The Gilmer Lady Cats appeared to regain their form on the basketball court last week.
The Cats suffered their first two losses of the season a week prior coming off an extended COVID-19 break. Last week, GHS was back in the win column with victories over the Northwest Whitfield (48-39), North Hall (66-46) and White County (66-55).
“It was a big week for us after our slowdown during Christmas,” said head coach Susan Nunn. “When we played Northwest at the start of the week, we played much better but were still making some mental mistakes trying to get our conditioning back. By the end of the week, we were much more on track than we have been.”
Gilmer’s win over Northwest Tuesday was a nonregion matchup. It was the teams’ first meeting since a year ago when they were region mates and the Bruins topped the Cats for the Region 6 title.
GHS returned to region play Friday at home against the North Hall Trojans. The Cats’ went inside for points from Elly Callihan and Emma Deyton but also got a boost from long-range in the first quarter.
“Elly was hot at the start of our game. We were getting her the ball a lot, and anytime we can do that it’s always a plus for us,” Nunn said. “She got us started off, and we also hit four three pointers, which is absolutely above our average. That’s normally what we might hit in a game.”
Callihan scored 11 points in the first half while converting five of eight free throws. Both Emma Callihan and Beth Burnette made a pair of threes, and GHS opened a 25-10 lead. While Gilmer’s scoring pace slowed in the second, they still held a 36-19 lead at halftime.
The Cats continued to look for Deyton and Elly Callihan in the second half, and both were there for eight points. Hope Colwell and Haley Wilson each added three pointers and the Cats kept their healthy lead intact.
GHS led 50-31 with eight minutes to play, and the Trojans did not make up any ground by game’s end. Six different Cats scored to help preserve their 20-point win.
Elly Callihan led the way with 19 points, Emma Callihan scored 13, Deyton finished with 10 and Burnette netted eight.
Gilmer entered the game versus White County Saturday ready for the Warriors’ pressure.
“We knew going in that White is a pressure team. They look to use the full-court press or half-court trap against you,” Nunn said. “We talked about that all during the week.
“The hard part was playing them on a Saturday and not really being able to focus in on just them. I felt like we got the message in and started the game on our toes and not laying back in the first quarter.”
Nunn credited her point guard with navigating the Warriors’ press, which led to fast break points and aided the Cats’ half-court offense.
“Hope did a good job of handling defensive pressure all week, and she’s got better and better as the year goes along,” Nunn said. “I’ve been very pleased with her play. She handled the pressure and got us through it to get some easy layups or get us back into our offense. It was a close game, but I felt like we were on top of it at all times.”
GHS had a balanced scoring effort and not much separated the two teams through a half of play. GHS fell behind 15-13 after a quarter and led 30-29 at the half.
However, GHS did just enough in the second half and the Warriors could not keep pace. Elly Callihan and Deyton combined for 11 post points in the third as guards Colwell and Emma Callihan added three pointers.
The Cats took a 47-42 lead into the fourth and outscored WCHS 19-13 to come away with an 11-point win.
Elly Callihan was the Cats’ top scorer once again with 21 points. She was followed by Emma Callihan (14), Deyton (13), Lark Reece (11) and Colwell (six).
Gilmer is 8-2 and will host West Hall Friday at 6 p.m. and travel to Dawson Saturday for a 1 p.m. tipoff.