The Mount Gilead girls’ basketball team has started the season off right, winning four of their first five games including back-to-back wins over KMAC foes Danville and Northmor last week.
On Dec. 6 Mount Gilead squeaked by with a 53-30 win over Danville, led by a 17-point effort for Danielle Pohlkotte.
Mount Gilead started the game on a 6-2 run, and Aubrey Thomas showed right from the start that the defensive intensity was up with a blocked shot near the rim. Ava Baker stepped in front of a pass for a steal right after. Up 12-9, Pohlkotte hit a three from the corner to make it a six point lead for the Indians. They ended up making the next four points of the quarter as well, going up 19-9 after one.
The Blue Devils responded by outscoring Mount Gilead 10-8 in the second quarter, making it a 27-19 game at the half. The Indians came out in the second half outscoring the Blue Devils 14-12, and while Danville mounted a comeback in the fourth quarter, the Indians were able to hold on for a tight victory. In the fourth quarter Danville’s Broegan Staats hit a three off an inbound assist by Proper to tie things up 50-50, but Mount Gilead was able to put a three spot on the board and hold on for the win.
This was the first conference matchup of the season for both squads, with Mount Gilead taking the win.
Mount Gilead struggled from three at 17% but hit 51% of their total shots. They also had a 36-22 rebounding advantage, and led 12-7 in assists. Danville’s defense was able to get 18 steals and the Indians had seven steals as a team. Mount Gilead led 4-1 in blocks. Danville relied on excellent free throw shooting, going 10-for-11 from the foul line.
Pohkotte was 6-for-10 shooting including 1-for-2 from deep. She also was 4-for-6 from the free throw line. Pohkotte added two rebounds, two assists and a steal in the win. Greer Simpson had a double-double in the game, with the senior putting up 10 points, 10 rebounds, two assists and two steals. Faith White scored 11 points and gathered six boards. She also had three steals and two assists. Aubrey Thomas was solid on the glass and finding scorers with six rebounds and six assists to go with four points. She was also big on defense with two steals and a block. Kendall Neal had two points, two boards and three assists. Maddie Damron capped off the scoring with two points, and also had two rebounds in the game.
Northmor came to town on Dec. 9 and it was another good matchup of KMAC rivals, with the Indians taking a 50-40 win.
The Indians jumped out to an 11-6 lead after one quarter, but Northmor responded with a 13-10 second quarter and it was 21-19 Mount Gilead lead at half. The Indians outscored Northmor 11-9 in the third and finished strong with an 18-12 advantage in the fourth.
Baker was the top scorer with 14 points to go with four rebounds, two assists and a steal. Pohlkotte scored 13 points, going 3-for-5 from three, and had three assists, a steal and a rebound. White also hit double figured with 10 points, and had four rebounds, four steals and two assists. Thomas hit the boards hard with nine rebounds. She also had three steals, two points and an assist. Kendall Neal had seven points, an assist, a steal and a rebound while Simpson had four points and three boards.
Through the first five games Pohlkotte is the scoring leader at 11.2 points per game over 26 minutes a night. Faith White averaged 31 minutes a game, and has put up 8.6 ppg, 5.6 boards, two steals and four assists. Thomas has 2.2 steals per game, 0.4 blocks per game and 6.2 boards to lead the team.
Baker is averaging nine points, 5.2 rebounds and 3.2 assists.In week two of the season, Baker tied the school record with six threes to help secure a tight 44-42 win against Utica.
"The start for the girls has been a challenging one," said Assistant Coach Danielle Bault. "One game into the season we lost a very important community member who’s daughter also is a big part of our team, and it’s been a struggle mentally and emotionally for the girls. They have been doing a great job, though, of being there for each other and supporting each other through this. This support definitely can be seen on the court as well."
Bault praised the core of captains (White, Simpson and Thomas), saying they hold themselves and their teammates accountable. She said losing Madilyn Elson from last season has led to some growing pains, but Bault added that this is a team that truly enjoys playing alongside each other.
"These girls truly enjoy each other and play unselfish basketball," Bault said. "This is evident that we have 5 girls averaging more than 7 pts. This is a benefit to us as it makes matching up with us difficult. Right now our biggest struggle is taking care of the basketball. We have some girls who are being asked to handle the ball."
