Colby uses hot shooting, turnovers to pull away from the Pirates

GILMAN GIRLS BASKETBALL

Back in action for the first time in two weeks, the Gilman girls basketball team opened with a back-and-forth first 12 minutes Tuesday at Colby, but a late first-half surge carried into the second half for the Hornets, who ran away with an 84-57 Eastern Cloverbelt Conference win.

Particularly deadly were Colby’s veterans Emma Peavey and Brooke Suckow, who went off for 21 and 19 points respectively. Suckow did most of her damage in the first half, while Peavey took over the game in the second half.

Gilman head coach Tammy Weir said her team’s 23 turnovers were costly and a bit frustrating because most took place in the front court, not because of Colby’s full-court pressure. Colby was a sizzling nine of 11 from 3-point range and was 30 of 53 overall from the field (56.6%).

“The girls played hard,” Gilman head coach Tammy Weir said. “They played tough, we ran with them, but our turnovers took a toll on us. Our shooting percentage and shot selection was great. We took care of Colby’s press break. We stayed strong, but in the end, we just couldn’t hold on to the ball. And we couldn’t capitalize on their turnovers, like they did on ours.”

Gilman made 23 of 50 shots overall from the field (46%), including a solid 20 of 41 from two-point range. The Pirates got a big night from junior Emma Grunseth, who poured in 20 points on seven-of-12 shooting, including two of three from long range. She added eight rebounds, five assists and three steals.

Sophomore Tatum Weir notched her third straight double-double with 12 points and 10 boards. She added five assists and four blocked shots.

Gilman had early leads of 10-6 and 19-16. The teams then traded baskets for a couple of minutes before the Hornets started to break the game open with a pair of 3-pointers from Lexi Underwood, one each from Suckow and Trista Meyer and outstanding free throw shooting. Colby made 11 of 14 free throws in the half and led 49-34 at the break.

Grunseth scored 10 of her points in the half, Weir added eight, Kya Dietzler had three inside scores and Madisyn James had five points, including a triple.

Peavey had just four points at the half, but she went off for 17 in the second half, including three treys. She led Colby to a 35-23 scoring advantage in the half as the Hornets weren’t seriously threatened in the half and improved to 5-1 in conference play and 7-2 overall.

Hannah Vick scored nine points for the Pirates and added two rebounds and two assists. Dietzler finished with eight points, four rebounds and three assists. James added six points and freshman Ava Warner scored her first varsity basket. Katelynn Schmitt had three rebounds and three assists.

“Overall, the girls really played hard,” coach Weir said. “I can’t take anything away from them on their hustle. They left it all on the court.”

Gilman fell to 1-3 in league play and overall. The Pirates continue a tough stretch in their schedule by traveling to league-leading Neillsville Friday at 7:15 p.m. and then hosting a rematch with Colby on Monday at 6 p.m. Spencer and Greenwood are scheduled to visit Gilman Jan. 14 and 15 for 6 p.m. and 5:45 p.m. starts.