Mid-game run too much to overcome
EDGAR 51, GILMAN 44
The Gilman Pirates owned much of the first half in Tuesday’s girls basketball season opener, but Edgar took over late in the first half and into the second and held on for a 51-44 non-conference win.
The Wildcats bridged the two halves with a game-changing 23-2 run that turned a 28-21 deficit into a 44-30 lead with nine minutes left. The Pirates made a bit of a run late but got no closer than seven.
Despite the loss, Gilman head coach Tammy Weir drew a lot of positives from the contest, especially the play of her younger players stepping into an expanded varsity role for the first time.
“They did so good, wow, wow, wow,” Weir said. “We handled the ball pressure, the press was very easy for us to get through. It slowed us down, but that was all. Defensively, we were able to stick with our man-to-man the whole game. I have been wanting to do this with a team. I am so proud that we stuck with Edgar the whole game, while leading for parts of it. The game was ours for the taking, we had a few too many turnovers, so we just have to work on cleaning it up.”
Edgar led 9-8 behind a trio of 3-pointers from Leah Davis, but then the Pirates went to work. Tatum Weir hit a midrange jumper to put Gilman on top, then she hit two free throws at the 12:30 mark of the half.
Weir’s offensive rebound led to a 3-point make from Danielle Mann that opened up a six-point lead at 15-9. After the Wildcats clawed back within 16-15, the home team opened up the lead again. Weir converted a three-point play at the 9:44 mark, then she scored off a perfect lob feed from Mann. Kayleigh James sank one of two free throws for a 22-15 lead.
After Edgar again fought back to get within one, the Pirates put together another mini spurt with Weir scoring off an Ava Warner assist, Mann sinking a 3 and Weir making one of two free throws for a 28-21 lead with 2:49 left in the half.
But that’s where the offense went dry for an extended period.
Edgar scored the last five points of the half to close within 28-26 and, in the process, Weir picked up a costly third foul with 13.2 seconds left.
Knowing that, Edgar went to their 5-10 senior post, Reagan Borchardt, in the second half and she got hot, scoring four times inside to help the Wildcats open up a 38-30 lead. Davis sank her fourth 3 of the game and Makayla Wirkus banked one in to push the lead to 14 before Gilman sophomore Claire Drier finally ended Edgar’s run with a 3-pointer of her own with 8:30 to play.
Mann got an offensive putback, but Borchardt then stepped outside and knocked down a 3 to get Edgar’s lead back to 12. Weir hit a 3 and Mann got a free throw, but Borchardt hit two big shots inside to salt it away. She finished with 22 points.
Weir had 22 points for Gilman to go with 18 rebounds, 14 of which came on the defensive. While Gilman features a smaller team this year, the Pirates still showed they will be tough to beat on the boards, outrebounding the Wildcats 46-- 20. Weir also had three assists and made 11 of 13 free throws.
“We killed it on the boards and didn’t give Edgar very many second chance opportunities,” Tammy Weir said.
Mann scored 11 points in her Gilman basketball debut and completed her double- double with 15 rebounds. She had two steals and an assist. Drier scored eight points, two rebounds, two steals, an assist and a blocked shot. Warner had two points, four rebounds and four assists. James had a point, five rebounds, two assists and two steals. Allie Olynick had two rebounds and a steal.
“Our four players off the bench were freshmen and they held their own,” coach Weir said. “I’m really looking forward to seeing what they can do this year.”
Davis added 14 points for Edgar, a program coming off a 20-8 season in 2021-22.
Gilman begins Eastern Cloverbelt Conference play Friday with a game at Spencer. The Pirates will host Loyal Tuesday at 6:30 p.m.
