The Gilmer High Bobcats had the biggest turnaround in Class 3A last season when it came to basketball wins.
GHS posted a 19-11 record a year ago and also returned to the state tournament. Five seniors graduated off that team who were either starters or lettermen.
Twenty three players are in the program, which includes a varsity lineup of 12, six of whom are seniors. With that in mind, head coach Jordan Hice and staff focused on reworking some of their half-court offense and transition game to better fit personnel.
“We put in this one set we ran a lot last year and revamped that a little bit and added some quick hitters off that for what we have now,” Hice said. “Last year, we were very big and tall. We’re lacking in that tall area, but we can put some of those shooting forwards in the four spot because I have some taller guards I can rotate in. We worked on our fast break and manipulated that a lot to take advantage of more transition points.”
Once official practices got going in October, they continued to make offensive tweaks while installing a 3/4 court press. During the opening round of the tipoff tournament, all varsity players got at least eight minutes of court time, and Hice made wholesale substitutions at times.
“We’re very guard oriented,” Hice said. “We have a lot of quick guards, more so than last year. Our starting guards were good, but there wasn’t a lot of speed. We added some speed this year so we’ve changed our press around.
“We’ve been working on trapping past half court, using these speed guys who are coming in for two to three minutes at a time to give the starters a break.”
Preseason all-state selection Jackson McVey returns for his sophomore season in the post, and he does provide some height for the Bobcats at 7’. Last year along with post players and Cade Carter and Lewis Mulkey, much of Gilmer’s offense was initiated through them. Gilmer will likely play with four guards, and at times, five.
Depending on opponents, GHS will push the pace as much as possible offensively.
“We’ll make that adjustment. If the fast break isn’t working, we’re turning the ball over more and missing shots, then we’ll slow it down and run a half-court offense,” Hice said.
On the defensive side, the change to the Bobcats’ press came after it lost some of its effectiveness last season.
“I shorted that press so it’s less ground we have to cover,” Hice said. “Hopefully, we’ll give up less layups, and if we are pressing with a big man on the court, we have less two-on-ones or three-on-ones where he’s trying to protect the rim and getting in foul trouble.”
Hice has different rotations that move guards around to different spots on the court. Aside from McVey, senior Miles McCall and junior John Ponders will give Gilmer a post presence.
Juniors Ryder Wofford and Kohan Davis will see time at the wing. Splitting time at the guard positions will be seniors Will Kiker, Noah Ballew, Christian Sumner, Hunter Watkins and Connor Wimpey, junior Jacob Becerra, sophomore J.D. Taylor and freshman Keegen Bryant.
“Ive got a lot of different rotations I can go into with three or four guards,” Hice said. “I like our depth, and it’s something we might not have had in a while. We’ve got options, they work hard and they want to win. We’re trying to get the team to play together and worry more about the team than themselves.”
The region will be slightly different from the previous two seasons. Former state qualifying teams North Hall and Cherokee Bluff were reclassified to face larger schools. Pickens dropped down from Class 4A to join the region, and Wesleyan makes the jump up from Class A after the GHSA altered how it counts enrollment.
“Pickens is coming back to the region and they didn’t lose much from last year,” Hice said. “They’re going to be pretty good, and Wesleyan is going to do really well. For all the other teams, they lost some players. White County still has their star coming back, but out of everybody, I think we lost the most.”
Bobcats blast Basin
GHS faced the Copper Basin Cougars in the opening round of the Piedmont Mountainside/ETC Tipoff Tournament last Saturday and won, 79-44.
McVey was there for 17 points and 15 rebounds while Wofford added 14 points and Taylor scored 13.
The Cougars trailed 18-12 near the end of the opening period and they would not get any closer. The first of many scoreless stretches for CBHS came at the start of the second quarter where GHS went on a 10-2 run as its lead swelled to 33-15.
The Cats led 41-21 at the half and their offense improved over the final two quarters while the Cougars faltered. Turnovers continued to plague CBHS, which Gilmer converted into 22 points on the night.
GHS was up 63-33 entering the fourth, and the Cats extended their lead to 38 points by the game’s end.
Gilmer hosted Fannin County at press deadline and played Pickens Tuesday.