Slow start doesn’t stop Pirates from sailing on
The Gilman Pirates found a defensive solution to stopping New Auburn freshman forward Morgan Berg, which led to an offensive jumpstart and pointed the Pirates toward a 44-35 win Tuesday in their WIAA Div. 5 regional opener.
Other than one brief two-point lead in the first half, the Pirates did not take control until the final seven minutes. Down by as many as seven in the second half, a diamond-and-one approach that took Berg out of the Trojans’ offensive flow was the spark, along with finally getting Gilman’s own post presence, Tatum Weir, going on the offensive end.
“The girls got off to a slow start, but finished strong,” Gilman head coach Tammy Weir said after the fourthseeded Pirates improved to 6-9. “It was so good to see. New Auburn came out strong the second half, but we were able to shut them down with our diamond-andone defense. The girls adjusted so well, it was great to see them play together and take care of business.”
Berg scored eight of her 14 points in the first five minutes of the second half to push New Auburn to leads of 24-17 and 26-20 after the fifth-seeded Trojans (7-12) led 18-17 at halftime.
Gilman alternated Hannah Vick and Emma Grunseth as the defenders on Berg. Weir then went to work, scoring three times inside with Vick adding a hoop as well off a lob pass from Addy Hopkins to tie the game at 28-28 with nine minutes to go. A transition chance gave Weir another score off passes from Grunseth and Madisyn James to put the Pirates on top 30-28. Madee Trowbridge tied it back up for New Auburn, but a free throw by Weir with 6:57 left broke the tie and put the Pirates ahead to stay.
Weir stuck back her own miss at the six-minute mark and she added a bucket 33 seconds later off a James assist to make it 35-30. Grunseth countered a Katie Reimer score with a scoop shot from the left side to make it 37-32. From there, the Pirates put things away from the free throw line as Grunseth was one for two and James was six for 12 in the last 1:58.
Weir finished with a 19-point, 10-rebound double-douGilman rallies to defeat New Auburn Trojans
ble, while Grunseth just missed one with eight points and 11 boards. Vick played a vital role in the win, scoring six points and pulling down eight rebounds along with playing her solid defense on Berg down the stretch.
James finished with six points, five rebounds and two assists. Katelynn Schmitt helped Gilman stay close during its first-half struggles with a two-point hoop and a 3-pointer from the left corner that gave the Pirates their brief 17-15 lead. She had six steals and three assists.
Hopkins had two rebounds and an assist. Bryn Hendricks had a rebound in first-half action as the Pirates had to go a little deeper into their bench due to absences of Kya Dietzler and Ava Warner.
Reimer added eight points and Zoey Rada scored seven for New Auburn.
Things will get much more difficult for Gilman Friday when it visits topseeded McDonell Central (8-3) in a regional semifinal matchup that starts at 7 p.m. The winner earns a regional final game Saturday against either third-seeded Lake Holcombe (10-6) or second-seeded Flambeau (14-6).
Loyal 55, Gilman 30
The regular season came to a rough end for the Pirates on Friday as they went 15 minutes without scoring and 18 minutes without a field goal in the middle of a 55-30 Eastern Cloverbelt Conference loss at Loyal.
The Greyhounds locked up second place in the Eastern Cloverbelt Conference by improving to 10-3 in league play. They scored 24 straight points when Gilman went on its scoreless drought and 30-3 overall in between a score by Hannah Vick with eight minutes to go in the first half that made it 16-9 and a shot made by Hopkins with 8:07 left in the game. After that, the lid finally came off the basket for Gilman, but by then it was far too little, too late.
The Pirates finished 4-8 in the conference games they were able to get in.
“We just couldn’t find our rhythm and our shots that we were able to take did not want to fall,” coach Weir said. “Loyal was on fire. Their 3’s were falling from every angle.”
Before the shots absolutely stopped falling, the Pirates were hanging tough. A Vick basket and a James 3 gave Gilman 2-0 and 5-3 leads. Tatum Weir’s score off a lob pass from Grunseth cut a Loyal lead to 11-7. Savannah Schley scored and Katlyn Lindner added a 3-pointer to put Loyal up 16-7. Vick scored and then Loyal took off, building a 26-9 lead at the half and a 40-9 lead before Vick finally made one of two free throws with 10:41 left in the game. Vick added two more free throws at the 8:56 mark before Hopkins finally ended the field goal drought.
Lindner sank five of Loyal’s seven 3-point shots and finished with a gamehigh 17 points. Savannah Schley’s quickness led to her 15 points and Kayla Bremmer had 11.
The Pirates got eight points apiece from James and Weir. James hit a pair of 3s in the loss. Weir added 14 rebounds and blocked seven shots. Vick had a solid outing with seven points, seven rebounds and two assists. Grunseth scored five points and had eight rebounds and four assists. Hopkins had two points and an assist.
Schmidt had three steals. Warner had three rebounds and a steal.
Chargers 58, Pirates 21
On Feb. 2, Wittenberg-Birnamwood’s tight man-to-man defense gave the Pirates few uncontested looks and driving lanes as the Chargers steadily built a big lead and coasted to a 58-21 non-conference road win.
Coached by Gilman alum Nick Mechelke, the Chargers improved to 11-2 at the time with the win. Wittenberg-Birnamwood is a two-seed in its WIAA Division 3 tournament bracket.
The Pirates had a little something going early on. Grunseth put them ahead 3-2 with a 3-point shot and Tatum Weir scored inside and was fouled. Her free throw pulled Gilman within 8-6 at the 13:22 mark of the first half. Grunseth’s long two-point shot made it 12-8 with 10:20 left in the half.
But the Chargers separated after that. Abi Fraaza ended a series of offensive rebounds by getting a putback to finally go, Emma Herb scored inside and later added a free throw. Allie Linke sank a triple, Fraaza was fouled on a 3-point try and made two of her free throws and Kaylee Schram scored in the paint to open up a 24-8 lead Weir made a free throw but Wittenberg- Birnamwood’s lead stretched to 19 before Grunseth drove in and scored from the left side, ending a field-goal drought of nearly nine minutes. It was 30-12 at the half.
The Pirates didn’t make a shot from the field in the second half until James scored off a pass from Vick with 12:30 left that made it 45-15. Freshmen Warner and Bryn Hendricks hit shots down the stretch. The score was Hendricks’ first of the year.
Grunseth led Gilman with nine points. The Chargers held Weir to five and James to three. Weir had 12 rebounds, James had five and Grunseth had four. James had two assists.
Fraaza led the Chargers with 12 points. Herb and Reese Rogowski added 10.
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Tatum Weir scores off a Madisyn James (5) assist to give Gilman a 30-28 lead over New Auburn during Tuesday’s second half.DONALD WATSON/THE STAR NEWS
