While their older teammates finished second, the junior varsity Lady Cats posted a 2-0 record to take the JV tip-off tournament title.
Gilmer High played Hiwassee Dam, N.C., last Monday to begin the event and ran away with a 47-28 victory. The Cats finished the tournament the following day by pulling out a 56-54 win over the Fannin County Rebels.
“The junior varsity really impressed us, especially with our numbers as we’re numerically challenged,” said GHS coach Ashley Waters. “Today against Fannin, we got better as the game went on. We started out and improved, and by the fourth quarter, we were playing our best of the tournament. We played defense, got rebounds and put the ball in the hole when we needed to.”
GHS entered the tournament with only seven players on its roster. Gilmer and HDHS played a close first half before the Cats put the game away in the second. GHS took an 11-5 lead into the second quarter and were up 21-16 at the break.
The Cats outscored Hiwassee Dam 14-4 in the third and kept the pressure on in the fourth to come away with a 19-point win.
Brooke Wilson led GHS with 16 points and was followed by Charley Poteet (10), Reagan Boling (eight), Lark Reece (six), Maddie Wright (four) and Anna Waddell (three).
Versus Fannin, Wilson (18 points), Boling (15) and Poteet (10) led the Cats’ scoring charge. But early on, it appeared like it was going to be Fannin’s day. The Rebels led 29-26 at halftime and were ahead 46-38 by the end of the third.
GHS scored 18 points in the fourth to triple Fannin’s offensive output to complete their come-from-behind victory.
Aside from Gilmer’s trio of double-digit scorers, Wright added eight points, Reece had four and Kailyn Hadden tallied two.