Gilman grabs second-half lead and doesn’t let it go, beats Loyal

Needing a confidence boost after a 74point drubbing at Neillsville earlier in the week, the Gilman girls basketball team got one Friday, putting together a solid second half that gave the Pirates a 54-48 win over Loyal in Eastern Cloverbelt Conference play.

Senior Kayleigh James scored 10 of her 14 points in the first half, while junior Allie Olynick scored 12 of her 14 in the second half while sharing the scoring honors for Gilman in its second conference win of the season. The Pirates improved to 2-3 in league play and 5-4 overall.

Claire Drier also hit double figures with 11.

The Pirates got their transition game going for a stretch in the first half. Down 4-0 very early, the home team put together an 18-4 run that created an 18-8 lead. James got a couple of transition baskets to start the run, Drier scored off a steal and Averie Olynick’s steal led to a Drier score as well. James hit a long two-point jumper and Norah Noonan put in an offensive rebound to cap Gilman’s big run.

The Greyhounds reversed the momentum in the last six minutes of the first half, ending it on a 13-3 run to tie the game at 21-21 on Autumn Zvolena’s 3pointer with just under a minute left.

Gilman scored the first six points of the second half and never trailed the rest of the way. James hit a pull-up jumper, Drier canned a 3-ball and she added a free throw. Aubrey Steinbach’s lone bucket of the night was a 3-pointer from the left wing and it was followed by a three-point play by Reece Weir, giving Gilman a 33-23 lead with 10:55 left.

Olynick took over midway through the half, driving for two off an offensive inbound play, taking one all the way in on a press break and then forcing a turnover on a deflection and taking the pass from James in for a layup to make it 40-30. Olynick’s drive from the high post made it 44-34 with 4:35 to go.

Loyal made a bit of a late push, getting the lead down to 50-45 on a Mallory Jakobi 3 with a minute to play. Olynick made two of six free throws in the next half-minute and James swished the two clinchers with 23.6 seconds left for a 54-45 lead before Olivia Nikolai hit a 3-pointer with 16 seconds left to close the scoring.

Weir scored seven points for Gilman in the win. Raygen Soper finished with two each and Addy Vick hit a first-half free throw.

Nikolai led Loyal with a game-high 18 points. Zvolena added 11 as the Greyhounds fell to 2-3 in the conference and 3-4 overall.

After a holiday break, Gilman will be back on the court on Jan. 2 when it visits Rib Lake in a 7:15 p.m. non-conference contest.