Eastern Cloverbelt co-leaders too much for the Pirates

GILMAN GIRLS BASKETBALL

The Gilman girls basketball team’s two-year stretch of home upsets over Neillsville ended Monday with the undefeated Warriors building a 28-12 halftime lead and then rolling to a 56-26 Eastern Cloverbelt Conference win.

Playing their second straight game against an unbeaten conference title contender, the Pirates got better in some areas, but they were unable to match a hot opening first half by Neillsville’s Bella Opelt and a hot offensive second half by Amelia Trunkel.

Opelt hit a couple of early 3-pointers and scored nine of her 10 points in the opening half. Trunkel scored 11 of her game-high 20 in the second half on five field goals. With the win, Neillsville improved to 5-0 in the conference and 7-0 overall.

The Pirates, who slid to 1-2, nearly got a double-double from sophomore Tatum Weir, who finished with 10 points and eight rebounds.

“We are seeing improvements every game,” head coach Tammy Weir said. “The girls had no issues at all with Neillsville’s press. We definitely improved on our press break from last week against Loyal. However, our shooting percentage could have been better and we still need to figure out how to hang on to the ball. We had 23 turnovers. It’s tough to win games with those stats.”

The shooting percentages Weir spoke of included 27.6% on two-point shots (eight of 29), two of nine from the 3-point arc (22.2%) and four for 10 from the free throw line. Gilman outrebounded Neillsville 36-23, but the Pirates were only able to spring five turnovers from the Warriors. Neillsville hit 10 of 26 of its 3-point shots to outscore Gilman 30-6 from long range.

The Warriors also were 10 of 25 on two-point shots and made six of 12 free throws.

Weir scored six of her points in the second half. She added two assists to her totals and was five of 12 from the field. Madisyn James hit both of Gilman’s 3-pointers to finish with six points. She had five rebounds and two assists.

Emma Grunseth grabbed nine rebounds and dished out three assists while scoring four points.

Katelynn Schmitt, Kya Dietzler and Hannah Vick each added a basket. Vick had eight rebounds, all on the defensive end. Dietzler had five rebounds, four of which came on the offensive end.

“Overall, we are seeing improvements each week and the three freshmen are stepping up and getting some minutes, so this will make us a stronger team,” coach Weir said. “We are looking forward to a good game against Columbus next week over Christmas break and getting back to our regular schedule with a couple games each week in January.”

The matchup with Columbus Catholic will take place Tuesday, Dec. 29 in Marsh- field with a 7:15 p.m. start. The game was rescheduled from its original date of Dec. 8.

Loyal 71, Gilman 37

The Eastern Cloverbelt’s other unbeaten team, Loyal, was in a dogfight with Gilman in the first half, but the Greyhounds opened things up in the second half and pulled away for a 71-37 win Thursday in Gilman’s home opener.

Loyal’s pressure eventually wore down the short-handed Pirates, who were only down nine at 30-21 at halftime but got outscored 41-16 in the second half.

“We did our best to keep up with them and put up a good fight, but our numbers are what got us in the end,” Tammy Weir said. “We only had six players and they ran hard. We did well and there was no quit in us. I am very proud of how hard these girls played.”

Eventually, Gilman’s 28 turnovers did them in. Many of those were part of the reason Loyal was able to shoot 58.8% inside the 3-point arc (20 of 34). The Grey- hounds also were seven of 19 behind the arc with five of those 3s coming in the second half when Loyal ran away with it.

Gilman kept things close early. After falling behind 8-0, the Pirates got a Tatum Weir hoop off a pick and roll with Grunseth, a Dietzler hoop off an inbound play, a Dietzler free throw and a putback by Weir off Dietzler’s missed free throw to make it 8-7. Weir’s short turnaround made it 12-9.

From there, Loyal slowly extended its lead. Abrial Kubista drove through the lane and scored. Natasha Tellock hit two free throws at the 7:03 mark, Tylee Brecht sank a 3-pointer and Haven Peroshek scored off an inbound play to make it 21-9. Weir scored off a James assist and Grunseth made a nice baseline move to cut the lead to 21-13. Loyal scored the next seven before James drilled a triple. Schmitt’s 3-pointer with 15 seconds left got Gilman within nine.

Grunseth sank two free throws with 16:54 left to make it 32-23, but that was the last time the Pirates’ deficit was in single digits. Savannah Schley drove the middle of the lane to score and then she converted a four-point play. The Greyhounds went on their 3-point binge not long after that to break it open.

Weir got her first double-double of the season with 14 points and 11 rebounds. She added an assist and a blocked shot. Dietzler contributed seven points, eight rebounds and an assist. Schmitt had five points, five steals and three rebounds.

James had four points. Grunseth also scored four and had six rebounds, three assists and a steal. Vick had three points, four rebounds and two assists.

Gilman outrebounded Loyal 34-19. But Loyal only turned the ball over 10 times and made seven of 19 3-pointers. Gilman was 12 of 29 on two-point shots and two of seven from long range.