GIBSON CITY – Just one week into the 2023-24 season, the Gibson City-Melvin-Sibley varsity girls basketball team already entered new territory.
With a 58-47 victory over Tri-Valley on Friday, the Falcons claimed the Lady Falcon & Bunnie Tip-Off Classic.
“I told the girls it’s been a while for GCMS girls to win a championship in something,” GCMS head coach Ross Harden said. “I kept telling them all week to get over the hump. We beat a good Salt Fork team last night. Tri-Valley’s a great team, and we got over that hump. They’re seeing their hard work pay off, and that does a lot for their confidence, and it’s starting to show on the floor how confident they are. It’s going to be big things for these guys all year long.
“That was another fun one to be a part of. The atmosphere in here was great. I’m very proud of my girls. They came and answered the call tonight. They were up for it all day and gearing up for it. All the work they put in in June and in the first three weeks of practice is starting to pay off, and I’m loving it.”
The Falcons started the game with a 10-1 run, starting with a 3-pointer by Lily Sizemore that gave GCMS a 3-0 lead. The freshman Sizemore would finish with 14 points and would be named to the all-tournament team.
“She handles the ball and distributes it and had some big points,” Harden said. “She’s a freshman, but she does not play like a freshman.”
Sizemore fouled out of Thursday’s game against Salt Fork after scoring nine points. Against Tri-Valley, Sizemore picked up four fouls.
“I told her she’s not a freshman anymore,” Harden said. “I’m going to put her back in, and she’s got to play like she’s a varsity player, and she answered the call with her defense, and she had some rebounds. Her 14 points helped us out.”
After Adalyn Freihaut made a free throw for Tri-Valley, Mallory Rosendahl drained another 3-pointer to extend GCMS’s lead to 6-1. Rosendahl, who would also be named to the all-tournament team, finished with five points while providing her share of contributions to the Falcons’ defense.
“She’s a bulldog on top of that 1-2-2 zone. She just gets after it,” Harden said. “We’re so long and big, it’s just going to give teams a lot of fits this year.”
Sophia Ray then made four free throws and scored on two offensive-rebound putbacks to extend GCMS’s advantage to 14-2. A free throw by Freihaut made the score 10-2.
Ray finished with a game-high 18 points.
“Sophia gets after it all the time,” Harden said. “She had putback after putback. She’s just a great kid and I’m proud of the way she’s playing right now.”
Ray made 10-of-11 shots from the charity stripe.
“That’s pretty good for a high school girl in a championship game to knock those down like that,” Harden said.
A basket by Annabelle Bischoff cut Tri-Valley’s deficit to 14-4 before the Falcons went an 8-0 run, starting with a pair of baskets by Mindy Brown, who finished with four points off the bench.
“She did her job again,” Harden said.
A 3-pointer by Sizemore and a free throw by Cally Kroon extended GCMS’s lead to 22-4.
“We really came out and jumped on them early,” Harden said. “Then we just kept playing our game.”
A 3-pointer by Addison Phillips and two free throws by Ella Black cut Tri-Valley’s deficit to 22-9 as the first quarter came to an end.
Savannah Shumate then made a couple of baskets to extend the Falcons’ lead to 26-9. She was the third GCMS player to finish the game in the double-digit score column with 11 points.
“You get three players in double figures in a high school game, and you’re going to do some good things,” Harden said. “Savannah had a little rough go in the first games of the tournament. She wasn’t hitting her shots, but tonight, she came out and had some good putbacks. I’m proud of her. Her hard work’s paying off.”
After Bischoff made a free throw, Sizemore drained a basket to make the score 28-10. Bischoff made a basket while drawing a foul before a basket by Ray made it 30-12.
A basket by Freihaut and a 3-pointer by Kelsey Bartels cut Tri-Valley’s deficit to 30-17 before a basket by Sizemore made it 32-17.
The Vikings then went on a 6-0 run as Freihaut and a basket and two free throws and Black scored two points off a backcourt steal to cut Tri-Valley’s deficit to 32-23.
A basket by Sizemore made the score 34-23 before Freihaut made a free throw with 44.1 seconds left in the second quarter to make it 34-24. Sizemore made two free throws with 11.8 seconds remaining in the quarter to extend GCMS’s lead to 36-24 before a basket by Freihaut made the halftime score 36-26.
Freihaut made a free throw to make the score 36-27 before Shumate scored off a Sizemore assist and banked in a 3-pointer to extend GCMS’s lead to 41-27. After Rosendahl made a basket, a bucket by Kroon made the score 45-27.
Kroon finished with six points.
“She’s a quiet assassin,” Harden said. “She doesn’t say anything and goes out and plays hard all the time.”
Ray made two free throws with 1:36 left in the third quarter before two foul shots and a basket by Black cut Tri-Valley’s deficit to 43-31 by the end of the quarter.
A 3-pointer and two free throws by Bartels cut the Vikings’ deficit to 47-36 before Kroon drained a 3-pointer to make it 50-36. Bischoff made a basket before three free throws extended GCMS’s lead to 53-38 and forced Freihaut to foul out with 4:18 left in the game.
Shumate made a basket to make it 55-38 before Phillips and Bartels each made a basket to cut Tri-Valley’s deficit to 55-42. Ray made a free throw to make it 56-42 before a basket by Phillips made it 56-44.
Ray made a basket before a buzzer-beating 3-pointer by Zoey Whittaker concluded the game’s scoring at 58-47.
After a week off, GCMS will play at St. Thomas More on Tuesday, Nov. 28.
“It doesn’t get any easier,” Harden said. “St. Thomas More’s good, and it’s going to be a battle.”
For Tri-Valley, Freihaut and Bartels each scored in double figures with 12 and 10 points, respectively. The Vikings will host GCMS on Feb. 8.
“Tri-Valley is a darn good team. They’re going to be very good in our conference,” Harden said. “There’s going to be many more battles with them. I can’t give enough credit to Brent Ward. He’s got those guys prepared, and they are a very athletic and good team.”
GCMS 58, Tri-Valley 47
TV 9 17 5 16 — 47
GCMS 22 14 11 11 — 58
Tri-Valley
Adelin Bruce 0-0-0, Ella Black 2-4-8, Kelsey Bartels 3-2-10, Addison Phillips 3-0-7, Zoey Whittaker 1-0-3, Annabelle 3-1-7, Adalyn Freihaut 3-6-12, Cadence Geiser 0-0-0. Totals 15-13-47.
GCMS (4-0)
Lizzie Giroux 0-0-0, Mindy Brown 2-0-4, Mallory Rosendahl 2-0-5, Sophia Ray 4-10-18, Savannah Shumate 5-0-11, Lily Sizemore 5-2-14, Anna Warren 0-0-0, Cally Kroon 2-1-6, Hadley Doman 0-0-0. Totals 20-13-58.
3-pointers – Tri-Valley 4 (Bartels 2, Phillips, Whittaker). GCMS 5 (Sizemore 2, Kroon, Shumate, Rosendahl).
