GILMAN GIRLS BASKETBALL - Rockets’ second-half launch stopped by Gilman on Tuesday

GILMAN GIRLS BASKETBALL

Addy Vick gave Gilman a spark with eight second-half points, which outscored the entire Spencer team Tuesday in the Pirates’ 52-35 win on Senior Night.

The Pirates hit an offensive dry spell after leading 22-13 with just under six minutes to go in the first half. The Rockets quickly erased that deficit with 3-pointers from Autumn Davis and Montanna Kohls and another Davis basket. In the final moments of the half, Davis scored on a steal and Kohls banked in a 3-pointer to give the Rockets a 28-26 halftime lead.

Gilman was stuck on 26 for almost four minutes in the second half when Vick finally broke the ice with a steal at midcourt and her ensuing layup. She had four steals in the win. Claire Drier scored off a pass along the baseline from Reece Weir, then Vick hit back-to-back 3-pointers. Averie Olynick added another triple off an offensive rebound by Gilman. Just like that, the Pirates were back in control at 39-31 with 9:41 left in the game.

The Pirates’ game-clinching 17-0 run continued with Drier and Weir rebounding their own misses and scoring, Kayleigh James scoring twice and Allie Olynick making two free throws with 1:38 left for a 50-31 lead. The Rockets had just one field goal in the second half until getting two in the last 95 seconds and scored just seven points in the half.

“The first half was a little rough as Spencer couldn’t miss a 3,” Gilman head coach Tammy Weir said. “But in the second half, when we came out in our 2-3 zone, the girls played great defense, we were patient on offense, crashed the boards and, wow, did we take care of the ball with only nine turnovers.”

Drier, one of the four seniors honored Tuesday, scored 12 of her 16 points in the first half by getting out in transition or crashing the offensive boards. She finished with nine rebounds and three steals. James, another senior, scored five of her seven points in the second half and had seven rebounds, five assists and four steals. Two more seniors, Patty Kloss and Paige Daley, got in for the last 1:05 of the game and Daley got a rebound basket just before the final buzzer.

Weir scored eight points in the win, grabbed 13 rebounds and had five assists and two blocked shots. Allie Olynick and Raygen Soper scored four apiece and Averie Olynick finished with three. Allie Olynick had six rebounds. Gilman outrebounded the Rockets 48-24.

Davis and Kohls scored 13 points apiece to lead the Rockets, who fell to 2-11 in the Eastern Cloverbelt Conference and 9-12 overall. The Pirates employed a box-andone defense in the first half aimed at slowing down Davis, who averages more than 18 points per game. James faceguarded her most of the time, but Davis still hit two long 3s in the early going and scored all of her points in the first half. She did not play for a sizable chunk of time in the second half.

Gilman improved to 6-7 in league play and 11-10 overall. The Pirates will finish up their conference schedule Friday at Columbus Catholic (7-6, 13-8). With a win, Gilman would clinch a spot in the fourthplace game of the Feb. 20 Cloverbelt Conference crossovers. The Eastern side hosts those crossover matchups this year.

Loyal 44, Gilman 25

On Thursday, host Loyal played solid man-to-man defense the entire night and, even when the Pirates got a little space to work with, the rims weren’t kind in a 4425 Eastern Cloverbelt loss.

Drier got a steal and score for the game’s first basket and that was the only time Gilman led as the Greyhounds salvaged a split in the season series. Loyal scored the next nine points and got out to a 15-4 lead before the Pirates closed the gap somewhat behind a Vick 3-pointer and an inside score from James to get within 16-9.

But Loyal’s Autumn Zvolena sank a 3pointer with seven seconds left in the half and the Greyhounds hit Gilman with a big 10-0 punch to start the second half to build a 20-point lead. Olivia Nikolai, who did not score in the first half, scored eight of the points in that run, including two 3point shots from the right wing.

The closest Gilman got after that was 30-14, but Mallory Jakobi ended that momentum with a 3-pointer and the Greyhounds went ahead by as much as 23 from there.

The Pirates only got 22 two-point shots off and made seven. They were two of 17 from 3-point range. They did outrebound the Greyhounds 24-20 and had 17 turnovers compared to Loyal’s 18.

Drier led Gilman with nine points before fouling out. She also led with four steals. Reece Weir scored the Pirates’ last four points and had six rebounds and three assists. Vick, James and Aubrey Steinbach scored three points each. James had seven rebounds and two assist. Allie Olynick added a basket and four rebounds and Noonan had a second-half free throw.

Zvolena led Loyal with 14 points, while Nikolai scored 12 in the second half.