Avery Gregg fueled Gilman City’s first home tournament title since 2013, setting a career high in points with 28 against East Harrison, a career high in assists against Pattonsburg with 11, and a career high in rebounds against Princeton with 11 in the championship game.
The Hawks’ 72-20 win over East Harrison turned out to be much easier than expected. Last year, the Bobcats had played Gilman City tough and only lost 55-45, and they were 10-12. They had every reason to expect to build on that with many of their players back from last year. Their winning total was not where they wanted it to be, but they were making strides in the South Harrison Tournament, beating Braymer and playing highly-touted Mercer to within single digits. The scoreboard didn’t show it against North Harrison, but they threw multiple looks at them, made them work for every point, and were highly physical. But between then and Tuesday, January 27th, their coach and assistant both abruptly turned in their resignations, meaning that by the Gilman City game, they were back to square one with a different coach.
Khloey Sperry got a putback for the Hawks and Tenley Griffith followed with one of her baseline shots to put Gilman City up 4-0. Shayla Vandiver countered with a transition shot, but the rest of the game belonged to the Hawks. Avery Gregg, who seems to save her best games for the Bobcats, had a career high 25 last year to bail the Hawks out, and set a new one Tuesday with 28 more against them. She started out with a 3-pointer and then Alli Burke aired one out to her to make it 9-2. Avery Gregg got a steal and fed Tenley Griffith and then added her second triple of the night. Khloey Sperry aired one out to her to make it 16-2. A monster stuff by Khloey Sperry set up Hailey McClure, who fed Avery for two, and Alli Burke got a steal and fed her to make it 20-2.
Taylor Whitaker hit two free throws to stop the bleeding, but Paisley Taggart put Gilman City up 22-4 after one.
Tenley Griffith got a steal and Alli Burke got a steal and aired it out to Avery Gregg for two to start the second. Tenley got another tip, and Hailey McClure stole the ball and fed Avery Gregg for two more to make it 26-4. Sloane McClain’s free throw cut it to 26-5, but consecutive steals by Avery Gregg and Khloey Sperry kept the run going and made it 30-5.
East Harrison traded blow for blow with the Hawks during the next stretch as Phoenyx Ratliff and Khloe Ponjavic hit triples and Taylor Whitaker threw up a prayer to make it 39-13 at the 2:16 mark. But then Khloey Sperry scored from inside, Avery Gregg dove on the floor to get a steal and fed Paisley Taggart for two, Khloey Sperry blocked a shot and Paisley Taggart grabbed the board and fed Avery Gregg for two, Tenley Griffith threw a bullet pass into Khloey Sperry; despite three defenders draped all over her, Khloey ripped it away and finished. Alli Burke aired it out to Paisley Taggart to make it 49-13 at the half.
Avery Gregg was up to 23 points by that point, but Khloey Sperry, who frequently finds her second wind in the second half, came alive, scoring the Hawks’ first nine points of the third quarter. East Harrison got to the rim and chipped away at the free throw line, with Taylor Whitaker and Phoenyx Ratliff converting there, but Sperry and the Hawks led 58-17. Hailey McClure came alive with three straight, and then Alli Burke got on the board late with six points as the Hawks led 68-17 after three.
Avery Gregg had 28, Khloey Sperry 19, Tenley Griffith 8, Paisley Taggart and Alli Burke 6, and Hailey McClure 5.
Khloey Sperry had 6 blocks. Tenley Griffith and Avery Gregg had 1.
Khloey Sperry had 16 boards. Tenley Griffith had 9, Alli Burke 8, Hailey McClure 7, Paisley Taggart 3, Eliza Alldredge 2, and Avery Gregg and Pyper Taggart 1.
Avery Gregg had 9 assists. Khloey Sperry and Alli Burke had 5, Hailey McClure and Paisley Taggart 3, and Tenley Griffith 1.
Tenley Griffith had 12 tips. Hailey McClure had 5, Alli Burke, Pyper Taggart, and Paisley Taggart 2, and Khloey Sperry 1.
Avery Gregg had 7 steals. Alli Burke had 5 and Tenley Griffith, Hailey McClure, and Khloey Sperry 4.
That set up a semifinal match with Pattonsburg, who had avenged an earlier loss to Union Star with a late scoring burst in the fourth quarter behind 26 points from Addi Iddings and 19 boards from Jayden Goble. But Pattonsburg showed little resemblance to that team as Gilman City held Iddings to 3 and scored the first 21 points, pulling away to a 52-23 win Thursday.
