The Gilmer Bobcats earned a road win over the Murray County Indians.
GHS was in Chastworth last Friday for the nonregion matchup, and the Indians held an edge through three quarters. However, Gilmer came on strong in the fourth and erased the Indians’ lead to earn a 64-55 win.
Gilmer began the week Tuesday at LaFayette. Both teams attacked the basket constantly with drives, but it was the Ramblers who did so with greater success. Gilmer spent much of the night playing catchup but never completed the comeback in a 72-59 region loss.
Head coach Jordan Hice discussed the Murray win, noting, “Our first quarter was pretty slow offensively if not for attacking the rim a little bit. Our outside shooting has still been a struggle (2/11). Our game is attacking the rim. We really didn’t run our offense bad, it’s just that we rushed it. We have continuous plays that are supposed to be used to work the ball around, and we’ve been using them for quick hitters. We make one pass and try to score.
“In the second half is when we started attacking and finishing at the rim really well. That helped us out a lot.”
Murray enjoyed a 32-24 lead at the half, but that changed over the final two quarters. Gilmer shot below 40 percent in the opening half, but made 56 percent of its shots in the second half.
A key to Gilmer’s turnaround was guard Keegen Bryant. He scored 22 points on the night, which included nine in the third quarter and 11 more in the fourth.
While Murray still enjoyed a 45-42 lead with eight minutes to play, GHS outscored the Indians 22-10 in the fourth to win by nine. J.D. Taylor was Gilmer’s top scorer with 24.
Gilmer started off slowly versus LaFayette as well, and turnovers kept the Cats from overtaking the Ramblers for the win.
“We had another slow first quarter (with six points) and then finally calmed down,” Hice said. “We tied it a few times. We had to spend so much energy trying to tie it, and then they’d go on a 6-0 run. We never could get the edge after coming back to take the lead. LaFayette attacked the rim really well and had a lot of points in the paint (56). We just couldn’t stop their inside game. We had a lot of turnovers, too, and gave up 24 points on turnovers, and gave up 16 points off offensive rebounds.”
In addition to the aforementioned issues in the game, GHS had another rough night from outside and made only 1/12 three-point shots.
Gilmer fell behind by 12 after a quarter and were down 28-19 by the half. The Cats’ offense picked up in the second half, but so did LaFayette’s. LHS took a 47-39 edge into the fourth where the Ramblers outscored GHS by five points.
Bryant tallied 24 points on the night and was followed by Taylor (16), Preston McVey (six), Boston Teague (five), Blane Banks (four) and Cooper Farmer and Mack Kiser (two each).
Jaden Sevcech was the top rebounder with six, Taylor had five and both Teague and Banks grabbed four.
Gilmer is 10-13 overall and 3-6 in the region.
Junior varsity
The junior varsity Bobcats led early and did not relinquish it in a 61-47 victory.
Bobcats A.J. Callihan (23 points), Douglas Callihan (14) and Andrew Chastain (11) led the way offensively.
GHS took a four-point lead into the second quarter and led 29-19 by halftime. MCHS cut the Cats’ edge to 45-36 after the third, and Gilmer outscored Murray 16-11 in the fourth quarter.
Mason West added seven points for GHS, Preston McVey scored four and Peyton Chancey had two.