trifectas as the Pirates outscored ….

trifectas as the Pirates outscored the Bulldogs 26-19.

Grunseth finished with 11 points for the Pirates, nine of which came in the first half. Wininger added seven, while Wisocky, Goebel, McFadden and Mravik all finished with three apiece and Zack Marion added a second-half hoop.

Granton got 20 points out of Noah Mc-Conkey, eight from Brandon Jakobi and seven from Hunter Vine.

Hecker’s 17-point first half helped Gilman forge a 27-27 halftime tie on Thursday and the Pirates held a slim lead into the early moments of the second half, but a mid-half surge put Colby in the lead and that’s where the visiting Hornets stayed in their 61-49 win.

The Pirates got a 3-pointer from Wisocky to start the second half and added a Hecker bucket to hold a 32-29 lead. Colby tied it up at 32-32. After a Gilman timeout with 10:35 to go, the Hornets got a go-ahead 3-pointer from Richard Streveler and gradually opened up the lead from there. It was 46-42 with 6:31 to go when the Hornets went on an 8-2 spurt over the next 67 seconds to suddenly make it a 10-point game and the Pirates never recovered.

The Pirates sank seven 3-point shots in the game and got 23 points from Hecker, but it wasn’t quite enough to overcome Colby’s 16-2 scoring advantage from the free throw line and Harley Schmelzer’s game-high 25 points. Schmelzer scored 15 points in the first half and added 10 more in the second. The Hornets made 16 of 31 free throws, while Gilman only shot two free throws with Hecker making them both in the first half.

Wininger scored nine points for Gilman, six in the second half. Grunseth scored all seven of his points in the second half. Wisocky hit a 3-point shot in each half to finish with six points. Goebel and Mravik each had a bucket.

Streveler added 13 points and hit a trio of 3s for the Hornets, who sit at 2-2 in league play and 2-3 overall after a 58-55 loss to Greenwood Tuesday.