Gilman makes the turn in good position in race for second

GILMAN GIRLS BASKETBALL

Though they’re currently in last place in the Eastern Cloverbelt Conference, the Greenwood Indians made things tougher for Gilman the second time around, but a balanced effort Tuesday by the Pirates was still enough to earn a 48-32 victory.

The win pushed Gilman to 5-3 in the conference and 8-4 overall, good for a second-place tie behind Neillsville with Columbus Catholic. Both teams sit a half-game ahead of 4-3 Loyal, who was knocked off 24-23 by Owen-Withee in an ugly one Tuesday.

Greenwood (1-7, 3-12) was nearly hit with a running clock late in its first meeting with the Pirates back on Nov. 29, but this time they were still within 10 at 21-11 at halftime before Gilman pulled away.

The Pirates got double-doubles from their mainstays. Tatum Weir had 16 points, 10 rebounds, six blocked shots and four assists. Danielle Mann had 15 points, 12 rebounds and two assists.

Ava Warner had a nice night with nine points and two assists. Kayleigh James had four points, three rebounds, three steals and an assist. Allie Olynick chipped in with two points, two rebounds, three steals and an assist. Jaylyn Orth had a hoop and three rebounds. Claire Drier had three steals, three rebounds and two assists.

“Greenwood played good defense,” Gilman head coach Tammy Weir said. “They double- and triple-teamed Tatum, but she was still able to get a double-double. Jaylyn and Scarlett (Stuner) both had some nice minutes in the first half when Ava and Danielle had to take a seat because they had three fouls each. In the second half we pulled Tatum outside and she was able to work the ball, see over the defense and get some plays to Danielle and Allie under the basket to keep us on top. Overall, it was a great team effort and the girls really played well.”

Gilman held a 33-25 edge in rebounding and forced 21 turnovers while committing 19. Gilman made 12 of 26 twopoint shots and four of 16 3-pointers. Warner was two for five from behind the arc. Weir and Mann were both five of six from the free throw line as the Pirates went 12 of 19 as a team. Greenwood hit just 11 of 40 total shots from the field.

Avry Wuethrich led Greenwood with eight points. Tysen Lindner and Tatym Travis added seven apiece.

Gilman heads to Loyal Friday for a 6:30 p.m. tip time. The Greyhounds will no doubt be looking for some revenge after Gilman beat them on a Mann basket at the buzzer 56-55 back on Nov. 22. The Pirates will host a very good Phillips team in non-conference action Monday at 6:30 p.m. and then host undefeated Neillsville on Jan. 19 at 7:15 p.m.

Gilman 62, Augusta 50

After taking care of getting her 1,000th career point on the Pirates’ first score of the game, Weir went on to record a 30-point, 15-rebound, 10-blocked shot triple- double to lead Gilman to a 62-50 nonconference win at Augusta on Thursday.

Mann added a 20-point, 12-rebound double-double as the Pirates held off a couple of second-half runs by the Beavers to record their third straight win.

“The girls played really well,” Tammy Weir said. “We had great control on offense with only 12 turnovers. A very nice improvement. Our defense struggled at times Augusta was able to find some open gaps. But the girls are playing great.”

Tatum Weir came into the game with 998 career points and got over the 1,000-point milestone just 1:10 into the game with a 3-point shot from the right corner that put Gilman ahead 3-2.

Augusta took its last lead of the game at 4-3 on a Brittany Bergman bucket. Weir’s baseline jumper and two scores from Mann put Gilman up 9-4 and the Pirates never trailed from there.

The Pirates got 3-pointers from Warner, James and Weir and got Weir’s turnaround shot from the left side to fall to open up a 26-11 lead late in the half, but Augusta closed the half with a 6-0 spurt to close within 26-17.

The Beavers continued to tighten things up in the early moments of the second half, getting within 29-27 after backto- back triples from Aubrey Korger. Gilman answered with a scores by Mann and Weir, a free throw from Drier after a steal, another bucket from Weir, a three-point play by Mann after an offensive rebound to lead 42-27 and a 3-pointer from Mann to lead 42-27 with eight minutes to go.

That seemingly comfortable lead dwindled when Augusta made another push that included two more 3s from Korger and one by Sam Wincse and pulled within 50-45 at the 3:00 mark. But Weir was able to stick back her own missed shot eight seconds later and got fouled. The free throw put Gilman up by eight. Bergman scored to make it 53-47, but from there the Pirates were able to gradually salt it away at the free throw line, making eight of 11 in the last 2:31.

Gilman made 13 of 18 free throws overall and shot well from the field, making 17 of 37 twos (45.9%) and five of 12 from 3-point land (41.7%) to shoot (44.9%) overall. The Pirates outrebounded the Beavers 42-28 and deflected 14 shots. Mann and Warner had two blocks each.

Warner had six points, five rebounds and four assists. James added five rebounds, four assists and three steals to her first-half 3. Olynick had a first-half bucket and Drier had five assists and three rebounds to go with her one point.

Kennedy Korger led three Beavers in double figures with 15 points. Aubrey Korger scored 12 and Bergman added 11. Augusta made just 10 of 40 two-point shots, but hung around by hitting eight of 26 3-point tries.