Pirates hang tough until last nine minutes of regional defeat

WIAA DIV. 5 BOYS BASKETBALL

The Gilman Pirates hung around for about 27 minutes in Tuesday’s WIAA Division 5 boys basketball regional opener, but that wasn’t enough staying power to make it to the finish line in a 70-41 loss at third-seeded New Auburn.

The sixth-seeded Pirates were within eight early in the second half and were in the game down 12 midway through the half when the offense ran out of gas and New Auburn cashed in on some turnovers and some chances to break down the Gilman defense while finishing the game on a 24-7 run.

The Pirates closed out a 1-16 season under first-year head coach Bobbi Marion and with a largely young and inexperienced roster. New Auburn improved to 13-5 and will head to second-seeded Owen-Withee (10-9) Friday for a regional semifinal matchup with the Blackhawks.

Senior Andrew Hecker led the Pirates with 24 points, while senior Isaac Wininger added nine. Junior Zack Marion scored six and sophomore Branden Ustianowski had a basket.

Marion gave Gilman an early jolt in the second half, scoring twice in a row out of the break to pull the Pirates within 34-26. First, he hit a nice shot over New Auburn’s 6-2 senior Tristen Harder, then he scored off an offensive rebound. Hecker answered a Matt Elmhorst bucket with a pull-up jumper to keep the deficit at eight at 36-28.

New Auburn scored the next six, but Hecker countered with a coast-to-coast drive and score and a 15-foot jumper to make it 44-32. Wininger chased down a long offensive rebound and then found a driving lane to make it 46-34. But that was the last time the Pirates would be that close.

Harder’s inside hoop and free throw following a technical foul on the Pirates made it 49-34 with 7:40 left. Elmhorst scored and Ethan Lotts added a hoop off a turnover to stretch the lead to 19. Hecker sandwiched a hoop and a three-point play around an Elmhorst bucket to make it 55-39, but six straight points by Lotts extended the lead to 22. Hecker’s transition bucket made it 61-41 and wound up being Gilman’s last points of the year.

Hecker’s first 3-pointer of the night gave Gilman its lone lead at 3-2. His second 3 shrunk an early deficit to 9-8. From that point to the end of the half, New Auburn would open up a lead and the Pirates would do their best to trim it down.

Hecker’s long 3-pointer and Marion’s short bank shot cut a 10-point lead to 22-17. Wininger’s 3-pointer off a Ustianowski assist and Hecker’s steal and score at the buzzer chopped a 17-point deficit to 34-22.

Harder and Elmhorst scored 18 points apiece to lead the Trojans, while Lotts added 15. Those three accounted for 51 of New Auburn’s 70 points.

O-W 69, Gilman 34

On Gilman’s Senior Night Thursday, the team’s soon-to-be graduates Wininger and Hecker led the Pirates with Pirates end regular season with home loss to Owen-Withee

16 and 14 points, respectively, in a 69-34 loss to Owen-Withee that closed the regular season.

Wininger’s career high in scoring allowed him to bump Hecker out of the team’s leading scorer spot for the first game this season. He took the ball to the basket aggressively and made eight of nine free throws. He scored 10 of his points in the second half.

Hecker, as usual, was defended hard and didn’t get a ton of open looks. He scored 11 of his points in the second half as he and Wininger accounted for 21 of Gilman’s 23 second-half points.

With the loss, the Pirates finished 0-14 in the Eastern Cloverbelt Conference which, almost miraculously, got all of its 56 league games played this winter.

Owen-Withee, who finished 6-8 in league play, got off to a slow start from the field, but the Pirates were even colder which allowed the Blackhawks to create early separation.

Wininger’s free throws got Gilman on the board with 13:38 left in the first half, cutting Owen-Withee’s lead to 10-2. The teams traded points until a Hecker free throw with 7:04 left made it 16-6. That’s when Owen-Withee put the game away with a 15-0 run over the next five minutes to build a 31-6 advantage.

Logan Amacher scored six of the first eight points in the run and Caleb Geldernick added four points.

Wininger finally stopped the bleeding with two free throws at the 2:02 mark and Caleb Marion hit a bonus throw with 41.9 seconds left. Wininger’s basket in the closing seconds was only the second field goal of the game for Gilman, who trailed 35-11 at the break.

Turnovers helped fuel Owen-Withee’s 19-2 run to start the second half that opened up a 54-13 lead.

The Pirates finally got some momentum and played well in the last nine minutes, getting those 21 points from Wininger and Hecker.

Abram Wininger scored Gilman’s only basket in the first nine minutes of the half, coming off a Hecker assist. Ustianowski and Caleb Marion added one point apiece to Gilman’s scoring.

In a 72-24 loss at Owen-Withee Jan. 19, the Pirates had all kinds of trouble with Owen-Withee’s halfcourt trap. While they still had too many miscues Thursday, head coach Bobbi Marion said the Pirates handled it better.

“It was much better than the first time,” she said. “We go to New Auburn on Tuesday. This is a good game to come off of. The boys played hard. They can hold their heads up with this.”

Amacher led a balanced Owen-Withee attack with 17 points, 13 of which came in the first half. Carter Klabon scored 11 points and Aaron Ovyn had 10, including the Blackhawks’ first eight points, which included two 3-pointers. In all, 11 Blackhawks scored in the game.

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Andrew Hecker