The Gilmer High Lady Cats faced one of Class 4A’s top teams in the second round of the state basketball tournament.
GHS drew the Luella High Lions (24-5) in the round of 16 last Wednesday, and the No. 3 ranked team proved to be a formidable opponent.
The Lions’ height, size, speed and depth advantages wore down the Cats as the game progressed. Gilmer fell behind by seven points at the half, and Luella began to distance itself over the final two quarters as it continued to score and GHS struggled.
By game’s end, LHS extended its lead to 25 points for a 56-31 victory.
“I feel like we really held our own in the first half,” GHS coach Susan Nunn said. “We went in at halftime and talked about a couple points we needed to change to change the game for us, and one of those was getting in front of their post players down low. We talked about how we can’t even give them the opportunity to get the ball.
“Elly Callihan and Jalynn Ledford were working their butts off trying to get in front of them, but their players were huge and strong. It was a struggle to get in great position.”
Luella’s Jada Session and Ari Dyson controlled the post. The Lions snagged 18 offensive rebounds on the night and they scored 26 points in the paint.
When they were not feeding the post, guard Keely Brown ran the show. She hit a three to start the game and led all scorers with 26 points. Fifteen of those points came from the free-throw line as she continually drew fouls while driving to the basket.
Gilmer’s Elly Callihan scored six of her eight points in the first quarter, and Emma Deyton added two more before Luella all but shut down the Cats’ post offense.
GHS guards Bailey Teague, Hope Colwell and Beth Burnette combined for eight points in the first half.
LHS led 19-12 after a quarter and 26-19 at halftime. Brown and Session combined to score 22 of Luella’s first half points.
Burnette hit a three pointer a minute into the third quarter before Gilmer’s offense began to sputter. Over the final 6:30 of the third, Luella went on a 10-2 run to open a 36-24 lead, and it did not get much better for GHS in the fourth quarter.
“At the offensive end, it became very difficult for our post players over time to get the ball in the basket,” Nunn said. “They physically wore us down by the fourth quarter and we were absolutely exhausted.”
Nunn added, “They played the way we expected them to play. Because of their size and the length of their reach, our guards were having a tough time trying to get through them with dribbles or passes. We just couldn’t find that hole to get through to get us to the basket. Overall we did what we needed to do, we just ran out of gas.”
LHS was in the bonus with six minutes left in the game. Over that span, the Lions converted 12 of 15 from the foul line and made 26 of 36 free-throw attempts on the night. GHS only attempted nine free throws in the game and made five.
Teague was Gilmer’s top scorer with 10 points. Elly Callihan added eight, Burnette finished with five and Colwell, Deyton, Emma Callihan and Lark Reece all scored two apiece.
Aside from Brown’s 26 points, Session scored 18 and had 17 rebounds.
Nunn hopes Luella’s players serve as motivation for the Lady Cats going forward.
“Some of their players were definitely blessed with athletic bodies at birth, and there wasn’t anything we could have changed or done differently about that,” Nunn said. “One thing I did tell them, that when they’re in the weight room over these next couple years, they need to be thinking about those second and third round games, because these are the types of players we’re going to face. We’ve got to get stronger.”
GHS finished the season with an 18-8 overall record, and the Cats’ trip to the state tournament was its seventh in a row.
“This has been a spectacular season,” Nunn said. “We didn’t have as many wins as we did last year (21), but didn’t play quite as many games either. Those goals we set (playing for a region title and advancing beyond the first round), we reached.
“I’m extremely proud of this team that they did what they were supposed to do. They came into every game prepared and ready to work. This season has been a great success, and I’m very proud of that.”
GHS will graduate three seniors, which include starters Teague and Ledford. Next season, Gilmer will drop down to Class 3A. Even though the Cats will enter a new classification and region, Nunn expects more success.
“At the end of this season, we have the most experience we’ve had in awhile because most of these girls started playing (varsity) when they were young,” she said. “Next season, our entire core will have played several years of varsity ball.
“I feel like we’ll remain strong even though we’re losing some good players off our team. We have a great chance to go beyond what we’ve just done. I hate that this is over, but I feel like we’re going to be strong, and I’m looking forward to it.”