The Gilman City Lady Hawks clinched their third straight Gilman City Tournament title Saturday night with a dominating 76-46 win over their rivals, the Tri-County Lady Mustangs. The Gilman City boys also played for a title, but had to settle for second after a 78-57 loss to Ridgeway. The Tri-County boys were also in action Friday night, losing the consolation game to Stet, 50-36.
This website brought to you in part by the following sponsor:
Girls Championship
For the third consecutive year, the Gilman City Lady Hawks and Tri-County Lady Mustangs squared off in the Gilman City Tournament finals and, for the third consecutive year, the Lady Hawks took the title. Gilman City took their eighth straight win over the Lady Mustangs with an impressive 30-point win.
“This was a very emotional game with our rivals and a very impressive win for our Lady Hawks,” Gilman City Head Coach Tina Holt said. “I was very impressed with the way we played solid defense and held our composure.”
The Lady Hawks jumped out to a 14-9 lead in the first quarter, but foul trouble began to plague Gilman. Freshman Taylor Whitney picked up three fouls in the first quarter and Kyla Payne, Gilman’s strongest post-player, would pick up her fourth foul in the second quarter and sit until the middle of the fourth quarter. The Lady Mustangs were in foul trouble as well with Bailey Huston and Hannah Sweet getting an extended seat on the bench due to fouls.
With the post-players out of the game, it turned into a guard-minded match-up and Gilman City point guard Monica Wilson took advantage. In the second quarter, Wilson put up 12 points to help the Lady Hawks hold onto their lead. At halftime, Gilman had pushed their advantage to 31-20.
In the third quarter, Gilman City’s Abbie Herrold set some solid screens, allowing Wilson to get open looks for three. Wilson delivered, hitting four threes in the quarter. By the fourth quarter, Gilman City had turned the game into a rout. Frustration boiled over for the Lady Mustangs, leading to two intentional fouls which were cheered by Tri-County fans. Wilson would go on to hit eight free throws in the final frame as the Lady Hawks took the victory and the first-place title.
Wilson finished the night with a career-high 45 points, a new Gilman City girls scoring record, and seven assists. Wilson also set a career-high in three-pointers made as she converted eight-of-11 attempts from beyond the arc. Herrold also had a strong night, scoring 13 points while pulling down a team-high nine rebounds.
Tri-County had three players hit double figures in Taryn Dustman, Laurie Eads and Huston, all of whom had 10 points on the night.
The win vaulted the Lady Hawks to 13-1 on the season, while the Lady Mustangs dropped to 11-4 with the loss.
Boys Championship
The Gilman City boys ran across a strong team in Ridgeway on a night when the Owls seemingly could not miss. Ridgeway hit 10 threes in the contest as they took the title.
Ridgeway came out of the gates quickly, hitting four of their 10 threes in the first quarter. The Hawks were down 23-16 after the first quarter. The second period saw the Owls hit four more three-pointers, extending their advantage over the Hawks to 45-30 at halftime.
Gilman City battled back in the second half. The Hawks cut the lead down and, by mid-third quarter, had it cut to 10 points. Going into the fourth quarter, Ridgeway still held a 59-46 edge. Gilman cut the lead down to 10 points two more times in the fourth quarter, but could never get any closer as they took the loss.
Chris Hulett led the way for the Hawks with 13 points. Bryant Elder also hit double digits, scoring 10 points. Blake Johnson added nine points to aid the Hawks’ effort. Nine different players scored on the night for Gilman City.
The loss dropped the Hawks’ record to 8-7 on the season.
Boys Consolation
The Tri-County boys could not upset a strong Stet team in the Gilman City Tournament consolation game as they fell, 50-36.
Tri-County fell behind in a very defensive first quarter and trailed 7-4 heading into the second. Stet’s offense took off in the second quarter, putting up 17 points, The Mustangs could not keep pace, putting up only seven points and trailed at the break, 24-11.
The Mustangs held even with the Cardinals in the second half, but could not close the gap built in the first half as they took the loss.
Beau Wells led the way for the Mustangs with a game-high 15 points.
The Mustangs fell to 4-11 on the season with the loss.
Both Tri-County squads will return to action Tuesday night when they host Bosworth in Jamesport for a pair of non-conference games. Tip off is set for 6:30 p.m.
The Gilman City teams also return to action on Tuesday night. The Hawks and Lady Hawks will travel to Galt to face Grundy R-5 in a pair of HDC Conference match-ups. Tip off is set for 6 p.m.