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GILMAN GIRLS BASKETBALL - Pirates shoot past Dons 63-60; team on 3-game winning streak

Pirates shoot past Dons 63-60; team on 3-game winning streak
Gilman’s Averie Olynick reaches for a potential rebound as does Columbus Catholic’s Gracie Wilczek during the first half of Tuesday’s 63-60 win for the Pirates. Claire Drier is also ready for the ball to potentially bounce to her. MANDEE ELLIS/THE STAR NEWS
Pirates shoot past Dons 63-60; team on 3-game winning streak
Gilman’s Averie Olynick reaches for a potential rebound as does Columbus Catholic’s Gracie Wilczek during the first half of Tuesday’s 63-60 win for the Pirates. Claire Drier is also ready for the ball to potentially bounce to her. MANDEE ELLIS/THE STAR NEWS

GILMAN GIRLS BASKETBALL

The Gilman Pirates rode a season-high 11 3-point makes to a 63-60 home win over Columbus Catholic Tuesday that puts them in a third-place tie with Greenwood halfway through the Eastern Cloverbelt Conference girls basketball season.

The Lady Dons and Pirates came into Tuesday’s contest with identical 3-3 conference and 7-5 overall records. The Pirates took control with a big second-half run and then held on as Columbus Catholic made a late charge that ran out of time.

“We played hard and fast all the way through,” Gilman head coach Tammy Weir said. “The 3’s were falling for both teams. It was a battle, but the girls stayed strong both mentally and physically and we came out on top. I am so proud of how hard they played.”

Senior Claire Drier led the Pirates with 14 points, seven rebounds, three assists and three steals, and senior Kayleigh James, despite some foul trouble, contributed 11 points, three assists, two rebounds and two steals.

One of the key stories for Gilman, though, was offensive contributions from other sources.

Junior Aubrey Steinbach nailed three 3-point baskets to score nine points, plus she added three rebounds and three assists. Her second 3 cut a four-point Columbus lead early in the second half to one at 37-36 and her second one capped Gilman’s big run and gave the Pirates their biggest lead at 55-41.

Freshman Averie Olynick dumped in a season-high eight points and hit both of her 3-point tries. Her second 3 followed a long bomb from Raygen Soper and put Gilman up 47-39 in that key stretch of the second half.

Addy Vick hit both of her 3-point tries and scored eight points, plus she had four rebounds. Reece Weir had eight points, six rebounds, four assists and three steals. Allie Olynick had two points, two assists, four rebounds and three of Gilman’s 15 steals.

“Our defense was great, rebounding was even between the two teams (33-29 Gilman), turnovers were even between the two teams (16 Columbus, 15 Gilman) and the scoring was right there with great percentages,” Tammy Weir said. “What a great evenly-matched game.”

Gilman was 23 of 56 overall from the field (41.1%), which included an excellent 11 of 25 from 3-point range. The Pirates hit just enough free throws, six of 11, to stay ahead late.

Columbus shaved the 14-point deficit to 61-55 on a Kate Casperson steal, but with 1:30 left, Reece Weir deflected a ball on the defensive end to Drier, who took off the other way and scored to put it away. The Dons only got within three when Casperson hit a 3-pointer at the buzzer. Casperson led Columbus, who also sank 11 3s on 29 attempts, with 26 points. Izzy Holz added 19.

Gilman starts the second half of conference play Friday by hosting Owen-Withee, who sits in second place at 6-1. The Pirates host Cornell Monday in nonconference play at 6 p.m. before traveling to Colby on Jan. 23.

Gilman 53, Spencer 32

The first 12 minutes Thursday weren’t real good, but everything after that was as Gilman turned an 11-point deficit into a 53-32 blowout win at Spencer in ECC play.

The Pirates didn’t record a field goal until Claire Drier’s steal and score with six minutes left in the first half, but they finished with some nice offensive balance as five girls had at least six points. The key, however, was the defense. A box-andone approach held 20-points-per-game scorer Autumn Davis to 10 points and the defense, as a whole, got more aggressive with its pressure as the game progressed.

A 23-0 run bridging the halves put Gilman in complete command.

“We shut down Autumn with our boxand-one defense and only let her score 10 points,” Tammy Weir said. “We wore them out and ran the court well the last seven minutes of the first half and then took control and ran a great offense and aggressive press and defense the second half.”

Davis’ rebound basket followed Drier’s first score and made it 15-4. However, she picked up her third foul at the 5:12 mark and sat out the remainder of the half. Gilman pounced on that opportunity.

James drilled a 3-pointer, Allie Olynick got a rebound basket, Reece Weir got a shot to drop and then Steinbach went to the floor to fight for a loose ball, got it to Weir who passed ahead to James for a layup to cut Spencer’s lead to 15-13.

Drier turned a rebound into a long assist to James to put Gilman ahead 16-15 and Drier’s steal led to a James basket off a Weir assist for an 18-15 halftime lead. The run continued with Steinbach dropping in a 3-ball to start the second half. Weir hit two free throws and then her steal led to a James bucket. Drier’s steal led to two more free throws for Weir, making it 27-15 before Davis finally ended the run with a steal and score.

Leading 31-21, Gilman delivered the knockout punch with a rebound basket from Olynick, a pull-up jumper from James and a 3-pointer from Steinbach as the trailer in transition. James also scored, making it 40-23 with 6:20 to go.

James led Gilman with 15 points. She had three steals and two rebounds. Weir missed a double-double by one rebound with 10 points and nine boards. She had five steals and five assists as well.

Steinbach had her biggest game thus far, scoring nine points, all in the second half. Olynick had seven points, 11 rebounds and two steals. Drier had six points, 10 rebounds, five steals and three assists. Norah Noonan added four points and two rebounds, two assists and two steals. Vick had a point and three boards. Averie Olynick had a point, two rebounds and two steals.

James was the primary defender on Davis, but Averie and Allie Olynick took their turns as well. Gilman’s defense had 19 steals and the Pirates had a huge 41-19 advantage in rebounding.

Gilman 59, Thorp 36

The short trip to winless Thorp on Jan. 7 gave the Pirates a chance to experiment and get everyone into the game in a 59-36 non-conference win.

Gilman got 23 points from James, seven others found the scoring column and the Pirates held significant statistical advantages in rebounds and turnovers while leading from start to finish. At the time, the Cardinals fell to 0-9.

“I really wanted to take that night to work on some things and get everyone in to see how we can work things through for the rest of the season,” Tammy Weir said. “The girls played well. We found some holes in our offenses and defenses and some new strengths to push forward on, especially on our press. So all in all, it was a great night.”

A 13-2 surge in the first half turned a 74 lead into a 20-6 edge for Gilman and an 11-0 run, capped by the first basket of the year for senior Patty Kloss, to end the half put the Pirates up 31-10. James hit two straight buckets for five points to start the second half. Six straight points by James gave Gilman its largest lead at 49-20.

Gilman had a 42-28 rebounding advantage led by Reece Weir’s 14 boards, nine of which came on the offensive end. She also had six assists and five steals to go with eight points. Allie Olynick had nine points and eight rebounds. Drier scored six points, grabbed three rebounds and had four steals as Thorp turned the ball over 29 times. Gilman had 18 turnovers.

Kloss finished with four points and two assists. Vick had four points and five boards. Steinbach hit a first-half 3-pointer and had three rebounds and two assists. Norah Noonan had two points and two rebounds. Averie Olynick added three rebounds, three rebounds and an assist.

Shaylie Zarza had a big second half for Thorp when she scored all 14 of her points.

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