The Gilmer Lady Cats did everything right versus Ridgeland.
GHS hosted the Panthers last Tuesday, and the Cats thrived defensively to fuel their offense. After a somewhat competitive opening quarter, Gilmer put the game away ahead of the half and rolled to a 69-25 win.
The Cats met a talented Cherokee Bluff team Saturday. Gilmer’s shooting woes continued, and the Bears built a formidable 16-point halftime lead. Cherokee Bluff’s scoring duo kept GHS from threatening its lead in the second half, and the Bears won, 57-37.
Head coach David Dowse discussed the win over Ridgeland and what he believed led to the lopsided victory.
“That’s kind of how I’ve envisioned us playing. With us, it’s a confidence thing. When we get off to a good start and have enthusiasm, we shoot it better. Everything seems to come a little bit easier,” he said.
“We seem to be a little bit fragile when we don’t start off strong. We haven’t shown the resiliency to do much about it yet. We’ll keep working on it and working with it. We have some competitive games coming up where we should be right in there with them.”
The Cats shot 39 percent from the field, but they forced 31 RHS turnovers, which were converted into 44 points. Gilmer ended the game with 29 more shot attempts than RHS.
The Cats led 18-10 after the first, which marked Ridgeland’s only double-digit scoring quarter. The Cats’ lead stood at 39-14 at halftime and at 58-18 after the third. The fourth quarter was cut by two minutes as GHS continued the rout.
GHS made 10 three pointers on the day, and Jace Sanderson hit five. She led the Cats with 18 points. Bree Burnette made a trio of threes and scored 17. Both Aliza Chastain and Paula Robertson added 10 points.
Chastain snatched five steals, and Sanderson and Chelsey Griggs both grabbed four. Griggs added nine rebounds followed by Robertson (six) and Grace Bramlett and Madison Bradshaw (four apiece).
Cherokee Bluff took advantage of Gilmer’s slow start Saturday.
“They’re young but talented, and they have two really good players (Bristol Kersh and Claire Carlson),” Dowse said. “We knew about these kids, but just weren’t able to do much with them. Carlson lit us up for 18 points and we were face guarding her the whole time. She runs really well off screens.
“Outside of Paula (15 points), we didn’t score much. We had 34 turnovers, and they outrebounded us on the offensive end, 20-5. They ended up with 31 more field goal attempts than us.”
The Cats only shot 33 percent from the field and struggled early. GHS managed 11 points through two quarters and fell behind by 17 at the half. While the Cats’ offense picked up in the second half, it was not enough to catch the Bears.
Chastain and Burnette both scored six points. Sanderson was the top rebounder with eight, Robertson had six and Bradshaw finished with five.
GHS is 3-5 overall.
Ridgeland no match for JV
The junior varsity Cats smoked Ridgeland, 65-13.
Ally Phillips and Makenna Taylor were a potent one-two punch for GHS, and they scored 23 and 20 points, respectively.
The Cats’ led by 20 after a quarter and by 40 at halftime, 48-8. Gilmer emptied its bench in the second half to continue its undefeated season.
Rosie Everett added eight points and was followed by Jaylee McDaniel (five), Morgan Palmeri (four), Madison Hall (three) and Kenley Thompson (two).