MORGANTOWN — Gilmer County’s size and full-court press presented major problems for the Trinity Christian girls’ basketball team Friday morning as the Titans won game one of the Vision Homes Invitational 68-30 over the host Warriors.
Gilmer (3-0) used its full-court press to cause 16 Trinity (2-1) turnovers and stifle the Warriors in the middle quarters. The Titans outscored TCS 42-13 in the second and third quarters thanks to runs of 18-1 and 14-3.
“We spent all week working on it and I’ll take all the blame for it,” Trinity coach Mike Baldy said.
“We thought the best route to go was to inbound to someone other than Jenna (Barnett) and then go to Jenna through that person. We struggled to do that.”
Barnett, the team’s senior point guard, handled the ball far less than usual and finished with just 10 points on four field goals. Peyton Moore tied Barnett with 10 points.
Gilmer’s pair of 6-foot-4 twins, Ava and Blair Dobbins, were a force down low that the Warriors didn’t have an answer for. Ava Dobbins led the Titans with 17 points while Blair Dobbins added six. Guards Lena Frymer and Allie Ellyson each contributed a dozen.
The Warriors are right back at it Saturday, closing the Vision Homes Invitational against Grafton at 7:15 p.m.
“We were real thankful this game that we saw some adversity this early in the season,” Baldy said. “We don’t want to go through and beat everyone by 30, 40 points. We want some pushback and when we get pushback, we want to see how we react from that.”
Gilmer County 68, Trinity Christian 30
GC 11 20 22 15 — 68
TCS 8 7 6 9 — 30
GILMER COUNTY (3-0) — Frymer 5 0-0 12; Ellyson 3 4-6 12; Stausick 1 0-0 2; Frashure 1 2-4 5; A. Dobbins 7 3-4 17; Casteel 2 0-0 4; B. Dobbins 3 0-0 6; Stitt 4 0-0 8; Brannon 0 2-2 2; Smith 0 0-0 0.
TRINITY CHRISTIAN (2-1) — Barnett 4 2-2 10; Lynch 1 0-0 2; Moore 2 5-8 10; Conn 1 0-0 2; Hopkins 1 2-4 4; Deal 0 0-4 0; Fisher 0 0-0 0; Kurilko 1 0-0 2; Lohmann 0 0-0 0.
3-Pt. Goals — Gilmer County 5 (Frymer 2, Ellyson 2, Frashure 1). Trinity Christian 1 (Moore).
Preston 57, Frankfort 38
MORGANTOWN — Later Friday at Trinity, Preston High defeated Frankfort 57-38 at the Vision Homes Invitational. The Knights (2-1) recovered from a poor shooting performance Wednesday at Lauren Highlands (Pa.) to top the Falcons (0-1).
Ella White led Preston with 17 points while Bella Miller added 12. Brookelyn Klavuhn led Frankfort with 10.
Preston makes plays its home-opener today against Riverside at 4:30 p.m.
PHS 15 20 16 6 — 57
FF 8 9 10 11 — 38
PRESTON (2-1) — Simmons 0 0-0 0, Wotring 0 0-0 0, Strawser 1 0-0 2, Metheny 0 1-2 1, Wilson 1 0-0 2, Wimer 3 0-0 8, Miller 6 0-0 2, Wolfe 0 0-0 0, White 7 2-2 17, Nazelrod 0 0-0 0, Sypolt 3 1-6 7, Wiles 0 0-0 0, Bishop 2 0-0 4, Zuchowski 2 0-0 4.
FRANKFORT (0-1) — Metcalf 0 0-0 0, Zimmerman 0 1-2 1, Kelly 4 0-0 9, Kesner 0 0-0 0, Klavuhn 5 0-2 10, Pritts 3 1-4 7, Bloss 0 0-0 0, Ault 1 5-6 7.
3-Pt. Goals — Preston 3 (Wimer 2, White 1). Frankfort 1 (Kelly).
