GILMAN GIRLS BASKETBALL - Last-second block by Dons denies Pirates; Gilman beats Rockets

GILMAN GIRLS BASKETBALL

A victory layup by Allison Olynick looked certain for the Gilman Pirates in the last seconds Monday, but Columbus Catholic’s Mattea Schlafke came seemingly out of nowhere to block the shot and preserve the Dons’ 45-44 win in an Eastern Cloverbelt girls basketball thriller.

In a game destined to come down to the final shot as neither team held a lead larger than five points the entire way, it was Gilman who got that opportunity after an Olynick steal with 11 seconds to go. She got into a passing lane and deflected the basketball about 50 feet forward, tracking it down in the left corner on Gilman’s offensive end.

She got the ball to Addy Vick who swung it to Gilman’s top offensive threat, Danielle Mann, on the right side of the court. Not surprisingly, all five Dons’ defenders converged toward Mann to some degree as she approached the right block. That left Olynick all alone on the left block and Mann found her for the point-blank shot with three seconds left.

But Schlafke recovered just quickly enough from right to left and got her hand on the ball before Olynick could release it and tracked down the loose ball as the buzzer sounded.

The loss dropped Gilman to 2-5 in conference play and 6-8 overall. It was the Pirates’ third conference loss by three points or less and it continued the program’s frustrating history in the Columbus Catholic gym, where Gilman teams are now 1-13 since switching to the Eastern Cloverbelt in the 2010-11 season with four of the last six losses coming by two points or less or in overtime.

The Pirates went cold at an inopportune time Monday when a 37-33 secondhalf lead melted away down the stretch. Raygen Soper put the Pirates up by four by knocking down a left-wing jumper, but the Dons scored six straight points. Claire Drier knotted things at 39-39 by knocking down a free throw jumper off a long offensive rebound with 6:30 left.

Courtney Sommer put Columbus ahead with a free throw at the 5:15 mark, Maggie Callaghan drove and scored with 4:50 left for a three-point Dons’ lead.

After Mann hit one of two free throws with 4:14 to go, the Pirates got a stop, but Soper’s 3 rattled in and out. Grace Wilczek scored for Columbus and, moments later, her 3 went in and out, but Schlafke got the rebound, got fouled and hit one of two free throws for a 45-40 Columbus Catholic lead with 2:48 left.

Mann got a steal but Gilman couldn’t score off it. She got another one and this time the Pirates turned it into two Kayleigh James free throws with 1:53 left. James got another steal and the Pirates had numerous shots and offensive rebounds but got nothing to fall until Mann finally scored in close with 40 seconds left to cut the lead to one and set up the dramatic finish.

The first half was back and forth as The Medford Basketball Booster Club’s eighth grade team won six games to reach the title game of the Great Northwest Basketball League’s boys championship tournament this past weekend in La Crosse. Medford fell 49-39 to top-ranked Onalaska in the final Sunday afternoon. Before that, the team won its opening pool by beating Rib Lake 39-26, La Crosse Central 44-39 and Westby 43-23. Medford ended Saturday with a 52-34 win over St. Croix Central, beat rival Mosinee 48-24 in Sunday’s quarterfinals and then held off Elk Mound 58-52 in the semifinals. Team members include (front l. to r.) Ty Thorson, Corbyn Radlinger, Will Wojcik, Restyn Kraschnewski, (back) head coach Mike Radlinger, Judah Wipf, Luke Klapatauskas, Ace Arndt, Sawyer Hoops, Devin Dassow, Dylan Frey and coach Brent Arndt.

Rib Lake went 1-2 in pool play but then went on a three-game winning streak to win the top consolation bracket, finishing 17th overall in the 32-team tournament. The Redmen beat Westby 41-39 and lost to La Crosse Central 30-25 in pool play, then edged the Eau Claire Huskies Blue 49-46, beat Chippewa Falls Hoops Red 31-14 and beat the Eau Claire Eagles 48-36.

well. Gilman got out to a quick 5-0 lead, the Dons came back to grab a 10-9 edge and then Gilman got a steal and score from Drier and a transition score from Mann after Olynick had poked a ball away on defense to make it 14-10. The Dons went on a mini 6-1 spurt, stopped by a Mann 3 that put Gilman up 18-16. A long pass from James to Mann produced a layup with 30 seconds left that gave Gilman a 23-22 halftime lead.

