats fell, 59-26.
GHS had another strong scoring effort from J.D. Taylor (15 points), Mac Kiser (13) and Keegen Bryant (12) against Lumpkin. Gilmer took an eight-point lead into the second quarter and were still ahead 32-25 at the half.
Lumpkin’s Landon Price led all scores with 25 points, but when he only managed three points in the third quarter, GHS widened its lead to 43-34.
Kiser, Bryant and Blane Banks handled all of Gilmer’s scoring in the fourth, and the Cats’ advantage stood at 15 points by games end. Banks finished with eight points, Cooper Farmer scored five and Boston Teague added two.
Taylor and Bryant did not play versus White as they both saved all of their minutes for the varsity game. Banks scored eight of his team-high 11 points in the opening quarter as GHS held a two-point lead.
Gilmer was held to fewer than seven points in each of the next three quarters while White topped 15 points in each frame. WCHS added to its lead with every passing quarter en route to a decisive win.
Teague scored seven in the game, Kiser had four and both Farmer and Riley Davis added two..