Much better showings in second meetings with Hornets, Rockets
GILMAN BOYS BASKETBALL
The Gilman Pirates stayed in much closer contact with two Eastern Cloverbelt Conference rivals than they did in the first meetings, but both contests played on their home floor ended up in losses.
On Monday, the Pirates fell behind Colby by double digits early, but they hung around in the 12-15 point range until the Hornets went on a mid-second half surge and secured a 63-41 win. Just 11 days earlier, Colby buried Gilman 81-35.
In Monday’s meeting, the key run early was 12-1 spurt that turned a 6-4 Hornet lead into an 18-5 advantage as Colby took advantage of some offensive rebounds and Gilman turnovers to create some space.
Andrew Hecker got an offensive putback and two three-point plays to pull Gilman within 23-13. After Colby went up 31-14, free throws by Isaac Wininger and Hecker and another three-point play for Hecker got the deficit back down to 10.
But Richard Streveler stopped Gilman’s momentum right there, hitting back-to-back 3s to push the lead back to 16. Hecker’s late score made it 37-23 at halftime.
Hecker scored four early points in the second half to keep the Pirates within 39-27, but three straight hoops by Colby’s Caden Healy opened up a 45-27 lead. After Gilman’s Caleb Marion converted a three-point play, Colby went on a 13-1 tear to put it away. Tucker Meyer sank a 3, Brandon Voelker made two of four free throws, Streveler scored off a turnover, Meyer made two bonus free throws and Healy and Streveler scored to open up a 56-31 bulge.
Hecker scored 28 points to pace the Pirates, who did a good job in their 1-3-1 zone of contesting many of Colby’s inside shots. The Pirates didn’t buckle under Colby’s full-court pressure, but silly turnovers in the front-court had more to do with their undoing.
Caleb Marion scored five points, Wininger and Zack Marion added three each and Branden Ustianowski added a firsthalf transition hoop for the Pirates, who fell to 0-11 in conference play and 1-12 overall. Streveler led Colby (6-6, 10-10) with 17 points. Voelker and Healy scored 12 points apiece.
In a schedule change, Gilman will play at Loyal Friday in the second half of a girls/boys doubleheader between the schools. The girls will start at 5:45 p.m. Gilman is scheduled to host Columbus Catholic Monday and Owen-Withee on Feb. 11 to close out conference play and the regular season.
Spencer 60, Gilman 44
In arguably their most complete effort of the season, the Pirates made a couple of spirited runs at the Spencer Rockets Friday but couldn’t quite catch them in a 60-44 loss.
Another slow start hurt as Spencer jumped out to a 17-4 lead. That’s when the Pirates made their first charge, getting a nice spin move from Hecker, a baseline score from Wininger, a 3-pointer and basket from Hecker and a score from Caleb Marion off a Hecker assist to pull within 23-15. It was 25-17 when Spencer finished the first half on a 14-3 surge to push its lead up to 19 at 39-20 with 3s by Dylan Riemer and Luke Roehrborn served as the key blows.
Kaleb Brandt hit his third 3-pointer of the night to give Spencer a 45-25 lead early in the second half when the Pirates