Goble did all she could to keep Pattonsburg in the game, grabbing 16 rebounds; she was joined by Cheyenne Miller with 12. The Panthers edged out the Hawks in rebounding 47-46, but the turnover battle was costly for them, with Pattonsburg surrendering the ball 26 times to 12 for the Hawks. Gilman City moved the ball around much better, getting 18 assists to 9 for the Panthers.
Khloey Sperry, who had a big second half for the Hawks, had 18. Avery Gregg had 10, Tenley Griffith and Alli Burke 8, Paisley Taggart 5, and Hailey McClure 3.
The Hawks had a block party with Khloey Sperry getting 5, Alli Burke 3, and Pyper Taggart 2.
Khloey Sperry had 12 boards. Hailey McClure also had 12; that was a career high. Tenley Griffith had 9, Avery Gregg and Alli Burke 5, Paisley Taggart 2, and Pyper Taggart 1.
Avery Gregg had a career high 11 assists. Khloey Sperry, Tenley Griffith, and Hailey McClure had 2 and Paisley Taggart 1.
Tenley Griffith had 11 tips. Hailey McClure and Khloey Sperry 6 each, Avery Gregg 4, Paisley Taggart 3, and Eliza Alldredge and Pyper Taggart 1.
For the second time this year, Avery Gregg came tantalizingly close to a triple double, getting 8 steals. Tenley Griffith had 6, Khloey Sperry 4, Paisley Taggart 2, and Alli Burke and Hailey McClure 1.
Princeton had a much tougher road to the finals, struggling to put away North Nodaway and North Harrison. But they were up to the challenge once they got there, as the game turned into a scoreless standoff for the first 4+ minutes. Finally, Avery Gregg shot a 3-pointer over an Avery Gregg screen and scored, opening the floodgates. Gregg scored off a Tenley Griffith steal, Khloey Sperry scored from inside, Avery Gregg hit a free throw and then drove and scored off a pass from Hailey McClure. Alli Burke’s free throw put Gilman City up 11-0 early in the second.
But Princeton did not collapse like Pattonsburg or East Harrison did. With Gilman City pressing and turning the ball over trying to land the knockout blow, they chipped away, getting it down to 11-4 by the 4:11 mark of the second quarter. Things were threatening to get interesting as Khloey Sperry picked up her third foul and Gracie Mitchell’s triple cut Princeton’s deficit to 15-9. But Gilman City, without their best rebounder, rallied in her absence as Hailey McClure hit a pair of free throws and Alli Burke hit an NBA triple from the top of the key to make it 20-9 at the half.
Mikaylee Henke drove and banked one home and Anniston Power grabbed a putback to make it 20-13, but with Sperry back, the Hawks rebuilt the lead as Khloey got a putback and Alli Burke added a shot from the high post to make it 24-13.
Tenley Griffith picked up her fourth foul, and Mikaylee Henke hit a 3-pointer to cut it to 24-16, but Sperry took over the rest of the quarter, scoring the last seven points of the period to give Gilman City its biggest lead up to that point at 31-18.
Down the stretch, Khloey Sperry hit two free throws, Paisley Taggart hit one, Hailey McClure took a charge on defense, and Alli Burke got a third-chance putback as the Hawks led by as much as 36-20.
With their backs to the wall, Mary Jane Renfro, who had made a couple of tough shots earlier in the game, suddenly starting shooting Princeton back into the game and Gracie Mitchell’s putback cut it to 36-26 with two minutes left. But Mitchell and Mikaylee Henke both fouled out trying to get the ball back, Gilman City ran out the clock, and Avery Gregg hit a free throw at the end to seal the 37-26 win.
Khloey Sperry had 14 points for the Hawks. Avery Gregg had 13, Alli Burke 8, and Hailey McClure 2.
The rebounding was a key to the win, as Gilman City was able to keep Princeton off the boards for most of the game. Princeton grabbed 22 offensive boards against North Nodaway, but only got seven against the Hawks. With Sperry battling foul trouble, everybody else had to step up, and Avery Gregg had a career high 11 boards. Khloey Sperry had 8, Tenley Griffith, Hailey McClure, and Alli Burke had 6, and Paisley Taggart 2.
Alli Burke and Avery Gregg had 3 assists. Tenley Griffith, Khloey Sperry, Hailey McClure, and Paisley Taggart had 1.
Hailey McClure had 7 tips. Avery Gregg had 5, Paisley Taggart 5 (four in the fourth quarter), Khloey Sperry and Tenley Griffith 2, and Alli Burke 1.
Tenley Griffith got four steals in the first quarter to help Gilman City build up its lead. Avery Gregg had 4, Khloey Sperry and Hailey McClure 3, and Alli Burke and Paisley Taggart 1 each.
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