The Gilmer High Bobcats took the court after the Lady Cats to showcase some of what is in store for the upcoming basketball season.
The scrimmage included Black versus White teams rather than a Purple squad. For much of the night, some players swapped teams between quarters and some made the switch mid-quarter.
By game’s end, the scoreboard read 62-60 in White’s favor, and four Bobcats scored in double figures.
Gilmer was without projected starters Braden Jenkins, Cade Carter and Carson Pierce. Jenkins is still playing football and Carter and Pierce are recovering from injuries.
“The big thing was to see how well they remember things in game situations,” coach Jordan Hice said when asked what he wanted to see in the scrimmage.
“We’ve been working on trying to prefect that as much as possible. We wanted to run through everything and make sure we got everything in and see how well they reacted in those situations.”
Teams were split evenly through three quarters with Lewis Mulkey swapping sides between each. He provided 23 points on the night, and Brady Sanford took the court for Black and tallied 26 points.
Both teams flew up and down the court, and Black went on a 9-0 run to start the game with Mulkey and Sanford as its offensive center pieces. Jack Jones stopped Black’s run with two pints, and teammate Ethan Banks added two more and one from the line. White’s Cooper Bozzo hit a three to trim Black’s lead to 13-10 at the end of the quarter.
Mulkey switched sides for the second quarter and both he and Sanford scored eight points for their respective team. Britt Taylor added seven more for Black as they pulled ahead 31-25 at the half.
Sanford made his second three pointer of the game to begin the third quarter to spark a 15-3 run. Black surged ahead 52-31 with a quarter to play.
In the fourth, Hice put his more experienced players on the White team as they were tasked with making a comeback.
“We had the main six players I know I’ll have and put them on a team,” Hice said. “They had not been practicing together for the past three weeks. I’ve had them split up at practice. We put them all together and down some points. We tried to work on some full court man-to-man press, and it worked out pretty good.”
White was there for steals and transition points and dominated the post. White pulled ahead 57-55 with 3:15 to play. Over the final minute with the score set at 62-60, both teams concentrated on game specific situations.
Aside from Mulkey and Sanford, Taylor scored 14 and Banks added 13. Bryson Sission finished with nine points, and Dylan Abercrombie, Bozzo and Christian Sumner had seven apiece.
“Overall it wasn’t bad,” Hice said of the scrimmage. “It was a little different. Your expectations are different especially with missing Cade and Braden. It makes everything feel a little different, but overall it wasn’t bad.
“We still have a few areas we need to improve on. Hopefully, when we get everybody back, all this experience for these younger guys who normally wouldn’t see any playing time will pay off.”
Hice noted that Carter could be medically cleared soon, and Pierce will take the court when he is ready.
“Pierce has been practicing and can do whatever he feels comfortable doing,” Hice said. “I don’t know if he’s going to play in the tipoff tournament or not. We’re going to see how he feels and go from there. He should be playing by Christmas at the latest, but we’re hoping to have him back before that.”
GHS will host the ETC Tipoff Tournament this year. The Cats will take the court Saturday against Copper Basin at 7:30 p.m. GHS will face Fannin and Pickens at home Monday and Tuesday, respectively, with both tipoffs of 7:30 p.m.