Categories: GHS BasketballTeam FYN Sports

Bobcats Earn 51-40 Region Win Over Ridgeland

The Gilmer High School Bobcats started off the 2016 portion of their schedule on the right foot, defeating the Ridgeland Panthers 51-40 for a region victory last night at GHS.

Bobcat Samuel McArthur navigates through the Ridgeland press last night. He scored a team-leading 11 points in Gilmer’s 51-40 victory. (Photo by: Kevin Hensley)

Both the Bobcats and the Panthers were slow out of the gate, resulting in a 7-6 Ridgeland advantage after one quarter. The offense picked up on both sides in the second half and it appeared that Ridgeland was going to take a 18-17 lead into the locker room. However, Gilmer’s Riley Hice had other plans, sinking a three at the buzzer to put the Bobcats ahead 20-18 at the break.

GHS held its lead throughout the third quarter, building to a 34-28 advantage. The competitive drive of the Panthers tapered off late in the contest, with the Bobcats seizing the opportunity and pounced to seal the 51-40 victory.

“The biggest thing is that we gave up too many offensive boards in the first half,” GHS head coach Jordan Hice said after the win. “We weren’t boxing out. It seemed like every time we went to the free-throw line, we would make one and miss one. Those aspects are something we’ve got to fix. But we played hard up and down, got the lead and kept it. We did a great job of breaking their press in the fourth quarter, got a lot of layups off of that. Defensively, we forced them to take some bad shots and came down offensively, found the shots and made them.”

The victory improves the Bobcats to 4-9 this season. Friday, Gilmer heads to Lafayette to face the Ramblers. Saturday, the Cats travel to Dalton.

STATS:

Samuel McArthur: 11 points, six rebounds, one steal, 2/4 on free throws.

Chandler Cantrell: Eight points, four rebounds, 1/4 on free throws.

Jake Ray: Eight points, eight rebounds.

Cole Edmondson: Eight points, three rebounds, two steals, 6/7 on free throws.

Riley Hice: Six points, four rebounds, one steal, 1/2 on free throws.

Kanyon Smith: Four points, two rebounds

Austin Watkins: Three points, three rebounds, two steals.

J.T. Bosley: Two points, four rebounds.

Hunter Johnson: One point, one rebound, 1/2 on free throws.

Isaac Hensley: One rebound.