The Gilmer High Lady Cats were back on the court in Dalton last week.
GHS played in a Christmas tournament over two days at Christan Heritage School. The Cats first met Coahulla Creek Tuesday and Class 3A’s No. 3 ranked Colts won, 61-58.
Gilmer was back on the court the next day against the Sonoraville Phoenix. GHS was feeling the effects of back-to-back games after so many days away from the court and could not keep pace with the hot-shooting Phoenix who came out on top, 68-42.
Leading up to the event, GHS was sidelined because the team was exposed to COVID-19. The Cats had little time to prepare for what awaited them, which was apparent against Coahulla Creek.
“In the past three weeks before we played them, we had three days of practice,” coach Susan Nunn explained. “We were quarantined for two weeks and then when we were finally able to come back, two of those practices were in masks.
“So we really only had one real practice day in three weeks time. We knew going in we were going to be really rusty.”
The Cats were limited to six points in the first quarter and totaled 18 by halftime, which put them in a 13-point hole.
“In the first half, we couldn’t catch a ball or make a shot,” Nunn said. “You could tell we had not been on the court for awhile. By the second half, we pulled it together. We still made too many mistakes but at least we weren’t looking like we had never played before. Coahulla Creek is a tough team, and it was our worst game of the season by far.”
The Cats had their best offensive quarter in the third. They netted 18 points, and Elly Callihan was there to account for 12 of them. However, the Colts matched GHS point for point and still maintained a 49-36 edge entering the fourth.
Callihan added five more points in the final quarter to bring her tally to 30 for the game. Beth Burnette added four three pointers over the game’s final eight minutes, and Emma Deyton scored two in the post, but Gilmer’s comeback fell three points short.
Burnette finished with 12 points, Hope Colwell, Emma Callihan and Alaina Miltiades all scored four points apiece and Deyton had two.
Sonoraville was ready to pounce on the Cats the following day. GHS showed the signs of a tired team, and the Phoenix led from start to finish.
“Coming in that next day, I figured we’d be sore and tired after not playing that hard for so long and we were,” Nunn said. “Sonoraville was on and we were still lacking. We just could not get a groove going and they killed us.”
The Phoenix made eight three pointers on the day but also penetrated to the basket for close-range points.
“We were just a step too slow and they were able to get by us on things they probably normally wouldn’t be able to get by us on,” Nunn said.
Elly Callihan and Deyton were both in double figures on the day with 14 and 11 points, respectively. SHS was able to garner an 11-point lead after the first quarter and extended it to 39-23 by the half.
Deyton and Elly Callihan accounted for 11 of 13 GHS points in the third. Sonoraville’s lead grew to 55-36 with a quarter to play.
The Cats were limited to six points in the fourth and SHS won by 26.
Colwell and Burnette both added five points, Emma Callihan scored four and Lark Reece added three.
“That one was disappointing,” Nunn said of the loss. “We beat them during the preseason. Obviously they were ready and wanted some redemption and played really well.”
GHS traveled to Northwest Whitfield at press deadline. Gilmer will host North Hall Friday at 7 p.m. and hit the road Saturday against White County for a 4 p.m. tipoff.
“We have to get back in shape and ready for that fast play,” she said. “We don’t need to have any misconceptions about what is coming up for us. Every team we play in our region will be running the floor and shooting the three just like Sonoraville. We’ve got to get back into game shape so we can defend the ball better.”
GHS is 5-2 overall and 1-0 versus region opponents.