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GILMAN GIRLS BASKETBALL - Gilman goes ice cold in Tuesday loss, beats Cornell and Colby

Gilman goes ice cold in Tuesday loss, beats Cornell and Colby Gilman goes ice cold in Tuesday loss, beats Cornell and Colby

GILMAN GIRLS BASKETBALL

With Neillsville and Owen-Withee seemingly having the top two spots in the Eastern Cloverbelt Conference girls basketball standings locked down for now, the race for third place was on the minds of Greenwood and Gilman Tuesday in their second meeting of the year.

Greenwood, 50-34 winners in the first meeting back on Dec. 12, was even more dominant this time, taking a 51-23 win on Gilman’s home floor to cap a boys/girls varsity doubleheader.

The Indians set a physical tone early defensively with their 2-3 zone and with rebounding on both ends of the floor. Gilman struggled shooting the ball from the start, never found the range and never gave itself a chance to make a run as Greenwood slowly and steadily pulled away. The Pirates made just 10 of 59 shots overall from the field.

“Life is good when the ball goes in the hole and it did not want to do that for us (Tuesday) night,” Gilman head coach Tammy Weir said. “They outrebounded us, they hit their shots, they played very physical and did a great job.”

With the win, Greenwood pulled ahead of Gilman in the ECC standings at 6-4 while moving to 10-6 overall. Gilman’s run of five wins in six games stalled as it fell to 5-5, 10-7.

The Pirates did not hit a 3-pointer in the game, missing all 19 attempts. Greenwood only made four of 22, but the first three 3s came in an early span of 1:18 and represented the first big punch that got Gilman staggering. Addison Davidson hit the first one from the right corner to put Greenwood up 6-2 at the 13:08 mark of the first half. After Addy Vick got inside and scored for the Pirates, Tatym Travis hit back-to-back 3s, just 19 seconds apart from the same spot on the left wing to open up a 12-4 lead.

Reece Weir grabbed a long offensive rebound and got a scoop shot to fall and Allie Olynick got a putback to keep Gilman close for a moment at 19-9. Weir’s long outlet pass gave Kayleigh James a bucket at 21-11. But Greenwood outscored Gilman 8-2 in the final 2:30 of the half to lead 2913 at the break.

Travis sank a 3-ball to start the second half, and Gilman had just two field goals in the half until Vick finally got two late scores against Greenwood’s reserves.

Olynick led Gilman with eight points, Vick scored six, Weir had four points, James was held to three and Claire Drier had Gilman’s first basket of the second half.

Not only did the Pirates struggle from the field, they made just three of 10 free throws as well.

Lindner led Greenwood with 16 points, while Travis had 14.

“I think after we missed so many shots, we started getting in our own heads and then it’s just tough to make the shots,” Tammy Weir said. “I’m glad the girls kept shooting. It’s tough to keep shooting when you’re missing. And I was happy with our man-to-man defense at the end. The girls played that well.”

Greenwood outrebounded the Pirates 53-31. Reece Weir had 13 boards for Gilman. Norah Noonan had eight. Weir had four assists and four steals and James had six steals.

Things certainly won’t get any easier for Gilman as 16-1 Neillsville comes to town on Friday for a 7:15 p.m. tip. Marawood North leading Phillips visits for non-conference play on Monday before Gilman heads to Loyal on Feb. 6.

Gilman 58, Cornell 16

In a game played four days later than originally scheduled, Gilman had no trouble with vastly overmatched Cornell Friday, rolling to a 44-6 halftime lead and coasting from there to a 58-16 nonconference home win. All 12 Pirates got some good minutes and 11 of the 12 found the scoring column in the blowout win.

James and Raygen Soper led Gilman with 10 points apiece. James had four steals, while Soper had four rebounds. Drier had eight points, three steals and two assists. Reece Weir had a strong allaround game with six points, six rebounds, six assists, five steals and three blocks.

Aubrey Steinbach had five points and five rebounds. Olynick had five points, four rebounds and two steals. Noonan scored four points and led Gilman with nine rebounds. Patty Kloss scored four points.

Vick had a bucket and three rebounds. Averie Olynick hit two free throws and tied Weir for the team lead with five steals. Paige Daley had five rebounds and got an offensive putback at the final buzzer. Scarlett Stuner had two assists and two rebounds.

The Chiefs, who dressed only seven players, were led by Bralee Schroeder’s seven points.

The Pirates breathed sighs of relief Thursday after escaping last-place Colby with a 43-42 Eastern Cloverbelt win.

Playing without Allie Olynick, the Pirates spread out the playing time a little more than usual and got contributions from everyone who got court time. They led almost the entire game and led 41-28 with 8:52 left after a backcourt steal and score by James.

It hadn’t been the greatest of shooting nights for Gilman already, but the Pirates went ice cold after that. Mixed with a handful of turnovers, they gave Colby an opening and the Hornets nearly broke through it in the final moments.

The Hornets crept closer at the free throw line, but actually missed some key opportunities to really tighten the game up, making three of seven over a threeminute span to get within 41-33. But Angelique Hernandez grabbed the rebound on the last miss and put it back in at the end of that stretch. That was followed by a transition score from Alia Hamus to get the Hornets within 41-37 with 2:45 left.

The teams traded misses and turnovers until Drier ended Gilman’s drought by scoring on a baseline drive with 1:00 left for a six-point lead. Hernandez sank a 3pointer with 40 seconds left and she got a steal that led to two Vanderhoof free throws that made it a one-point game with 20.7 seconds left. The Pirates missed the front ends of two bonus free throw chances and missed a potential putback. Hernandez got one last chance to steal it for Colby, but her driving shot attempt in the lane was off the mark at the buzzer.

Colby led 10-8 early, but Gilman took control with a 13-2 run that included 3pointers from Reece Weir and James. A 3pointer by James with three seconds left in the half put Gilman up 27-19 at halftime.

Weir, who led the Pirates with a season-high 13 points and earned her first career double-double with 11 rebounds, scored inside and then banked in a pull-up jumper from the free throw line to widen Gilman’s lead to 31-19 to start the second half. Vick, Soper and Weir hit field goals to help Gilman keep a double-digit lead until Colby’s late push.

James scored 12 points, Vick had six and Drier scored five for Gilman. Soper had three points and Steinbach started the game with a 3-pointer. Averie Olynick had an early point.

Gilman outrebounded the Hornets 4529. Noonan had eight boards, Drier and Vick had six each and Kloss had five in some extended minutes. Weir had four assists, while Noonan and Drier had three each. James and Drier each had three steals. The Pirates made 17 of 56 total field goal attempts (30.4%) and made just five of 18 free throws. They were four of 20 on 3-point tries (20%).

“Allie was home sick, but Reece stepped up on the rebounding and scoring end of things with her first doubledouble,” Tammy Weir said. “Norah Noonan stepped up with some good boards with eight. All and all we held it together, but just had way too many turnovers (30).”

Hernandez led Colby (0-9, 2-12) with 13 points. Vanderhoof scored 11 and Lilly Brzezinski added 10.

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