Gilmer High’s younger basketball players won both of their games and were crowned junior varsity tip-off tournament champions.
Neither Pickens or Copper Basin took part in the event as the GHS Bobcats faced Fannin County twice. They first met Saturday, Nov. 20, and Gilmer pulled away for a 71-48 win when Fannin faded in the second half.
Game two last Monday was the opposite as Gilmer surged ahead early and never looked back en route to a 53-30 victory.
Rebel sharpshooters hit four three pointers in the first quarter of game one. A FCHS 16-13 lead turned into a 32-19 GHS advantage by the half.
Bobcats Jackson McVey and Ryder Wofford were a potent scoring duo, and they hit shots steadily throughout. Gilmer doubled Fannin’s scoring output in the third quarter and did the same in the fourth.
The Bobcats extended their lead to 23 points by game’s end as McVey led the way with 27 points and Wofford scored 26.
Jacob Becerra, J.D. Taylor, Kohan Davis and John Ponders contributed points in the first half of game two to give GHS a well-rounded scoring effort with McVey and Wofford.
Shots were not falling for FCHS, and Gilmer opened a 33-9 lead by halftime. GHS pushed its lead to 45-19 with a quarter to play and won by 23.
McVey totaled 12 points, while both Wofford and Davis scored nine and Taylor had seven.