The Gilmer High Lady Cats closed out the regular season with two more region basketball wins.
And with that comes a No. 2 seed heading into the region tournament, which guarantees the Cats a state spot.
GHS began last week at home Tuesday when the Heritage Generals (19-6 overall) came to town. While the second and third quarters belonged to the Generals, Gilmer’s fast start and strong finish allowed the Cats to claim a 43-40 victory.
Gilmer was at Northwest Whitfield Friday and unleashed a three-point barrage on the Bruins for a 67-44 win. GHS traveled to Heritage the following afternoon. The Generals’ offense caught fire this time, and they sent the Cats home with a 59-40 defeat.
Gilmer’s win over Heritage was spearheaded by a strong defensive effort, and the Cats did not give up many open looks on the night. The Generals’ offensive modus operandi was foiled for much of the night.
“I’m really proud of the grit and the toughness the girls showed,” said head coach David Dowse. “They kept battling every possession and found a way to win and made some big plays when it really mattered.
“We see teams that run a lot of dribble-handoff stuff with an occasional pick and roll, but they’re pretty much a pick-and-roll team looking for back cuts and slip screens. They’re real good with it. We gave up 40 points, and that’s about as good as you’re gonna do. I don’t know how many teams (zero) held them to fewer points than that.”
With points at a premium, three-point baskets often swung the momentum. Gilmer’s Aliza Chastain made two in the first quarter, and Jace Sanderson knocked down another to fuel the offense. Chelsey Griggs and Madison Bradshaw also added points for the Cats, who went on a 10-0 run over the final four minutes of the quarter.
Heritage gave the Cats a taste of their own medicine in the second. GHS had a hard time getting shots to fall as fouls and turnovers mounted, and Heritage began the quarter with a 14-2 HHS run.
Four straight points by Gilmer’s Bree Burnette allowed the Cats to momentarily regain the lead with 1:15 before halftime, 21-19. A HHS three at the buzzer evened the score at 22-22 at the half.
The Generals forced three Gilmer shot clock violations in the third as the Cats’ offense continued to sputter. HHS concentrated its offense inside and led 34-30 with eight minutes to play.
The junior duo of Griggs and Burnette accounted for all of the Cats’ points in the fourth. Griggs scored two in the post and then hit a three. Burnette made a three pointer as well for an 8-0 GHS run for a 38-34 lead, which was not surrendered over the final 5:50 of play.
Burnette’s second three of the quarter came with 1:40 on the clock to move Gilmer’s lead to 42-39. Seventy seconds later, Heritage forced a turnover on a Gilmer inbound. HHS drew a foul and made one from the line.
Another Gilmer turnover with 20 seconds left led to a fruitless HHS possession. Griggs grabbed the rebound, was fouled and made one free throw. Trailing 43-40 with 8.5 seconds and a final possession, Gilmer’s defense denied the Generals a last attempt as Chastain applied on-ball pressure.
Burnette led the Cats with 14 points, both Sanderson and Chastain scored 10 and Griggs had seven. Bradshaw scored two and was the top rebounder with seven. Griggs contributed five rebounds and five assists.
Gilmer made 15 three pointers against Northwest Friday, and the Bruins never stood a chance.
“We shot it really well and jumped on them real quick and took them out of everything they really wanted to do,” Dowse said.
Both Sanderson and Burnette made six three pointers apiece, and the former drained five in the first quarter. Gilmer opened a 24-5 lead, which stood at 33-15 at halftime.
GHS made four more three pointers in the third quarter as both Chastain and Griggs also enjoyed success from outside.
Gilmer extended its lead to 51-29 entering the fourth where the Cats’ offense was supplemented by the free-throw line. They shot 8/13 from the line to preserve the 23-point win.
Sanderson and Brunette led the way with 19 and 18 points, respectively. Griggs added 12 and Chastain scored nine.
The shots that did not fall for Heritage in the first game did on Saturday. HHS shot 50 percent from the field, which included a hefty 76 percent on two-point attempts. The Generals also outrebounded the Cats, 30-17.
Meanwhile, GHS made only 31 percent of its shots on the day and were 6/16 from beyond the three-point arc.
“They didn’t play Friday, but that’s certainly not an excuse,” Dowse said. “They outplayed us, they out physicaled us and killed us on the boards. They shot ridiculously well. At that point, we had missed about six layups and given up some points in transition and left some shooters open.
“It was close for a half, and I felt pretty good if we could only clean some of this stuff up in the second half, but we didn’t.”
The game was close early as GHS led by a point after the first. HHS slipped ahead at the half, 23-20. However, Gilmer could not keep pace in the second half as Heritage got hot.
The Generals pushed their lead to 42-30 with a quarter to play and outpaced the Cats in the fourth, 17-10.
Burnette and Chastain each scored 13 points, and Griggs and Sanderson both added seven. Griggs contributed four assists.
Gilmer ended the season tied for second place with Heritage. GHS won the tiebreaker because the Cats defeated Northwest Whitfield twice, while Heritage was 1-1 versus Northwest. By securing the No. 2 seed, GHS has already qualified for the state tournament.
The Cats will not take the court until the semifinals of the region tournament, which will be Friday at Calhoun at 4 p.m.
JV secures 12th win
The junior varsity Lady Cats ended their season with another victory. Ahead of last Saturday’s varsity showdown at Heritage, the JV Cats took down the Generals, 38-28.
The Cats opened a 12-5 lead after the first quarter, and Heritage could not get a shot to fall in the second. GHS entered the third with a 19-5 advantage, and the Generals never completed the comeback.
Lady Cat Madison Hall scored five of her team-high 12 points in the third, and teammate Makenna Taylor hit one of three three pointers on the day.
The Cats were ahead 29-15 to start the final quarter, and Hall, Kenley Thompson and Ally Phillips all scored points in the fourth to preserve the win and 12-1 seasonal record.
Taylor scored nine points, Philips added seven, Thompson had six and McDaniel finished with four.