GILMAN BOYS BASKETBALL - Colby cruises behind early shooting blitz; Pirates lose three
GILMAN BOYS BASKETBALL
MATT KRUEGER
REPORTER
The Colby Hornets hit Gilman with an unreal shooting display in the first 10 minutes of Tuesday’s Eastern Cloverelt Conference boys basketball contest, drilling 10 3-point shots to build a stunningly-quick 48-8 lead en route to a 76-32 win over the visiting Pirates.
After an opening miss, the Hornets hit five straight 3-point attempts to go up 12-0 and then 17-2 with Joseph Streveler and Adrian Lopez each hitting two of those early triples. Streveler hit another to make it 20-2 and finished with four first-half 3s, 16 points in the half and 18 for the game.
Lopez also hit four first-half 3s and scored all 16 of his points in the half, which ended with Colby leading 59-20. They were Colby’s only two double-digit scorers as the Hornets spread the rest of their 42 points amongst eight other players. Colby finished 10 for 17 from behind the arc (58.8%) and shot 60.9% from the field overall (28 of 46).
Being knocked out early, the game turned into an opportunity to keep working and growing for the Pirates, who fell to 0-2 in the conference and 1-5 overall. Colby’s 2-3 zone defense made things tough on Gilman early, but the Pirates did find some scoring opportunities as the game progressed.
Junior forward Brayden Olynick had a solid outing, leading the team with eight points, three rebounds and two steals. He converted two three-point plays, one in each half. Caleb Marion scored six points and grabbed three rebounds. Beau Pockat had five points, including Gilman’s lone 3-pointer, three assists and two rebounds.
Dalton Wisocky banked in a short shot at the halftime buzzer and grabbed four rebounds. Tony Syryczuk got a steal and sank a subsequent pull-up jumper in the first half. Joey Syryczuk hit one shot and led Gilman with five rebounds, plus he had two steals. Logan Halida hit a first-half jumper, Adam Draeger got his first bucket of the year and added a rebound and an assist and Trevor Vick made a late free throw.
Colby (2-0, 2-3) scored 28 points off 24 Gilman turnovers. Colby wound up with 24 turnovers as well while substituting freely over the last 24 minutes or so. Colby had a 33-27 overall edge in rebounding. The Pirates made just five of 21 free throws and shot 26% from the field overall (13 of 50).
The Pirates certainly have a shot to get into the conference win column for the first time since the 2019-20 season Friday when they host Greenwood (0-2, 0-4) at 7:15 p.m. The Indians are off to a tough start having lost their two conference games by 50-plus points to Neillsville and Owen-Withee. The Pirates will be at Neillsville on Dec. 21.
Lincoln 65, Gilman 26
The Pirates traveled to Alma Center Lincoln on Friday night for a non-conference matchup with the Hornets, who took control early and beating the Pirates 65-26.
Turnovers were an issue for the Pirates as they had a total of 24 on the night. The Hornets were able to convert many of those turnovers to points and took a 31-10 lead at halftime.
Alma Center Lincoln kept the pressure on in the second half, outscoring Gilman 34-16 to improve to 5-1 overall.
The Hornets were led in scoring by Jace Paul who had 14 points and Ben Ross with 13.
The Pirates were led in scoring by Dalton Wisocky who had seven points. Halida had six points, Marion scored four, Sawyer Winger and Pockat each hit a 3-pointer, Tony Syryczuk had a hoop and Olynick added a free throw. Wisocky and Olynick led the team in rebounding with three rebounds apiece. Olynick had two assists.
O-W 49, Gilman 26
Gilman hosted Owen-Withee Thursday and the Blackhawks’ three-quarter court trap defense was too much for the Pirates in Owen-Withee’s 49-26 win.
The game started slowly for both teams. Over four minutes into the game, with the game still scoreless, Tony Syryczuk made a nice cross-court pass to Caleb Marion on the low block. Marion made the layup and was fouled on the play. He did miss the free throw attempt. Owen-Withee answered right back as Jack Wendler corralled a rebound, made the short putback and was fouled. He did make the free throw and Owen-Withee took the lead.
After a Gilman timeout, Halida hit a mid-range jumper from the elbow to regain the lead for the Pirates. Marion added another point on a banked free throw to extend the lead to 5-3.
The lead was short lived as Owen-Withee’s Quinn Hatlestad hit a deep 3 to take the lead 6-5. The Blackhawks then picked up the defensive pressure and went on a 13-0 run in the middle of the first half.
The Pirates ended the run when Joey Syryczuk had the ball in the high post and found a cutting Wisocky for an easy layup. The Blackhawks would then go on a 7-2 run over the final six minutes of the half to lead at halftime 23-9.
The second half started much better offensively for the Pirates as they were able to score the first four points of the half. Joey Syryczuk grabbed a loose ball under the basket and muscled his way for a two-point basket.
After a Wisocky block on the defensive end, Halida hit a step-back jumper to cut the Blackhawks’ lead to 23-13.
That was as close as the Pirates would get. Owen-Withee went on a 13-2 run to extend their lead to 36-15.
Off of a made Owen Withee free throw, the Pirates found some offense when Halida made a full-court pass to Beau Pockat for an easy layup, but the Blackhawks kept control the rest of the way.
The Pirates were led in scoring by Halida who had eight points. Marion added five points and Wisocky scored four points. Tony Syryczuk hit a late 3 for his only points of the night. Winger, Joey Syryczuk and Pockat all added two points.
The Blackhawks had balanced scoring with four players scoring eight points or more. Wendler led the way with 11 points.
Tony Syryczuk and Wisocky led Gilman in rebounds with six apiece.Tony Syryczuk also added three assists.
A big difference in the game was that Gilman had 22 turnovers, while Owen-Withee had just six.
