GILMAN GIRLS BASKETBALL - Much better effort second time around against 12-1 Blackhawks

GILMAN GIRLS BASKETBALL

It wasn't a win Friday, but the Gilman girls basketball team learned they can play with the Owen-Withee Blackhawks, who improved to 12-1 overall and 7-1 in the Eastern Cloverbelt Conference with a 5648 win over the host Pirates.

The result was a drastic improvement over one of Gilman's worst outings of the year, a 60-21 blowout back in the conference opener on Dec. 3. It's possible the teams could meet again in the postseason as they did last year.

'The girls played so good,' Gilman head coach Tammy Weir said. 'The defense really held Owen-Withee in the first half. They figured out how to break it down better in the second half and when we had to go man-to-man in the last six minutes, then we lost control of the game. But this team is definitely beatable and we have come a long way since the first time we played them. Great strides. Huge improvements to get to where we are today.'

Where the Pirates are today is 4-4 in the conference and in a three-way for third place with Greenwood and Columbus Catholic. The Pirates are 8-6 overall heading into a conference clash tonight, Thursday, at Colby.

Unlike the first outing, which got away from Gilman midway through the first half, the Pirates took better care of the ball and got shots to fall, allowing them to not only stay close but to take a 22-20 halftime lead. Baskets by Claire Drier and Allie Olynick gave them an 11-10 edge. Owen-Withee went up 16-11 after an Ellie Petersen 3-pointer and free throws from Kayla Rasmussen with 5:38 left. The Blackhawks then went cold against Gilman's zone defense and the Pirates surged, getting Aubrey Steinbach's 3pointer, a long two-point jumper from Kayleigh James and two of four free throws from James to go up 20-16. James' score in the last 20 seconds gave the Pirates their two-point edge at the half.

James opened the second half with her lone made 3-pointer of the game for a 2520 lead. Owen-Withee caught the Pirates at 29-29 when Madi Mueller as the trailer in the transition, hit a 3-ball from the top of the key. Olynick's free throws at the 12:43 mark tied it at 31-31 but that was the last time the Pirates were even with the Blackhawks. One of the key adjustments Owen-Withee made in the second half was to push the ball down the floor before the Pirates could set up their zone. Petersen got two key hoops that way. Adalie Hatlestad added a key 3-pointer that made it 37-31 and Mueller's offensive rebound led to a Petersen basket that made it 42-34 with six minutes to play.

Gilman chipped away, pulling within 42-39 on a Drier score off an Olynick steal. Olynick's shot in the paint made it 44-41 with 3:33 to go.

As Weir said, the Pirates went to their man-to-man when Owen-Withee pulled the ball out down the stretch and the Blackhawks beat Gilman multiple times with backdoor cuts. Mueller got one to make it 46-41. Hatlestad got one with 1:35 to go off a Geneva Capetillo assist to make it 50-44. Capetillo cut along the baseline and scored off a Mueller assist and that was basically the dagger, making it 52-44 with 40 seconds left.

Petersen scored 11 of her 17 points in the second half to lead Owen-Withee. Capetillo added 12 points and Mueller scored eight. Gilman held Owen-Withee's top post player, Kendall Weiler, to six points and she battled foul trouble and eventually fouled out with 1:47 left.

Gilman got 16 points from James in the loss. Drier added four rebounds, three steals and two assists. Olynick scored 13 points and led Gilman with nine rebounds. She had three assists, two steals and a blocked shot. Steinbach finished with three points and Reece Weir had a point, six rebounds and four assists. Owen-Withee had a slight 24-23 rebounding edge but got a couple of crucial ones late on the offensive end. Both teams had 19 turnovers. Both teams made 14 free throws. Owen-Withee had one more attempt, 24-23. The Blackhawks were four of nine from 3-point range, while Gilman was just two of 18. Gilman was a solid 14 of 25 on two-point shots (56%), while Owen-Withee was 15 of 40.

A non-conference game with Cornell was postponed Monday and will now be played Friday at 5:45 p.m. ahead of Gilman's boys home game with Owen-Withee. The girls and boys will also host a conference doubleheader with Greenwood on Tuesday. The boys will go first at 5:45 p.m., followed by the girls at 7:15 p.m.