GILMAN BOYS BASKETBALL - Blackhawks roll in ECC opener; win gets away vs. LH

GILMAN BOYS BASKETBALL

The Gilman Pirates were right with Owen-Withee for about 11 minutes Tuesday, but the host Blackhawks got away from them in the last seven minutes of the first half and cruised to a 71-30 win in the teams’ Eastern Cloverbelt Conference boys basketball opener.

The Blackhawks, who bring back a handful of key players from their WIAA Division 5 sectional runner-up run from a year ago, put three players in double figures, led by 19 from Colin Fritz, while improving to 2-1 overall. Gilman still seeks it first win at 0-3.

In those first 11 minutes, Gilman wasn’t bothered much by Owen-Withee’s halfcourt traps, got some good looks inside and its man-to-man defense held up well for that stretch. The Pirates fell behind 9-1 off the bat, but got a Logan Halida basket, a 3-pointer from Joey Syryczuk and a rebound basket from Tony Syryczuk to get within 11-8 with 10 minutes left in the half.

It was 16-8 when the shots stopped falling on those good looks and the Pirates committed a string of unforced turnovers. The momentum never came back.

Owen-Withee ended the half on a 20-2 run to lead 31-10 at the break. Beau Pockat hit a 3 to get Gilman within 34-14 early in the second half and that was as close as the Pirates got the rest of the way.

Halida scored five of his team-high seven points for Gilman in the second half. Max Ustianowski scored all six of his points in the second half. Joey Syryczuk and Pockat finished with five points each.

Tony Syryczuk finished with three points, all in the first half. Trevor Vick and Dawson Grunseth both added late scores for two points each.

Brett Baehr scored 13 points while working the paint for the Blackhawks, while Dominic Sherwood added 12.

The Pirates will try again on Friday when they host Colby at 7:15 p.m. in an Eastern Cloverbelt matchup. The Pirates host New Auburn Tuesday in nonconference play before going to Greenwood, a team they swept last year, on Dec. 19.

Chieftains 51, Pirates 43

For the second straight game to start the season, Gilman had control in the second half, but couldn’t hold on to it long enough and lost, this time 51-43 to visiting Lake Holcombe.

The Chieftains took the non-conference game by rallying from a 36-25 deficit in the last 13:50. Gilman’s last lead was 43-40 which evaporated when Lake Holcombe scored the game’s last 11 points over the last 4:10.

Gilman led 11-6 early, keyed by Tony Syryczuk’s banked-in 3-point shot and Halida’s three free throws after he was fouled on a 3-point try. Lake Holcombe took the lead with a 10-0 run and led until Pockat hit a jumper with 25 seconds left in the first half that sent the game into halftime in a 23-23 deadlock.

Gilman’s man-to-man half-court defense and some full-court pressure shut down the Chieftains in the first four minutes of the second half and the offense went to work. Vick hit one of two free throws to put the Pirates ahead 1:07 into the half, Pockat scored at the end of a press break, Ustianowski scored inside off a Sawyer Winger assist and Halida scored off a backcourt turnover to force a Lake Holcombe timeout with the score 30-23. Syryczuk recovered a loose ball and fed Pockat for an easy basket, Ustianowski scored inside to answer an Emmit Johnson hoop for the visitors and Tony Syryczuk scored off a steal to give Gilman its 11-point lead.

But the Pirates cooled off from there and a 3-point make from Brian Strzok and a three-point play by Johnson quickly made it 36-31. Connor Kane added a rebound hoop and it was a tight battle from there.

Strzok’s baseline move tied the game at 39-39 with 5:55 to go. Joey Syryczuk scored for Gilman just over a minute later and he assisted on a Halida hoop that gave the Pirates their last points. Strzok put the Chieftains ahead with four free throws over a 50-second span. Kane scored off a steal and a Strzok steal and free throw made it a 49-43 game with 1:25 left and the Pirates did not recover.

Gilman forced 27 turnovers compared to the 16 it committed and held its own on the boards, where Lake Holcombe had a 44-36 overall edge. Lake Holcombe had a key edge at the free throw line, making 15 of 27 while Gilman was seven of 15.

The big stat was shooting percentage. The Pirates got 70 shots from the field but made only 17 (24.3%), while Lake Holcombe shot 40.5% by making 17 of 42.

Ustianowski led Gilman with a 14point, 12-rebound double-double. He added two assists. Halida scored 12 points and had three steals. Tony Syryczuk chipped in with seven points and had five assists and five steals.

Pockat finished with six points and Joey Syryczuk added four points and nine rebounds.

Johnson with 21 points and Strzok with 19 had 40 of the Chieftains’ 51 points.