Columbus remains tough place to win; Pirates beat Greenwood

Jenna Kibbel hit two big baskets a little more than a minute apart to create late separation for Columbus Catholic and push the Lady Dons to a 36-29 Eastern Cloverbelt Conference win over Gilman Monday night.

A low-scoring battle between 2-3 zone defenses had turned into a one-point stalemate with Columbus Catholic leading 29-28 for over three and a half minutes. Kibbel finally created some offense with 3:05 left, scoring inside and drawing a foul. Her free throw put the Dons up 32-28.

After Gilman’s Emma Grunseth hit one of two free throws at the 2:40 mark, Kibbel came through again with two minutes remaining, draining a long twopoint shot from the left wing to open up a 34-29 lead. With just one team foul, Gilman spent the last minute fouling just to get to the bonus. Kelsey Moore clinched it for the Dons by sinking two free throws with 22.4 seconds to play.

The game was close throughout with no team ever leading by more than four until Kibbel hit that outside shot with two minutes left.

“There was lots of great defense on both ends of the court,” Gilman head coach Tammy Weir said after her team fell to 3-5 in conference play and overall. “The girls played hard. Columbus is tall with long arms that were everywhere. Their double team on Tatum (Weir) and hands all over Madisyn James and Emma Grunseth shut us down on the inside and it was tough to get outside shots off also.”

The 2-3 zone employed by Columbus Catholic was certainly aimed at limiting the touches for Weir, Gilman’s sophomore center who did collect another double-double with 11 points and 16 rebounds but was limited to just two second- half points. Whether in the high post or low post, she had two defenders near her most of the time.

Junior guard Madisyn James did her best to counter the Columbus zone by hitting a trio of 3-pointers and scoring nine points. Her first one gave Gilman an early 12-10 lead, just as the home team switched from its man-to-man to the zone. James banked in a triple early in the second half to answer a 3-ball by Moore and tie the game at 23-23. Her last one came at the nine-minute mark and put Gilman up 28-27. Unfortunately, that was the Pirates’ last field goal and last lead of the game. The Dons took their 29-28 lead at the 6:45 mark when Weir blocked an inside shot by Erynn Meece, but the ball bounced out to Maggie Callaghan, who hit a jumper from the right corner.

Weir blocked two shots and had two assists. James had four rebounds and two assists. Emma Grunseth had three points and eight rebounds.

Katelynn Schmitt had four first-half points. Addy Hopkins hit a long twopoint shot early. Kya Dietzler and Han- nah Vick had two assists each. Vick had five rebounds.

“Ava Warner played strong on the offensive side and had one shot attempt, but she did a great job on the defensive side,” coach Weir said. “She got to where she needed to be. She’s making the most of her minutes on the court.”

Kibbel had 11 points to lead Columbus Catholic, which won its fifth straight game and improved to 7-3 in the conference and 8-8 overall.

Long possessions trying to break the zone led to fewer shot opportunities. Gilman was 11 of 33 overall from the field, while the Dons were 14 for 45. Gilman outrebounded Columbus 34-14, but 25 turnovers hurt compared to eight for the Dons.

“We had too many turnovers again,” Weir said “We need to take care of the ball.”

Gilman returns to the court Friday with a 6 p.m. start at Granton. The Pirates’ game at Greenwood Monday has been scrapped due to COVID concerns with Greenwood’s program.

Gilman has added a non-conference trip to Rib Lake Tuesday. The game will start at 6:30 p.m.

A rematch in Gilman with Columbus Catholic is set for 6 p.m. on Jan. 28.

Gilman 44, Greenwood 31

It took a while for Gilman to get going Friday, but the Pirates eventually picked up the pace and overtook visiting Greenwood 44-31. Tatum Weir scored 16 of her 22 points after halftime and James scored all eight of hers after the break as Gilman outscored the Indians 31-9 in the final 18 minutes. “We had a bit of a slow start, but the second half was all ours,” Tammy Weir said. “With only four turnovers in the second half and shots starting to fall, we took charge.”

Gilman trailed 16-4 early before chipping away and getting the deficit down to 22-13 at the break. They got the deficit down to 26-25 by the 10-minute mark of the second half and took over from there.

On a night where shots didn’t fall consistently, the Pirates gave themselves opportunities by pulling down an incredible 38 offensive rebounds and 60 rebounds overall. Weir finished with a 22-point, 19-rebound double-double and Grunseth had five points and 22 boards, 11 on each end.

Dietzler had four points and three rebounds, Ava Warner and Vick had two points each. Vick had five rebounds. Schmitt hit a free throw and had three rebounds, two steals and an assist. Weir blocked three shots. James had seven rebounds, two assists and a steal.

Kia Abel and Olivia Klabon led Greenwood with 10 points apiece. Abel had eight in the first half.

Tatum Weir