The Bobcats hit the road once again for a pair of nonregion games.
Gilmer was in Union County last Tuesday, and the Panthers ran away with a 82-47 win. GHS traveled to Murray County Thursday and the Indians overtook the Bobcats in the second quarter. Gilmer’s offense struggled to find consistency in the second half and MCHS snatched a 76-53 victory.
Against Union, the Panthers constantly took advantage of GHS turnovers, which they converted into 42 points. UCHS scored at will in the paint (50 points), and much of that was in transition or following offensive rebounds.
“We’re in a situation where we’ve got good kids and we’re learning, but we’re nowhere near where we’ll be later in the season with getting reps and comfortable with habits instead of it being kind of an inconsistency,” said head coach Sean Glaze.
“They do a nice job with their 1-3-1, but we did a very poor job of running our offense to get the looks we could have gotten. Learning disciple for us is going to be that first hurdle of making sure we trust the system and each other enough to maintain our dedication to running what we practice.”
UCHS outshot Gilmer by 39 attempts, and the Panthers did not take their foot off the gas until the final two minutes of the fourth quarter, which was shortened by three minutes because of point differential.
Gilmer trailed 25-16 after a quarter and 44-26 at halftime. GHS struggled in the third and only managed four points as they fell behind by 39.
The Cats had their best offensive quarter in the fourth, but it was far too late to make a difference.
Preston McVey scored 12 and grabbed six rebounds for the Cats. Keegen Bryant scored 10, and Aden Richard added seven. Jaden Sevcech finished with nine rebounds, five points and four assists.
McVey was there for 19 points and eight boards versus Murray. His 10-point first quarter led the way offensively while Bryant, Sevcech and Noah Rice all drained a three pointer.
GHS emerged from the quarter with a 23-18 lead. MCHS had a strong rebounding effort in the second quarter, which included seven on the offensive side. Shots stopped falling for Gilmer and they trailed 40-33 at the half.
Over the final quarters, Gilmer only managed 20 points and tallied seven in the third. Murray took a 54-40 lead into the fourth quarter where it extended it to 23 by game’s end.
“We saw some good things from a number of kids,” Glaze said. “We got our football guys who are 2 1/2 practices in and have been thrown into the fire and picking up as they go.
“We did a nice job of running some stuff early and just had some defensive transition breakdowns and decided to stand and reach instead of hitting somebody and blocking out more consistently. I think those will eventually be things we can clean up, but early in the season you can see our guys thinking on the court instead of playing and reacting.”
GHS attempted just seven free throws to Murray’s 26. The Indians cashed in 26 points off Gilmer turnovers.
Bryant scored eight points and Andrew Chastain added seven and six assists. Sevcech finished with six points and Rice had five.
Gilmer began the North Forsyth Thanksgiving tournament with a 59-37 loss to the host Raiders and are 1-3 on the season. A full recap of the tournament will appear in next week’s Times-Courier.