Inside strength, senior leadership create high hopes
GILMAN GIRLS HOOPS PREVIEW
Things are looking up in a couple of ways for the Gilman Pirates as they begin the 2021-22 girls basketball season.
First, fourth-year head coach Tammy Weir said there is an air of optimism and confidence through the first week of practice. The team brings back an experienced core of five seniors and secondteam All-Eastern Cloverbelt junior Tatum Weir that expects to be competitive with most teams the Pirates will face.
Secondly, the Pirates’ most obvious strength is its height, which is something they hope to use to their advantage.
Gilman looks to improve from their shortened 6-10 season of last winter that included a 4-8 mark in the conference.
“I’m really looking forward to it,” coach Weir said Monday. “I think it’s going to be a good season. We should have plenty of wins in that column.”
Gilman tipped off the new season Tuesday with a 45-22 non-conference loss at Edgar. The Pirates open ECC play Friday at Spencer and host league rival Loyal Tuesday at 7:15 p.m. for the home opener.
With Weir and seniors Emma Grunseth, Hannah Vick and Kya Dietzler, the Pirates expect to win the statistical battles for points in the paint and rebounding on most nights. Weir and Grunseth, an honorable mention choice in the conference, combined for over 20 rebounds per game themselves last winter.
Coach Weir, along with assistant Candice Grunseth, are hoping their forwards can be more than just statues on the blocks, especially offensively. Depending on how the playing-time rotation shakes out as the year progresses, there will undoubtedly be times where they will be needed to handle the ball, do some passing on the perimeter and even knock down some outside shots.
Speaking of hitting outside shots, that’s what the coaches hope senior guard Madisyn James can do again. James was far and away Gilman’s leading shooter from 3-point range last winter, knocking down nearly 30% of her 98 3-point tries and averaging 7.9 points per game.
“We’re going to have a lot of bigs out there who will be able to do both, play guard and forward,” coach Weir said. “We’re going to put them in different positions. It’s really about them reading the defense then. If we have a huge girl guarding Tatum, well we’re going to throw Tatum out on the 3-point line. She can shoot it. Same thing with Emma. If there’s a big girl guarding Grunseth, draw her out. We’re trying to get Madisyn shooting more because that’s really her strong suit.”
Weir took a big step forward in her sophomore year, averaging 12.6 points, 11.7 rebounds and two blocked shots per game while shooting 50% from the field, mostly from the paint, obviously, and continued to improve in the off-season with some opportunities to play club ball.
Grunseth averaged 7.4 points, 9.9 rebounds and 2.4 assists per game as a junior and should continue to grow in a leadership role.
“Emma is looking good,” Weir said. “She’s really been working on her shot. She will help out at the guard position a little bit, like she did last year.”
Vick figures to be a solid contributor again after averaging 3.5 points and 4.8 rebounds a game last winter. Dietzler is a player Weir said is ascending as she heads into her senior season.
“Kya has been in the weight room, she’s been running, she’s really been working hard,” Weir said. “So I see Kya as a player who’s going to be able to step in when Tatum and Emma are out to fill the holes that are needed there.”
Gilman also added senior guard Aubrey Syryczuk to the roster this week. She did not play last year but averaged 7.3 points, 4.6 rebounds, 2.1 steals and 1.9 assists per game as a sophomore.
“I’m sure she will be a positive addition to our team,” Weir said.
After James and Syryczuk, Gilman does enter the year thin on experience at the guard positions. Senior Addysson Hopkins is the team’s fifth returning senior and she did see some quality playing time last winter. Sophomores Ava Warner and Bryn Hendricks will see more time this year, though some of that will come at the JV level. The Pirates did not have enough players to field a JV team last year, which, unfortunately, limited their youngsters’ court time.
Fortunately, the program starts this year with 16 players, which should be enough to fill two teams.
“Those two are going to see some minutes,” Weir said of Hendricks and Warner. “They’re going to be strong subs for varsity. We’ll also get them in for at least one half on JV since they missed so much last year. They have to get more minutes out on the court.” Emma Miller, Kayleigh James and Claire Drier figure to be additions to the backcourt as well. James and Drier are freshmen who could potentially see some early varsity time. Miller is a junior who returns to the program after a year away. “Emma Miller is going to come in and do a lot for us on the defensive end,” Weir said. “She has just a great attitude and personality to have out on the court. Kayleigh James is going to help us out on varsity. I see her being a ball handler where we can bring her in and then push Madisyn to the numbertwo spot and get Madisyn shooting more. Claire Drier might see some varsity minutes. Defensively she’s fast. Her speed is going to be helpful when we need some speed on the court.” Speed and quickness is one area of concern, coach Weir admits, especially on the defensive end. While Gilman should be able to rebound well, the Pirates will need to find ways to stay in good defensive positions and provide enough pressure to force the missed shots they feel like they’ll be able to clean up.
“We’re big, but that’s going to be tough against a really fast team,” Weir said. “Because of that, we’ll do a little bit more zone. We should have no problem getting every rebound. It should be one and done. We have the rebounders. Hopefully we can get Madisyn, Kayleigh and Emma Miller getting some steals, and even Ava Warner and Bryn. I think they’ll be some help too when we need some quickness.”
The other key that will fall on everyone is ball handling. When the Pirates have gotten in trouble the past couple of years, it’s been due to turnovers. They averaged 20 per game last year and had 32 in their season-ending WIAA Division 5 regional semifinal loss at McDonell Central.
Weir said the team got off to an encouraging start in that respect in a scrimmage session against a good Athens squad on Friday.