A long two-point shot by James and 3s by Olynick and Mann gave Gilman a 31-26 lead early in the second half, but Columbus refused to let Gilman gain full momentum, immediately answering with a left-corner 3 from Callaghan.

Mann scored 18 points to lead Gilman, who played a bit short-handed without sophomore Aubrey Steinbach due to illness. They also lost Jaylyn Orth in the second half due to a contact lens issue, further shortening head coach Tammy Weir’s bench.

James scored nine points and Drier scored seven. Vick and Olynick added three points apiece, while Orth and Soper added two each.

Schlafke scored 10 points to lead Columbus Catholic, who improved to 5-2 in the conference and 7-6 overall. Wilczek added eight.

Gilman starts the second round of conference play Friday when it visits Owen-Withee at 7:15 p.m. The Pirates are hoping for a much better result than their 72-40 loss to Blackhawks on Dec. 5. The Pirates visit a very strong Phillips squad Monday at 7:15 p.m. and then host Colby in league play on Jan. 18.

Gilman 41, Spencer 35

On Thursday, the Pirates’ 14-0 second-half run broke open a tight game and ultimately was the difference in a 41-35 win over visiting Spencer.

The run helped Gilman build a 16-point lead that seemed comfortable with 6:15 to play. But the Pirates missed a handful of point-blank shots and never scored again, allowing the Rockets to make the finish a bit more interesting.

The win was Gilman’s second in two days and its first conference win in nearly a month. Spencer dropped to 0-6 in league play at the time.

While Danielle Mann again led Gilman in scoring with 12 points, she had just one basket in the second half. She added 10 rebounds for a double-double. The Pirates’ offensive push after halftime was a team effort.

Leading 21-17 at the break, Gilman got two Claire Drier free throws, a Kayleigh James basket and a James assist to a cutting Allie Olynick on a baseline inbound play to go up 27-21. Spencer’s Hannah Schreiner scored to get the Rockets back within four.

With Spencer’s top player, Autumn Davis, on the bench in some foul trouble, that’s the point where the Pirates made their move.

It started with Addy Vick blowing by her defender with a driving layup. Jaylyn Orth put back a Vick miss, Vick made one of two free throws and James scored off a Spencer turnover to make it 34-23. Olynick swished a 3-point shot from the left wing and Mann scored off a baseline drive to cap the 14-point run. Olynick answered a Claudia Krause hoop by scoring off a Vick assist to make it 41-25, but that was Gilman’s last score of the game.

Spencer got within single digits on Ema Schultz’s rebound basket, making it 41-33 with 1:05 left. Schultz missed a couple of free throws with 40 seconds left that could’ve made it a two-possession game. She did get a steal and score with eight seconds left, but that wound up being too little, too late.

Scoring didn’t come easy for either team through much of the first half. Mann’s 3-pointer got Gilman out to an 11-6 lead, but the Rockets scored the next four before Gilman went on a little run that got Spencer out of its 2-3 zone. Drier got an offensive putback, Mann hit another 3 and Orth got to the rim with a nice move that made it 1812. Davis scored five straight points to get Spencer within 19-17 but, with 30 seconds left, James got to a loose ball in the paint and flipped it to Olynick for a layup with 30 seconds left.

Olynick scored 11 points in the win, Orth had six and Drier, Vick and James finished with four points each. Olynick had five rebounds and three assists. Orth had seven rebounds and two blocked shots. Drier had seven rebounds and two assists. James had three assists, three steals and four rebounds.

Davis led Spencer with 13 points.

MATT FREY/THE STAR NEWS