Perimeter shooting falters as Loyal girls fall to Gilman
With Gilman center Tatum Weir swatting away Loyal’s interior shots like a windshield deflecting bugs, the Greyhounds had little choice on Jan. 14 but to look outside for offense. Trouble was, Loyal’s outside shots weren’t falling, either.
The Greyhounds were able to land just three of 23 shots from 3-point range in their 50-40 Eastern Cloverbelt Conference loss that set their league record back to 4-4. Loyal tumbled to fifth place in the league standings while Gilman jumped up to third.
Weir scored 20 points for Gilman and grabbed six rebounds in addition to being a constant defensive presence in the paint. Numerous times Loyal went inside to Abrial Kubista for possible close shots, but Weir’s length didn’t allow Kubista to get clean looks.
Loyal did manage to shoot 33 percent from 2-point range on the night, but its 3-pointers were not falling. Anna Lindner hit two and Alyssia Zvolena added another, but Loyal missed on 20 of its 23 attempts. Gilman fared much better, canning six of its 12 attempts from behind the arc.
Gilman scored the first seven points of the game. Zvolena’s 3-pointer at the 11:28 mark of the first half brought Loyal back to within 11-10, but Gilman pieced together a 12-2 run over the next six minutes. The Pirates took a 31-21 lead into halftime.
Pressure defense got Loyal back in the game early in the second half. Zvolena’s steal and score cut the lead to 33-27, and a Mckenna Schley steal gave Loyal a chance to trim it even further. A Greyhound turnover negated that chance, however, and Gilman then used a 7-0 spurt over a 31-second span to bulge the lead to 40-27. Weir started the quick run with a mid-range jumper. After that basket, Hannah Vick caught Loyal napping on the in-bounds, snatched the pass, and laid the ball in for another score. After another Loyal turnover, Madisyn James popped a 3-pointer for the 13-point lead with 11:02 to go.
Loyal climbed back into the game once more, with a 10-0 run of its own. Lindner’s 3-pointer from the corner started it, and Sheila Tellock added a conventional 3-point play with a steal and fast-break layup and a foul. After the teams traded turnovers, Natasha Tellock scored on an in-bounds play to cut the lead to 40-35. Lindner then hit a jumper at the 6:55 mark to make it a 40-37 game, but those would be the last Greyhound points for the next five minutes of play.
Weir’s short jumper put Gilman on top 40-35 with five minutes to play. Loyal missed several 3-point chances over the next few minutes, and a Weir baseline drive at the 2:34 mark made it a 7-point game. Sheila Tellock hit a free throw to get it back to six, but Weir hit two of her own -- she was 6-6 on the night at the line -- for a 46-38 lead. Zvolena’s two free throws got Loyal to within 46-40 with 1:01 to go, but the Greyhounds would score no more. Gilman was 4-4 from the line in the last minute to seal the 10-point win. The Pirates were 10-13 at the line for the game, while Loyal went 5-8.
Lindner led Loyal with 13 points and Zvolena scored nine points and grabbed seven rebounds.
James scored 14 points for Gilman as she was 4-8 from 3-point range.
DEAN LESAR/STAFF PHOTOS
