The Gilmer High Lady Cats were the region’s top team all season until Monday night.
GHS sat atop the standings and secured the No. 1 seed entering the Region 6-4A basketball tournament. The Cats met the Northwest Whitfield Bruins for the region championship, and Gilmer settled for second place.
The Bruins jumped ahead early and maintained their led throughout. Thanks to a sharpshooting performance from the three-point line and a free-throw disparity, Northwest was crowned region champions with a 49-39 victory.
The Cats’ runner-up finish will allow them to host a first-round game in the Class 4A state tournament.
“It’s disappointing not going into state as a No. 1 since we’ve been No. 1 all season, but the truth is, us and Northwest are very evenly matched,” coach Susan Nunn said. “Beating someone three times in a season when you’re even with them is a tough task. All credit to Northwest on that.
“I’m still deeply proud of this team and what we’ve been able to accomplish getting to the state tournament, and hopefully we can get in there and get to the second round.”
While the Bruins only made four two-point field goals on the night, they hit eight three pointers. NHS opened an 11-5 lead four minutes into the game and GHS never got any closer.
“They have several shooters who were knocking it out from the three-point line,” Nunn said. “We knew No. 33 (McKenzie Buckner) was the girl who put them up on us the last two ball games, and I felt like we did a pretty good job of shutting her down, but everyone else was knocking them out today.
“It’s hard to cover them all when you’re trying to focus on that player.”
Northwest also kept GHS from within striking distance by spending much of the night at the free-throw line, which left Lady Cat coaches, players and fans fuming.
“(Not getting some calls) was very frustrating,” Nunn said. “Especially in the last few minutes there, I felt there were several out-of-bounds calls that should have been ours that didn’t go our way. Two happened right in front of me, and I can see a blue (Northwest) hand on the ball.
“There’s nothing you can do about that though, and we put ourselves in situations, so that part is what it is.”
Gilmer players were whistled for twice as many fouls (22 to 11) as Northwest. The Bruins shot 27 free throws and made 17 while the Cats only attempted five and converted three.
Gilmer fell behind by nine points in the opening quarter and trailed 15-8 at its conclusion.
NHS made three more from beyond the three-point arc in the second quarter while GHS got points from Elly Callihan, Hope Colwell, Bailey Teague and Jalynn Ledford.
GHS only scored two points through the first four minutes of the second and Northwest led by as much as 14 and enjoyed a 27-18 halftime advantage.
Bruin Tionna Baker scored 13 of her 25 points in the first half, and she added six more points in the third quarter. GHS continued to have trouble getting shots to fall as both Emma Callihan and Elly Callihan scored four in the quarter.
NHS was able to push its lead to 16 points in the fourth before GHS scored some late baskets. The Bruins made their final three of the game in the fourth to go along with a 10/16 effort from the foul line.
Aside from Baker, Mykayla Ahlers scored 17 for NHS. Emma Callihan scored 12 for the Cats and Elly Callihan added 10. Beth Burnette netted five and was followed by Ledford (four), Colwell and Jasmine Staley (three) and Teague (two).
Gilmer began the region tournament last Friday after receiving a bye to the semifinals. GHS met the LaFayette Ramblers, and it took a half for the Cats to get their offense in gear.
Gilmer had a 10-day layoff between games and a four-point second quarter saw the Cats take a 17-12 halftime lead. While LaFayette still struggled in the second half, GHS started to come alive offensively.
The Cats built a 20-point lead entering the fourth en route to a 53-30 victory.
“That was a concern of having so many days off,” Nunn said. “In this point of the season, the playing time pretty much helps you more than the practice time. We talked about being rusty, and we definitely were at the start as far as our shooting game goes.
“Of course, we’ve been shooting a ton, but it’s different when you’re in a game situation. It took us a little while to get back on track.”
GHS went on an 8-0 run to begin the game, and a Burnette three made the score 11-4 in Gilmer’s favor. GHS had a string of four straight offensive rebounds with no points for its efforts with two minutes left in the first, and led 13-6 at the end of the quarter.
The Cats grabbed three straight offensive boards during a second quarter possession, but still could not get a shot to fall. They limped to a five-point halftime lead.
“We were getting shots we needed right at the basket, but we’ve just got to finish. We finally started to get that done,” Nunn said.
The Cats took over in the third as Elly Callihan and Ledford both scored six points in the quarter. Emma Callihan was there for six more, and Teague added three. GHS opened a 38-18 lead entering the fourth.
LHS never got closer than 17 points in the final quarter, and the Cats won decisively.
“Elly and Emma Callihan were our top scorers, but for me, Hope Colwell was the star of the game,” Nunn said. “We put her on their best shooter (#20) and Hope was all over her. She helped to shut her down (nine points), and I was very pleased with her defensive play.”
Elly Callihan scored 15, Emma Callihan had 12 and Ledford added eight.
Tough task ahead in first round
GHS will host the Stephens County Indians Friday to begin the Class 4A state tournament. Stephens has a 21-6 record and spent the season as the top team in Region 8-4A before they were upset in the region semifinals. They were ranked No. 8 in Class 4A’s final regular season rankings.
Gilmer schools were canceled Tuesday because of the threat of flooding, and Nunn hopes the Cats can find some time to practice, which they have not been able to do since the middle of last week.
“Hopefully, we’ll be able to have a practice Tuesday afternoon, so I’m not sure how that is going to work out. I haven’t seen much film on Stephens at all, but I know going into their region tournament, they were the No. 1 seed and got upset and knocked down to No. 3, so it is not a good draw.
“They’re very good from what I understand. We’ll work on it and see what we see on the film and see what we can practice and try to get some stops on their best players.”
Friday’s tipoff is set for 7 p.m. at the GHS gym.