The Gilmer Lady Cats defeated a familiar foe to begin the Piedmont Mountainside Christmas Tournament.
GHS was in Fannin County last Tuesday for the opening round, and former region opponent Lumpkin County found itself on the losing side. The Indians played from behind throughout, and the Cats rebuffed Lumpkin’s comeback attempts for a 54-36 win.
Head coach David Dowse was pleased to see the Cats close out an opponent, which marked the Cats’ fourth win of the season.
“We led the whole game. They’d make a little run, and in the past, we never really answered that. This time, we put our foot down and said ‘no.’ We made a little run and extended the lead a bit,” he said.
GHS shot 6/23 from beyond the three-point arc. Defensively, the Cats were constantly in passing lanes and got their hands on the ball to keep the Indians out of rhythm.
“At least we made a couple threes this time,” Dowse said. “We haven’t been knocking those down. We scored a little bit, and that gives you a little juice. Then you’re a little better defensively and create a few more deflections. We didn’t have a lot of steals (six), but we had a lot of deflections (24). I thought we were really disruptive.”
The Cats made 38 percent of their shots while LCHS shot a paltry 25 percent. The Indians could never achieve the consistency needed to threaten the Cats’ lead, which they began to extend at the midpoint of the second quarter.
Gilmer led by three after the first and 30-18 at halftime. The Cats widened their lead to 47-28 with eight minutes to play en route to their nonregion victory.
Dowse said the Cats use the same mindset to approach games regardless of the opponent or circumstances.
“We pretty much go into these games like any other and really don’t do anything different,” he mentioned. “Obviously the region games got a little more importance, but as far as prep and expectations, there’s really nothing different.”
He added, “I saw offensive improvement, and I saw improvement in decision-making. We shared the ball better and I want to see us continue to grow in that area ... moving the basketball, making the extra pass, giving up a good shot for a great shot. I see it in practice, but I don’t always see it in the game. I want to continue to grow with that.
“For the most part, our defense is pretty solid. If we can continue to get better offensively, I think we’ll be OK.”
Jace Sanderson scored 16 points for GHS and was followed by Bree Burnette and Chelsey Griggs (10 apiece), Jaylee McDaniel (nine), Paula Robertson (six) and Aliza Chastain (three).
Madison Bradshaw was the top rebounder with seven, Robertson had six and both McDaniel and Griggs grabbed five. Burnette tallied six assists.
GHS ended the tournament by defeating Copper Basin (62-47) and losing to Fannin County (55-50). Because of Christmas’ early Sunday deadline, they will be covered in next week’s edition.