By Rich Stevens
The Gilmer County girls basketball team hung around long enough to shake the fear of playing the seven-time defending Class A state champions.
Showing a renewed bounce in their step, the Titans rallied from a nine-point third-quarter deficit to defeat St. Joseph 42-41, ending the Irish’s dominance and giving a public school its first small-school title since Williamstown won it in 2003.
St. Joseph answered its first deficit early in the fourth quarter with a 5-0 run to regain the lead and led by five with 5:59 remaining. However, the Titans (25-2) went on a 6-0 run over the next 5:56, taking a two-point lead on an Emile Jedamski 3-pointer. Gilmer’s Mackenzie Huff and St. Joseph’s Tyesha Taylor traded free throws and Alexis Hall missed a 3-pointer just before the clock expired.
“I don’t know what the right words are,” said Gilmer coach Amy Chapman, who played on the 2001 Titans team that lost to Mercer Christian in the championship game. “I’m really happy for these girls. They never stopped believing, which was important in the second half.”
The Irish (22-3) limited the impact of 6-foot-3 junior Riley Fitzwater, the focal point of Gilmer’s offense who set the single-game blocks record in the quarterfinals and the rebound mark in the semis.
She finished with 11 points, 11 rebounds and seven blocked shots after a first half with just four points, two rebounds and two blocks.
“I might been a little intimidated by her size, but knew I had a height advantage and when I knew she wasn’t going to block my shot, I felt more comfortable,” Fitzwater said of St. Joseph’s Tyesha Taylor.
Fitzwater had nine rebounds in the second half, establishing herself in the paint. Guard Kylie Shuff had 13 of her points in the second half as Gilmer overcame some jitters.
“I think the pressure got to them (Gilmer),” Chapman said. “We didn’t get our heads up at times (against the press), but we made those adjustments at halftime the kids executed and took care of the pressure. Our kids gained confidence in the second half.”
St. Joseph continued its reliance on the 3-pointer and it cost the Irish.
Six of the Irish’s 14 field goals were 3-pointers and 28 of its 59 overall attempts were from long range. St. Joseph’s also was outrebounded 40-34 as Gilmer saw four players – Fitzwater (11), Shuff (8), Carly Somerville (7) and Jedamski (6) and Huff (5) finish with at least five rebounds each.
“We struggled all week shooting the basketball,” St. Joseph coach Shannon Lewis said. “We went to Tyesha again tonight, but she had a bigtime defender on her and our young kids weren’t hitting their outside shots.”
The victory ended a 12-year stranglehold private schools had on public schools.
Chapman, who played against Mercer Christian in the 2001 championship during its run of four straight titles, wouldn’t address the issue.
However, Shuff did.
“We’ve (Gilmer) grown up together and played basketball together our whole life,”Shuff said. “To beat a team that hasn’t grown up together or played together feels pretty good.”
Taylor had 16 points to lead St. Joseph while Alexis Hall had 11 points, 11 rebounds and six of the Irish’s 15 steals.
