GILMAN GIRLS BASKETBALL - It wasn’t always pretty, but Gilman girls rally late to beat Spencer

GILMAN GIRLS BASKETBALL

Neither of the Gilman’s girls basketball games this season with Spencer have been particularly pretty, but the Pirates won’t apologize for coming away from each one with wins.

Tuesday in Spencer, the Pirates only led at two points, scoring the first basket of the game and then finally surpassing the Rockets in the final minute to secure a 4945 win in Eastern Cloverbelt Conference play.

The rough-and-ragged contest featured plenty of fouls, plenty more that could have been called and some shooting struggles for both teams.

The Pirates got the defensive stops they needed down the stretch and when teammates started to provide offensive support for Danielle Mann in the middle of the second half, the Rockets finally collapsed, falling to 1-12 in conference play and 5-15 overall.

Mann, despite sitting for the final 4:37 of the first half with three fouls, had all of Gilman’s field goals and 22 of the team’s 24 points until Allison Olynick finally hit an 8-foot shot in the lane with 11:46 left, pulling Gilman within 32-26. Gilman trailed 23-15 at the half and was down 27-16 early in the second half following a basket by Rocket Autumn Davis, who led her team with 17 points.

Davis traded baskets with Gilman’s Claire Drier to keep Spencer up by eight at 36-28 and Emma Nieman answered a Mann jumper to make it 38-30. But that’s when Gilman’s defense started to clamp down. A Jaylyn Orth free throw, a steal and score from Drier and two free throws by Mann with 7:10 got Gilman within one possession at 38-35. Mann scored at the six-minute mark to make it a one-point game. Mann’s steal and pass ahead to Addy Vick for a layup finally tied it at 4242 with 3:35 left, but Spencer’s Montana Kohls sank a 3-pointer to give the Rockets a 45-42 lead with 2:38 left.

Vick was fouled on a 3-point shot 21 seconds later and made one free throw. Mann got the rebound on the missed third shot, got fouled and made one free throw. Orth got the second of her two key blocked shots late and that led to a tying free throw by Kayleigh James with 1:37 to go.

Spencer’s next possession ended with a turnover. Mann scooped up the loose ball and raced toward a potential layup but got fouled from behind. The foul was ruled to be intentional. Mann made both free throws to put the Pirates in front with 54.2 seconds left and, with Gilman retaining possession, James added a free throw with 43.6 seconds left.

Mann added a free throw with 18.7 seconds left to give Gilman a two-score lead and seal the win.

Gilman improved to 4-8, 9-12 and got 32 points from Mann, 19 of which came in the second half. Drier’s six second-half points provided a big lift for the Pirates. Vick scored four points, James hit three free throws and Orth and Olynick scored two points each.

Gilman won the first meeting with Spencer 41-35 back on Jan. 4. The Rockets got 12 points from Alexis Mlsna in Tuesday’s game.

The Pirates’ final home game of the regular season is set for Friday against Columbus Catholic, who escaped with a 45-44 win the first time the teams met on Jan 8. Gilman closes the regular season next week by making an Eastern Cloverbelt game at Owen-Withee Tuesday and then traveling to a yet-to-be-determined Western Cloverbelt site Feb. 15 for its conference crossover. All three games tip at 7:15 p.m.

Loyal 59, Gilman 47

Gilman got off to a good start Thursday, leading by as much as eight in the first half, but when the Pirates got out of offensive rhythm against Loyal’s sticky fullcourt man-to-man defense, they never really got it back and fell 59-47 to the visiting Greyhounds.

Loyal’s trio of Olivia Nikolai, Addysen Wolf and Autumn Zvolena scored 18, 14 and 10 points respectively to lead the Greyhounds in their efforts to sweep the season series over the Pirates.

Gilman got 17 points and 12 rebounds from Mann and 10 points from James in the loss.

The Pirates got their first 13 points from sources other than Mann in their encouraging start. James scored twice on drives to the basket, Aubrey Steinbach had three early points and Mann had assists to Raygen Soper and Olynick. When Mann finally got free for an inside score, the Pirates led 15-7 midway through the half.

But that’s when Loyal’s press started to make an impact. A Zvolena steal led to a Nikolai basket, Jordynn Corder scored in the post and Zvolena scored off a steal to cut Gilman’s lead to 15-13.

Mann hit a 3 and Drier scored her lone basket of the night for Gilman to push the lead back to 20-13, but Loyal scored the last seven points of the half, including a Nikolai 3, to tie it up at 20-20.

Mann’s putback early in the second half gave Gilman its last lead at 22-21. Consecutive triples by Nikolai and Wolf, plus a Zvolena score pushed Loyal ahead by seven. While Gilman struggled to score, Loyal took advantage of a couple defensive breakdowns by the Pirates and surged ahead 40-26 with nine minutes to go. Gilman never got its deficit into single digits from there.

Soper, a freshman, scored a seasonhigh six points for the Pirates and Olynick added six as well. Steinbach scored five and Vick added a free throw.

Gilman outrebounded the Greyhounds 32-22. James and Olynick grabbed four apiece, while Drier and Soper had three each. Mann had four assists. Soper added four steals and a blocked shot to her best night so far at the varsity level. Mann and Drier had two steals each as well.

Gilman made 13 of 27 two-point shots (48.1%), two of eight 3s and got to the free throw line, making 15 of 23.

But Loyal turned 32 Gilman turnovers into 66 shot attempts and went 20 for 53 on twos and four of 13 from long range. Gilman turned Loyal over 15 times.

Neillsville 52, Gilman 12

On Jan. 26, the red-hot Neillsville Warriors put the defensive clamps on Gilman, limiting the Pirates to four made field goals and turning the Pirates over 26 times in a 52-12 rout on the Warriors’ home floor.

While Neillsville (18-3) has clearly been the top team in the Eastern Cloverbelt all season long, the Warriors have been particularly dominant since a Dec. 11 nonconference loss to Fall Creek, going 12-1 since and holding 10 of those opponents to 30 points or loss. The Warriors’ only loss in that time was 52-45 at Division 5’s top-ranked team Wisconsin Rapids Assumption.

Neillsville put this one early, taking a 26-5 halftime lead. The Warriors got 15 points and eight rebounds from Paris Opelt, 13 points and six rebounds from Madi Davel, who also hit three 3s, and 13 points from Sydney Subke, who was six of seven from the field.

While Gilman was able to get 35 rebounds, including 12 from Mann, the Pirates only got 29 shots from the floor. They were four of 20 on two-point shots and missed all nine 3-point tries. Mann was three of eight overall and three of four on free throws while scoring nine points. James scored the team’s other three points, plus she had six rebounds. Drier had five rebounds, while Vick, Orth and Soper had three each. Steinbach had two assists.