When Mykenzie Weaver is driving to the basket for points and her Dragonette teammates are making three-point shots, Pickens is a formidable foe.
The Gilmer High Lady Cats ran into that quandary last Tuesday on the road, and they suffered their first region loss of the season. The nip-and-tuck game was still up for grabs at the end, and Pickens was there to claim a 70-66 overtime win.
Weaver finished the game with 38 points, and Pickens made 10 three pointers on the night.
“We know we have to keep Weaver from getting 30 points, and we did not do that,” GHS coach Susan Nunn said. “If we can hold her to the low 20s, we’re doing well. The other problem was everyone else on their team was hitting shots, too. They were playing lights out.
“We warned them before we went to the game that Pickens is always extremely tough at their place. We didn’t do anything terrible to lose the game, I just felt like Pickens was playing lights out.”
Weaver stole the show in the first quarter. She kept PHS afloat by scoring 13 of 16 points. GHS worked the ball into the post to Elly Callihan and Jalynn Ledford as guards Bailey Teague, Hope Colwell and Emma Callihan answered from outside.
GHS used the same strategy in the second quarter to work its offense. Weaver added six more to her tally for 19 first-half points. Gilmer led 30-29 at the break.
Pickens gave its offense a boost with four threes in the third period. The Cats did not fade however, but the Dragonettes were able to slip ahead 50-48 by the end of the third.
GHS lost one of its starters before the midpoint of the fourth because of miscommunication.
“Emma Callihan fouled out in the fourth quarter,” Nunn said. “We thought she only had three fouls. Apparently, there was a moment when a foul was called and it was called on her. We didn’t get the message from the table, and when she fouled out, we thought it was only number four. That’s on me and our coaching staff.
“We missed some free throws at the end of the fourth quarter that could have been big for us. We had a good free-throw shooting night overall (17/28), but in the fourth quarter, we missed five important free throws.”
GHS made one shot from the field in the fourth while converting 11/16 free throws. Pickens scored 11 in the quarter, and Weaver made just 2/8 from the foul line.
The game went into overtime, tied, 61-all. A three from Beth Burnette and two from Teague accounted for all of Gilmer’s points while Pickens scored nine more for a four-point win.
Elly Callihan scored 20 points and was joined in double figures by Teague (15) and Ledford (10). Burnette and Emma Callihan scored seven apiece and Hope Colwell added six.
Aside from Weaver’s 38, Sarah Morris scored 16 for Pickens, which included four three pointers.
GHS ended the week Friday at LaFayette and beat the Ramblers, 42-36.
The game remained close throughout as LaFayette’s dedicated effort on the offensive end led to 18 rebounds for second and third chances.
“One of our downfalls was offensive rebounds because their girls did a great job of crashing the boards,” Nunn said. “That helped them get extra points on the scoreboard because we were not blocking out as well as we should have.”
GHS led 11-10 at the end of the first and 19-15 at the half. Nunn believed the Ramblers’ defensive approach helped slow the Cats.
“Offensively, when we play against zone defenses, it’s like it gets in our head, and we can’t score against it as well as we can against man defenses because it slows your pace a little,” she said. “Sometimes we get a little frustrated, but we hung on and did what we needed to do.”
Elly Callihan and Ledford combined for six points in the third while Colwell and Burnette hit threes. Gilmer took a 31-30 lead into the fourth where Teague hit another three pointer. GHS converted 4/6 free throws in the final quarter to preserve its win.
“Elly came up big for us, and in the second half, we had Bailey, Hope and Beth all hit three pointers that were pretty big for us,” Nunn said.
“We did better as the game went on about driving to the basket. When we drive to the basket, then good things happen because we’ll either find an open post or a kick out for a wide-open three.”
Elly Callihan scored 14 on the night as both Emma Callihan and Teague added seven. Ledford scored six, Colwell had five and Burnette finished with three.
GHS is 15-6 overall and 10-1 in region play. Gilmer celebrated its seniors versus Northwest Whitfield at press deadline.
If the Cats defeat Northwest, they will secure the No. 1 seed heading into the region tournament and automatically qualify for the state tournament.