Thursday, May 9, 2024
The Gatesville boys and girls basketball teams are in the midst of a much-needed break after each squad stumbled in their final games before the holidays.
The Lady Hornets (7-11) fell 47-41 in a road contest at Mineral Wells on Dec. 15, while the Hornets dropped a Monday matinee to Llano 50-43 on Dec. 18. The boys team beat McGregor 55-52 on Dec. 15 and head into the break with a 15-3 record.
Against Mineral Wells, the Lady Hornets found themselves in an 18-9 hole after the first quarter, then battled back in the second. They outscored the Lady Rams 8-2 in the frame on the backs of their standout post players, Taylor Coward and Emma Pollard.
Coward scored six points in the period, while Pollard also had a bucket. Gatesville outrebounded Mineral Wells 10-1 in the quarter and 26-17 for the game.
In the fourth quarter, the sharp shooting of Taylor Sanderson (two three-pointers) and Yasmin Sanders (four points) kept Gatesville in the game, but the Lady Hornets came up just short.
Pollard led Gatesville in scoring with 15 and had nine rebounds. Coward added 13 points on 4-of-5 shooting. She also had nine rebounds. Sanderson scored nine on a trio of three pointers with Sanders adding four points. Sanderson has hit 12 of her team - leading 18 three-pointers in the Lady Hornets last six games.
In their loss to Llano, the Gatesville boys could not overcome a slow start to the game and to the second half as they scored just six points in both the first and third quarters.
The hot hand of guard Charlie Winkler kept Gatesville in the game early as the sophomore sharpshooter buried three three-pointers in the first half. West Allman scored nine of his 14 points in the fourth quarter. Allman led the Hornets in scoring in the game with 14, while Winkler had 12. Amos Phillips had nine points, and Graceson Stewart grabbed eight rebounds.
In their win over McGregor, Gatesville started slow again but picked up the pace over the middle quarters offensively. The Hornets trailed 23-18 at the halftime break before outscoring the Bulldogs 37-31 in the second half.
The win was a dogfight against a much-improved McGregor team from one year ago. The Bulldogs outrebounded the Hornets 35-27 and outscored them 36-24 in the paint, but the Hornets got stops and buckets when they needed them.
Gatesville scored the first six points of the second half, and Amos Phillips capped the run with a layup to give the Hornets their first lead of the game at 24-23 with 6:06 to play in the third quarter.
In the fourth, the Bulldogs cut the Gatesville lead to 51-50, but Kase Cox knifed through the lane for a layup and a 53-50 lead. Following a McGregor layup, Phillips hit a pair of free throws for a 55-52 lead with six seconds left. From there, the Hornets forced a desperation three-pointer that missed and secured the Gatesville win.
Allman led a balanced offensive attack with 16 points and eight rebounds, while Rayshon Smith had 13 points and five assists. Cox had ten points and seven rebounds, while Phillips had eight points and seven rebounds. Scout Hall added five points.
Both squads will return from the break and head right into tournament action. The Gatesville girls will be in Troy beginning on Dec. 27, while the boys squad heads to Brownwood the same day.
