Gordon Central battles in Adairsville tournament
The Gordon Central girls’ basketball team participated in the Adairsville Ace Home Center Tiger Christmas Clash at Adairsville High School last week. The Lady Warriors lost their final game last Thursday in the fifth-place game against Cartersville by a score of 59-39. Gordon Central coach Matt Swanson was disappointed to say the least after the game.
“In the five years I’ve been here, that’s the worst we’ve played,” Swanson said. “We didn’t play with any effort and played tired. I was very disappointed.”
Despite the finish, Swanson can hang his hat on the fact that his girls earned valuable experience during the tournament and heading into the rest of the season. In their first game of the tournament last Tuesday, the Lady Warriors found themselves in a mismatch against a talented Cass team and lost 72-26.
Cass’ Claire Davis paced the Lady Colonels with 16 points, while teammate Gracie Elkins added 12. Gordon Central’s Brooke Wilson put up 13 points in the loss. Swanson commented on the disappointing firstround game.
“We were outmatched by Cass,” Swanson said. “They are a very good team. We have to handle the ball better and execute against teams of that caliber, and we just didn’t.”
However, the Lady Warriors bounced back in a big way the following day as they avenged their loss by securing a big 65-44 win against Adairsville. Gordon Central’s Wilson scored a game-high 25 points in the victory.
Emily Reece finished second on the Lady Warriors with 11, and Kim Passley added 10 of her own. Swanson was happy to see the way his girls responded from the previous day’s loss.
“Today, we came out with a bad taste in our mouths about last night’s game,” Swanson said. “( I was) very proud of our effort. Brooke Wilson did a great job handling the ball and scoring. Her 25 points were huge but only ( having) three turnovers was big. We have to improve at the freethrow line, but ( I am) very proud of my girls.”
Overall, Swanson was thankful for the opportunity for his team to play in the tournament but wants more out of his group.
“Adairsville has done a great job putting it on,” Swanson said. “All props to them – it’s been a class- act tournament. I enjoyed every minute of it. I just wish we had played better.
As of this publication date, the Lady Warriors’ next game will be at Woodland at 7 p. m. on Friday. The boys’ team will play right after at 8:30 p.m.