PUTNAM COUNTY
The Gatewood girls basketball team has had a rough go of it lately.
The Lady Gators started region play two weeks ago and dropped consecutive games to Piedmont and Brentwood. They also suffered back-to-back region losses last week, making it four straight.
Gatewood faced Westminster Christian Academy in Watkinsville last Tuesday. The Lady Lions fell behind early but were able to overcome and defeat the Lady Gators, 47-38. Three days later at home, Piedmont put Gatewood away with a lopsided 59-32 score.
“I thought we came up short in the second half,” Gatewood head coach Jordan Walters said of the WCA loss. “Honestly, I feel like we gave out energy-wise and didn’t finish strong.”
Senior Anna Williamson led in scoring with 14 points, six rebounds and four steals, but it wasn’t enough, as Westminster played well as a team to secure the game.
Riley Roberts, a starter for the Lady Gators, got into foul trouble early and had to sit for most of the first half. The Lady Lions were able to take advantage of her absence.
“That didn’t help with scoring,” Walters said. “But we played and fought hard. I mean, they were right there, but we just weren’t able to get over that hump and win.”
Gatewood faced Piedmont for a home rematch on Friday and it wasn’t pretty. The Lady Cougars left Eatonton not only with the win, but the season sweep, too, that night.
Piedmont was up 15-2 at the end of the first half and never looked back. The Lady Cougars were able to hold the Lady Gators to single-digit scoring in three of the four quarters.
Gatewood’s only offensive surge came in the second quarter when it outscored Piedmont 18-15, but the Lady Gators still trailed 30-20 heading into the halftime break.
“The first quarter was rough. We got down 11-1 when I called the first timeout,” Walters said. “In the second quarter, we came back and were (at one point) in a three-point ball game with them. After halftime, I thought we couldn’t get anything going.”
Sophomore Sarah Mansfield led Gatewood in scoring with 18 points in the loss. Williamson also was productive, leading in rebounds, steals and assists on Friday night.
“Two hard-fought games, though. They were tough losses, but as I said before, I think our region is a dogfight,” Walters said. “You have other regions with teams that can get one or two easy wins, but we don’t have that. We’ve got four teams that can really go and make some in the district (tournament) and even the state (playoffs).”
Gatewood (14-8, 0-4 GIAA Region 2-AA) has been plagued by slow starts in most of its losses. For instance, the Lady Gators got down 25-1 in their Jan. 27 matchup against Brentwood.
Walters knows her team needs to fix that moving forward if they want to accomplish their goals.
“It’s extremely frustrating, especially because there are moments that I see where we do what they’re capable of. However, I don’t think we’ve put together a full game, a game in which we show up and play all four quarters, except maybe one game after Christmas,” she said. “But I think we tend to come out and get down. I think the girls are ready, but they might get intimidated when the game starts.”
The Lady Gators will have region rematches against both Westminster (Tuesday) and Brentwood this Friday in Sandersville. The hope is to get a top-half seed heading into next week’s district tournament.