The Gilmer High Bobcats entered last week’s Region 7-3A basketball tournament as the No. 6 seed.
GHS hosted the No. 7 seeded West Hall Spartans to kick off the event Tuesday. Even though GHS was without one of its top scorers Cade Carter, the Bobcats had one of their top offensive performances.
Gilmer’s strong second quarter gave the Cats the cushion needed, and points kept coming in the second half for a 70-51 win.
Two days later, GHS traveled to Dawson County to take on the Tigers. The outmatched Bobcats fell behind early and the Dawson rolled to a 79-41 victory.
“We were hitting shots. Everything changes when you’re hitting shots. I felt like we found the smart shots,”
coach Jordan Hice said of the West Hall win. “We’ve been working on that instead of forcing stuff, and when we found those smart open shots, we were actually hitting them.”
GHS scored 11 points in the opening quarter, and a West Hall three pointer at the buzzer allowed the Spartans to cut into the Cats’ lead, 11-9.
“We were a little stagnant when we put in a few new plays at the beginning of the first,” Hice said. “They worked a few times and then it was like we were just standing around. We went with an inside out game working two people inside and that helped out a pretty good bit.”
Gilmer went on a 9-0 run to start the second quarter. The Bobcats’ lead stood at 25-14 with 2:30 left in the half before Hice opted to have the defense generate some offense.
Bobcats Mark Tyson, Dylan Abercrombie and Will Kiker entered the game, and GHS deployed a full-court press, which is not a regular tactic for Hice.
His decision was made easier with favorable matchups against the Spartans.
“At practice we worked for about 40 minutes on a diamond press. I picked my fastest five guys. I tried to eliminate some of the starters (to keep them fresh),” Hice said. “I didn’t know if we were going to use it. If we weren’t in foul trouble and were able to get a little bit of lead, it might be something we use at the end of a quarter.”
The goal was to get steals for easy points. If GHS was unable to or West Hall beat the press, Hice planned to pull out of it quickly.
“Their coach called a time out and I said all right guys, you ready?’ I call them my two-minute men,’” Hice chuckled.
The move worked as GHS grabbed three steals for layups. Ethan Banks hit a three at the buzzer to conclude Gilmer’s 11-2 run to close out the half.
GHS took a 36-18 lead into the third quarter. Bobcat Braden Jenkins started attacking the lane for points while Abercrombie and Brady Sanford made threes.
The Spartans penetrated the lane as well and were able to draw 13 fouls and made nine from the line in the third.
Gilmer’s lead stood at 53-31 with a quarter to play. Hice entered reserves into the game with 4:30 on the clock and a commanding 63-34 lead. The Spartans were able to get some quick points after GHS turnovers but never threatened.
Jenkins led GHS with 19 points and grabbed six rebounds. Sanford scored 17 and Banks had 11, while Lewis Mulkey was there for 10 boards and four points.
Dawson gave Gilmer trouble from the start in the region quarterfinals. GHS trailed early and throughout.
“Dawson is just a good team, and we hung with them as much as we could,” Hice said. “We didn’t really play horrible. We made some shots, but that team is just out of our league. They’re just a good well-rounded team with plenty of guys who can play that are athletic. We held No. 10 (Jake Craft) to six points, but everybody else, we couldn’t stop.”
No statistics or further game information was available by press deadline.
GHS posted a 7-15 overall record on the season and finished sixth in the regular season standings. Three games were canceled because of a COVID-19 quarantine as GHS navigated a talented region.
“We were shorted games and had two canceled versus Union and another against Fannin. I think those were some games we could have competed in and possibly won,” Hice said. “This region was just so stacked. Dawson and Cherokee Bluff are top 10 in the state. White County is right there, too. You have three teams who are right there in the top 10, and that makes its hard when they’re all in your region.
“With everything going on, we missed the whole month of December and were quarantined with no practice. It was almost like we put the season on hold right in the middle of it and then you’re trying to come back. With all that and the injuries, it was just a very weird struggling year to keep everyone healthy and playing.”