The state basketball tournament is next for the Gilmer Lady Cats.
GHS wrapped up the Region 7-3A tournament last week, and the event began Wednesday versus Ridgeland (22-4). Gilmer won both meetings during the regular season, but this time the Panthers were able to win a low-scoring affair, 44-30.
The Cats faced Northwest Whitfield (16-11) in the consolation finals. They split their matchups this season, and their latest game mirrored the first. Gilmer jumped out to a quick lead and led throughout for a 70-43 victory.
Gilmer was awarded the No. 16 seed in the Class 3A state tournament and hosted No. 17 White County at press deadline.
Neither team shot better than 32 percent in the Ridgeland game, but the Cats committed 20 turnovers compared to 10 for the Panthers. RHS turned those defensive miscues into 25 points.
“We jumped out early (15-4) and we were up a couple after one, and then we only scored 14 points the rest of the game,” head coach David Dowse said. “It was not good shooting, and we talked about these live-ball turnovers and that’s what really killed us.
“In the end, they took 20 more shot attempts than us as a result of losing a possession due to a live ball turnover. And they beat us in transition, 11-2. So, that’s the game right there. And we knew it going in that those were the things we had to be better at and we just weren’t.”
The Cats found success early and led 15-4 at the midpoint of the first quarter. However, over the next 12 minutes, the Panthers went on a 21-3 run to lead 25-18 at halftime.
RHS was limited to seven points in the third, but the Cats were only able to cut into the deficit by two points. Ridgeland entered the fourth leading, 32-27. The Panthers outscored the Cats 12-3 in the fourth to secure the win.
Paula Robertson scored 11 points for GHS to go with seven rebounds. Mak Taylor scored nine, and Chelsey Griggs added seven points and eight boards.
GHS upped their shooting percentage drastically versus Northwest at 53 percent. The Cats were deadly from outside, where they made 11/25 three-point attempts. Gilmer out-rebounded NHS 44-33 and enjoyed a plus-six turnover differential. Gilmer scored 16 transition points, which doubled Northwest’s effort.
“We bounced back against Northwest,” Dowse said. “They play different style for sure, but we played with a lot more energy in that game, which I was very pleased with. We shot it better, but a lot of that comes because you’re playing with energy on the defensive end. For some miraculous reason, then we end up shooting a little bit better.
“But the other thing is versus Ridgeland, we had four assists. Against Northwest, we had 22 assists, which is something we’ve been talking about for a long time, is share the basketball. It’s not a one-on-one game. When we share it, we get better shots and we score.” Robertson, Taylor, Griggs and Jace Sanderson all contributed points early as GHS began the game with a 15-4 lead. Bree Burnette added a three, and Taylor scored two more in transition.
Gilmer took a 20-7 lead into the second, and it was more of the same for GHS. Robertson tallied seven of her 14 points in the quarter. Burnette was the leading scorer for GHS with 19, and she got hot to close out the half. Burnette scored eight of 11 points, which included three baskets from three-point territory.
The Cats’ lead swelled to 45-19 at the half. Gilmer’s offense cooled over the final two quarters, but it was not nearly enough to save the Bruins. The Cats were up 55-34 heading into the fourth, where they extended their lead to 27 points.
Sanderson and Taylor joined Burnette and Robertson in double figures with 16 and 12 points, respectively. Sanderson also grabbed seven rebounds, and Taylor provided three assists. Griggs was the top rebounder with 10.
Gilmer is 16-10 overall entering the state tournament.