Lady Jays rebound with win over Hawks

(Sentinel photo by Jesse Geleynse) Gehlen's Lexi Wiltgen pushes in a shot during Thursday's win over Hartley-Melvin-Sanborn. [Click to enlarge]

The Gehlen Catholic girls basketball team needed Thursday's 49-42 War Eagle Conference win over Hartley-Melvin-Sanborn more than just to boost its record - the Lady Jays needed the confidence to push them into their final three games of the regular season.

"We needed that game tonight to go in the win direction, just a bounce back game after not shooting very well on Tuesday night," said Gehlen coach Marty Kurth, whose team dropped a 44-42 decision to Spalding Catholic on Tuesday. "We came back and did some good things. I think we shot better, obviously when you shoot the ball better, you feel better about the game."

Senior Jessie Timmins sees the win as a "sign that we're coming together as a team."

"Coach expressed that we're in the same book, we're just not on the same chapter," said the senior, who netted 13 points in the win. "I think tonight was - we're getting to it. We're starting to read each other and do what we've gotta do."

The Lady Jays got off to a rough start as the visiting Hawks cruised to a 6-0 lead in the first minute and a half of the contest.

Sophomore Amber Timmins, who also scored 13 points in the win, stepped to the foul line at the 6:06 mark and netted a pair of free throws to put the Lady Jays on the board.

The Hawks answered with a 3-pointer before Jessie and Amber Timmins went on an 8-0 run over the next five minutes to take a 10-9 lead with 32 seconds to play in the first quarter.

Becca Swalve added a layup with an assist from Lexi Wiltgen at the buzzer to give Gehlen a 12-9 advantage after a quarter of play.

"I think we changed the tempo a little bit," Kurth said. "Because we hadn't scored, we couldn't get into our press (right away). So I think the press kind of set a little bit of a different tempo early. Because when they're just sitting in the zone, it kind of slows things down. We'd rather play a little bit more up-tempo and we got it to be that way late in the first quarter, early in the second."

Wiltgen boosted the Lady Jays in the start of the second quarter as she scored six points in the first four minutes to give Gehlen an 18-11 lead.

Jessie Timmins added back-to-back baskets to make the lead 24-11 with three minutes to play until halftime.

The Hawks scored five unanswered points in the final two minutes of the half to cut their deficit to 26-18 at the break.

"We kind of let them get back into it before halftime and it was a dogfight the rest of the game," said Kurth, whose team led 33-29 at the start of the final frame.

Gehlen outscored H-M-S 16-13 in the fourth quarter, using a 6-for-12 performance at the free throw line to tally the WEC victory.

"We made enough free throws down the stretch - we missed a lot early - but we made enough down the stretch to extend the lead," said Kurth, whose team displayed a more aggressive offensive presence than it did on Tuesday. "We stepped up and shot it. We stepped into the gaps, which we had not been doing against the zone. We stepped into the gaps and made some shots (and) made some passes out of that."

The Lady Jays featured three players in double figures, a refreshing change for the team.

"It just shows that we do have more people (that can score)," Jessie Timmins said. "Everyone has the capability of being in double figures. It was huge tonight for us."

Jessie and Amber Timmins each scored 13 points while Lexi Wiltgen chipped in 10 and Steph Rohe added nine.

Jessie Timmins added seven rebounds and Amber Timmins was 7-for-10 from the free throw line.

"When you can have three girls in double figures and almost a fourth, the balanced scoring, which we have not had most of the year, is great to see," Kurth said.

Defensively, Kurth thought that the press bothered H-M-S.

"(Our press) made them take some quick shots," he said. "We didn't get a whole lot of turnovers out of it, but it changed the tempo of the game a little bit.

The win sets a strong tone for the Lady Jays (10-6, 6-2), who have three War Eagle Conference games remaining before starting postseason play next Thursday.

"We just wanna go out and do our best," said Jessie Timmins, whose team will face Marcus-Meriden-Cleghorn on the road Friday. "We want to get rid of our inconsistency because we've been inconsistent all year and I think everybody's getting sick of it."

"I think the seniors really realize (the potential we have as a team). This year we could go far and I don't know if the younger kids realize it, but they will soon - that we could do just what we did in volleyball in basketball. We have the same potential."