The Gilmer High Lady Cats continued their region basketball slate last week.
GHS was on the road Tuesday against Lumpkin County. The Indians are ranked No. 1 in Class 3A, and the shorthanded Cats fell, 67-27.
Gilmer was at home three days later as the Dawson County Tigers came to town. GHS saw its region record fall to 1-3 in a 66-35 loss.
The Cats were still without senior Elly Callihan, who was injured the week prior against White County. GHS struggled under Lumpkin’s full-court pressure, and fell behind 37-8 at the half. LCHS extended its lead over the final two quarters.
Brooke Wilson scored six points for GHS, and Lark Reece, Maddie Wright and Charley Poteet each added four.
Head coach Susan Nunn saw improvement Friday versus Dawson.
“I don’t feel like the score (against Dawson) represented how much better we played than we did the previous two games against Lumpkin and White,” she said. “Losing Elly definitely hurt us. At halftime, we were down 11. Up until the last two minutes of the second quarter, it was a two- to six-point game.”
Dawson pushed its 30-19 halftime lead to 47-27 entering the fourth where the Tigers outscored GHS, 19-8.
“We absolutely are making improvements as a team,” Nunn said of the 4-6 Cats. “All of my guards did a much better job handling the ball against Dawson’s press. We worked on that all week because we really struggled in the Lumpkin and White games with the full-court press.”
Nunn praised senior Reece for her leadership on and off the court. Nunn noted that both Poteet and Wilson have helped Reece shoulder the scoring load in Callihan’s absence.
Reece scored nine points versus Dawson, Poteet added eight and Lucy Ray totaled six. Aliza Chastain, Wilson and Alaina Miltiades all scored four.
The Cats do not return to the court until next Tuesday, Dec. 28, for a Christmas tournament at Gordon Lee High School. The Cats received Monday off and were back at practice Tuesday.
“We’re trying to pick a couple things at a time that these young ones have to improve on to help us in game situations,” Nunn said. “Even though the score (against Dawson) doesn’t show, we did a much better job. I went in the locker room and told them I was very happy with their play. It was 100 percent better than the previous two games. We just have to take it one game at a time and keep moving.”