Lady Cats Take 1st Round Win

Monday, February 4th was the opening game for the Lady Cats as they entered the Region 6-4A tournament at Southeast Whitfield High School.  Gilmer, entering the post-season as the #3 seed took the floor against the 6th seeded Lady Raiders of Southeast.

With the opening tipoff, there were no doubts who wanted to get the victory more as the Lady Cats began to set a precedence on how they were going to play.  The immaculate defense held their opponents to a mere 6 points in the opening period and a total of 36 total on the night.  On the offensive side of the ball, it seemed as if the Lady Cats couldn’t miss.  as the first period came to a close, the Gilmer Girls had rolled out 22 points and a commanding  16 point margin over the Lady Raiders.  Mallory Kiser had 8 points while Bailey Teague (7) and Emma Callihan(5) followed close behind in the scoring in the first.  As the second period began, the Lady Cat defense continued the pressure allowing only 8 points while offensively  things slowed down for the Lady Cats.  Gilmer had 6 points as a team heading into the intermission with a 28-14 lead over Southeast.  The second-period scoring was from Bailey Teague, Jalynn Ledford, and Elly Callihan with two points each.

The Gilmer dominance continued in the second half with the Lady Cats turning up the heat.  The Lady Raiders found a small burst of energy and rhythm in the period to put up 15  while the Lady Cats scored 12.  Despite being outscored in the opening period of the second half, Gilmer continued to hold a sizable lead at 40-29 to start the final period of play. The fourth had Gilmer step up once again and seal the deal with a 60-36 win and etch their name in the round two brackets. Four Lady Cat players were in double-digit points for the night.  Emma Callihan led all scoring for Gilmer with 13 followed closely by Bailey Teague with 12, Mallory Kiser with 10, and Elly Callihan with 1o.  This win moved the Gilmer Lady Cats into round two where they would face the Heritage Lady  Generals.

Heritage handed the Lady Cats a loss on Thursday and forced a drop to the consolation game on Friday to decide 3rd or 4th place finish.  The Game was scheduled for Friday at 4 pm against the Pickens Nettes.