GILMAN BOYS BASKETBALL - Loggers, Warriors sprint to easy wins

GILMAN BOYS BASKETBALL

A regular season ending stretch with five of six games at home got off to a rough start for the Gilman boys basketball team with two running-clock losses.

The second of those came Monday in non-conference play when the Phillips Loggers used their quickness to make things tough on Gilman with their zone defense and get to the rim and get open shots offensively in a 71-25 win. When the Pirates got open looks, they didn’t hit nearly enough of them to stay in contact with the Loggers, who improved to 9-9 with the win.

Gilman made just 10 of 45 field goal attempts (22.2%) in the loss, including eight of 36 two-point shots.

The loss dropped Gilman to 3-16 as it heads into its final three Eastern Cloverbelt Conference contests. The Pirates are 2-9 in league play.

The Pirates got a season-high 12 points from Max Ustianowski Monday. The first three of those came on a threepoint play that pulled Gilman within 7-5 with 12:44 left in the first half. However, that was answered by 3-pointers from Loggers Brayden Revak and JJ Heikkinen and another basket by Heikkinen. Beau Pockat hit a 3 for Gilman to make it 15-8, but Revak sank another 3 to spark a 21-3 run that put the game out of reach pretty quickly. Pockat’s second 3 finally ended the run late in the half, but a three-point play by Logger Jack Kulwicki with 1:26 left gave Phillips a 39-14 halftime lead.

Any thoughts of a second-half comeback were dashed swiftly when Phillips opened the second half with a 10-0 run that included a pair of 3s from Lane Abraham.

Ustianowski had seven of Gilman’s 11 points in the half, including his second three-point play of the game.

Pockat’s two 3s gave him six points, Joey Syryczuk had four points and Brayden Olynick added three points and he led the Pirates with nine rebounds. Tony Syryczuk had four assists for Gilman.

Revak hit five 3s and led three Loggers in double figures with 17 points. Abraham scored 15 and Heikkinen added 14. Phillips did not have problems shooting the basketball, making 28 of 53 shots from the field (52.8%). The Loggers were nine of 16 on 3-point shots and forced 24 Gilman turnovers while committing 11.

Gilman hosts Loyal tonight, Thursday, before heading to Spencer for a 7:15 p.m. tip time on Tuesday. Conference play ends Feb. 16 with likely league champion Columbus Catholic visiting Gilman for another 7:15 p.m. start.

Neillsville 59, Gilman 21

Very little went right for the Pirates Friday in a 59-21 home loss to Eastern Cloverbelt Conference rival Neillsville.

The Pirates came out ice cold from the field while the Warriors built a 22-0 lead in the first 9:25. Logan Halida finally stopped the scoreless streak by hitting a runner from the right side.

A turnover spree by the Pirates toward the end of the half really broke it open, turning a 29-5 deficit to 43-5 at the half.

Neillsville, while freely substituting through the second half, built the lead as high as 45 before the Pirates ended the game with a 7-0 run that started with back-to-back backcourt steals and scores by Halida and Pockat. Dawson Grunseth hit a free throw and Trevor Vick hit a midrange shot in the final seconds.

Halida, Joey Syryczuk and Olynick scored four points apiece for Gilman. Ustianowski and Dalton Wisocky each added a basket.

Caleb Marion had six rebounds for Gilman, while Tony Syryczuk, Ustianowski and Joey Syryczuk added four apiece.

The Pirates made seven of 43 shots from the field and missed all 13 of their 3-point tries. Gilman turned the ball over 25 times, leading to 21 Warrior points.

Neillsville kept its hold on second place in the conference by improving to 9-2 in league play and 12-7 overall at the time. The Warriors got 15 points from Braylon Boyer and balanced scoring from the rest of its roster in Friday’s win.