Gilmer High School is back in the state basketball tournament.
The GHS Bobcats entered last week’s Region 7-3A tournament seeded No. 5. However, Gilmer battled its way to the title game by downing West Hall (55-44) and top seeded Wesleyan in the semifinals, 68-47.
Gilmer met the White County Warriors for the region championship last Saturday in Dawson County. Gilmer and White split their regular-season meetings, and the Warriors came out on top in their latest matchup.
GHS held a slim lead at the half, and White moved ahead in the third. WCHS denied the Bobcats down the stretch and held on for a 66-59 victory.
“This was a good experience, and I’m glad we made it to the region championship,” said coach Jordan Hice. “I felt like this group deserved to be there. We have a young team that hasn’t had to play in a pressure game like that.
“They worked hard, and I feel like we played really well against Wesleyan, just to put ourselves in that position. We took out one of the best teams to get there, but just couldn’t capitalize versus White.”
Turnovers were a thorn in the Cats’ side against White. While they have committed more in other games this season, the Warriors took advantage when GHS gave them the ball.
“We had 15 turnovers and gave up 17 points off them,” Hice said. “They had eight more shots than us and got some offensive rebounds. The offensive rebounds and turnovers killed us. Neither team shot the lights out, but they had more possessions and more shots.”
The teams traded the lead often through the first half, and White slogged its way to a 13-12 edge after the first. Region player of the year Jadon Yeh picked up his second foul in the first quarter and spent much of the second on the bench.
GHS was unable to take advantage in his absence as the Warriors continued to get offensive rebounds for second and third chances. The Bobcats also had difficulties making shots from point-blank range whether it was in their half-court offense or in transition.
Bobcat Kohan Davis drove for two points and added a free throw right before the halftime buzzer for a 29-27 GHS lead.
Davis hit a three to start the third quarter and Jackson McVey added four points in the post. White kept pace with freshman guard Braxton Anderson, who scored eight straight points. Yeh was fouled on a three-point attempt and converted each free throw for a 40-38 lead with 3:10 left in the quarter.
WCHS led 44-40 at the onset of the fourth, and it maintained a 51-46 lead with six minutes left in the game. Gilmer was not ready to surrender, and the Cats were back ahead 52-51 after four from McVey and two more from Ryder Wofford.
An ensuing Yeh three pointer put the Warriors up for good. WCHS led 61-54 with 1:25 remaining as GHS struggled to cash in close-range shots on two straight possessions.
White made the needed free throws over the final minute to secure its seven-point win.
Hice changed up the Cats’ defense during the game but White had the answer.
“We were going back and forth between zone and man to try to throw them off balance,” he said. “They did a better job of rotating and cutting through the zones. They were rotating our zone so much it was easier to play man.”
McVey led GHS with 21 points and 17 rebounds. Keegen Bryant scored 12 and both Wofford and Davis finished with nine. Bryant, Davis and Will Kiker each had three assists. Wofford collected eight rebounds and Kiker had five.
Yeh tallied 25 points and Anderson scored 11.
The Bobcats’ defensive strategy worked better against Wesleyan in the semifinals. The Wolves made a paltry 26 percent of shots from the field compared to the Bobcats at 47 percent.
“When we jumped into a zone they really didn’t know what to do with it,” Hice said. “It slowed down their penetration, and we were able to limit them to one shot that way.”
Wofford led all scorers with 20 points to go with 12 rebounds. McVey added 16 points and 10 boards and Kiker scored 12.
After swapping points early, a Davis three pointer gave the Cats an early 8-5 lead and they never looked back. The Cats moved ahead 17-7 after a quarter and 32-18 at the half.
Wesleyan’s best stretch came at the start of the third when they scored nine straight points. The Wolves kept pace by knocking down five open three pointers in the quarter.
Gilmer’s lead stood at 47-44 with 7:20 left in the game. An ensuing 19-2 GHS run buried the Wolves in an insurmountable hole. The Cats put an exclamation point on the win when Bryant tossed a pass off the backboard to a trailing Wofford for a fast break dunk.
Davis finished with six points and Bryant and J.D. Taylor scored five.
Twenty-one turnovers plagued the Bobcats in the first round versus West Hall, and the Spartans turned them into 14 points.
“Turnovers killed us. It slowed us down from scoring and kept them in the game,” Hice said. “We had a lot of fouls, and a lot of their points came from free throws in the second half.
“We had a week off, and I think that kind of got us out of a groove. Plus, we were playing at 4:30 p.m. at White County and there weren’t many fans there. All in all, they did enough to win, and I was proud of that. Defensively, we did a lot better switching between man and a 2-3 zone.”
GHS held West Hall to a 28 percent field goal percentage. Gilmer pulled ahead late in the first quarter and never fell behind. GHS led 10-8 after the first and 27-16 at halftime.
The Spartans trimmed the deficit to 39-33 heading to the fourth where the Cats outpaced them 17-11.
GHS scoring: McVey (20), Wofford (11), Kiker (nine), Bryant (seven), Taylor (four), Jacob Becerra (two) and Davis and Noah Ballew (one). McVey led the way with 12 rebounds and Wofford collected seven.
Gilmer secured the region’s No. 2 seed and will host No. 3 seeded Hart County from Region 8 in the first round Wednesday. Tipoff at the GHS gym is scheduled for 6 p.m.