Everything seems to work for Gilman in Senior Night win

GILMAN GIRLS BASKETBALL

In the teams’ first meeting on Jan. 14, Greenwood’s physical resistance defensively made life difficult for Gilman’s girls basketball team before the Pirates finally prevailed 56-49.

Monday’s rematch had zero similarities.

The Pirates celebrated Senior Night by efficiently zipping the ball around, over and through Greenwood’s defense and shooting 52.8% on two-point shots in an 84-39 rout that was never close. The win allowed Gilman to finish in a third-place tie with Colby in the Eastern Cloverbelt Conference standings and put the Pirates at 16-5 overall heading into the regular-season finale tonight, Thursday, at Stanley-Boyd.

“Everything was so smooth,” head coach Tammy Weir said after the win. “It seemed like everything we did was just perfect.”

The Pirates made 28 of 52 two-point shots, four of 18 3-pointers and were 16 of 23 from the free throw line in their easy win. They had 17 assists and absolutely obliterated Greenwood on the glass, outrebounding the Indians (4-12, 7-15) 55-20, including a 20-4 edge in offensive rebounds.

The Pirates put four players in double digits, two of which had double-doubles. Senior Emma Warner had 14 points and 17 rebounds while freshman Tatum Weir got her first double-double with 16 points, 11 rebounds, four blocked shots and three assists.

“She’s coming around,” Tammy Weir said. “She been working on that turnaround jumper and she made a couple of them tonight.”

Weir was one of the sparks that helped open the game up for Gilman early in the first half. Greenwood got early 3s from Celine Wuethrich and Amanda Bogdonovich to keep it within 7-6, but baskets by Warner and Aubrey Syryczuk off a Grace Grunseth steal made it 11-6 and forced a Greenwood timeout just 3:38 in.

Gilman got a defensive stop and Weir put in her own miss on the Pirates’ next possession. Bogdonovich hit another 3, but Syryczuk banked in her own 3. Weir hit a free throw and a field goal, Warner score and Weir grabbed an offensive rebound and passed it to Madisyn James for a bucket and a 23-9 lead. Weir then added two free throws and a turnaround jumper to make it 27-9. Another Syryczuk 3-pointer made it 33-14 and four straight points from Warner pushed the lead over 20 for the first time.

It was 43-22 at halftime and 51-29 early in the second half. That’s when the Pirates put it away with a 16-0 run. It started with Emma Grunseth rebounding her own miss and getting a three-point play. Her second consecutive three-point play 41 seconds later made it 57-29. Warner got a stickback, Syryczuk scored off a turnover and Weir converted a three-point play. Grace Grunseth hit a free throw and then scored when Warner hustled to save a ball near the corner and flipped it to her, making it 67-29. Not long after that, the running clock took effect as the lead hit 40.

Syryczuk actually led Gilman in scoring with 20 points while making eight of 11 shots from the field, including four of six 3s. The sophomore added six rebounds and four steals. Emma Grunseth had 15 points, eight rebounds, three steals and three assists. Grace Grunseth had nine points and three rebounds.

James finished with four points, four rebounds and three assists. Mikayla Waichulis got two points on her Senior Night with four rebounds and two assists. Kya Dietzler and Hannah Vick added two late points apiece.

Olivia Klabon led Greenwood with 11 points, while Bogdonovich had 10.

Gilman’s game at Stanley-Boyd tonight is the fourthplace game in the Cloverbelt Conference crossovers. Stanley-Boyd went 8-6 in the Western Cloverbelt and comes in 13-8 overall.

WIAA Division 5 tournament play starts Tuesday when the fourth-seeded Pirates host 13th-seeded Clayton in a regional opener at 7 p.m. Clayton is the fourtime defending sectional champion, but the group responsible for that run is now mostly gone and the Bears have struggled to a 6-14 mark so far this season.

Tuesday’s winner advances to a Feb. 28 regional semifinal against either 12th-seeded Thorp (5-13) or fifth-seeded McDonell Central (13-8). If it’s Gilman, the Pirates will host that game. McDonell swept Thorp 65-45 and 58-47 in their Western Cloverbelt matchups this winter.

Top-seeded and undefeated Clear Lake (19-0) is the likely host of the Feb. 29 regional final.

Gilman 50, Flambeau 47

Warner scored 13 of her 22 points in the second half as Gilman held off East Lakeland Conference champion Flambeau 50-47 Friday in non-conference play at Gilman.

The Pirates weren’t quite as sharp from the field as they were Monday and turned the ball over 14 times. But they outscored Flambeau 10-4 from the free throw line and had another big rebounding advantage, 45-16, and that was enough to hold off the Falcons, who dropped to 12-9.

“I wouldn’t say that we played bad by any means,” Weir said. “Turnovers maybe were a little too high. Flambeau played really well. They surprised me.”

Gilman got out to a 12-point lead at one point and led 28-21 at halftime only to see Flambeau recover and take a five-point lead. The Pirates recovered from that 17-point swing, got its lead back out to eight in the second half and held on through a couple of late miscues to secure the win.

Warner was two of four on 3-point shots and six of seven from the free throw line in her big performance. She was one rebound shy of a double-double. Emma Grunseth had nine points and seven rebounds. All but two of her points came in the second half.

Weir just missed a double-double with eight points and nine rebounds. She blocked three shots. Syryczuk had five points, four rebounds and three steals.

Grace Grunseth was held to three points, but she grabbed nine rebounds and had eight of Gilman’s 13 assists. James hit a 3-pointer and grabbed four rebounds.