Six contributors come up big in Gilmer’s 75-38 win

GLENVILLE - Gilmer County’s Little Kanawha Conference East rival Webster County may have come into Thursday night’s matchup over Class A's top-ranked group, but the Highlanders only left deflated after all was said and done inside Gilmer County High School. Seven different Titan players scored, Gilmer County defenders held Webster star [player_tooltip player_id="153421" first="Sydney" last="Baird"] to 19 points, and the Titans took firm command of a spot in the LKC Championship game with a 79-35 win over the Highlanders. [player_tooltip player_id="153400" first="Trinity" last="Bancroft"] scored a team-high 19 points, [player_tooltip player_id="154942" first="Malaysia" last="Morgan"] added 13 more as two of Gilmer County’s five double-digit scorers. Thanks to everyone’s efforts, the Titans remain undefeated and on track for the No. 1 ranking yet again in next week’s Associated Press poll. Here’s how each of the Titans’ big producers looked: Team and Defensive MVP: [player_tooltip player_id="154947" first="Taylor" last="McHenry"] - Talk about one heck of a defensive effort. Tasked with locking down Webster County scoring machine [player_tooltip player_id="153421" first="Sydney" last="Baird"], McHenry never blinked. All evening long, the senior consistently stayed in front of Baird, thus making her take hard shots. At halftime, the Highlander had just seven points. McHenry may have finished with 12 markers, but her defensive effort against Baird stood out the most. Emma Taylor and Allie Ellyson - It would be criminal praising McHenry while leaving out these two. McHenry may have had the lockdown assignment, but Taylor and Ellyson drew the help roles in all double teams against Baird. Every day the Webster County girl began to drive or tried to get to her favorite spot, the two were there without any hesitation. In fact, Taylor and Ellyson drew much of the assignment in the fourth quarter, holding Baird to just six points. Oh, and let’s not forget ... Taylor added 12 points and three rebounds. [player_tooltip player_id="153400" first="Trinity" last="Bancroft"] - Leading the Titans in scoring, Bancroft looked good in multiple phases. Her scoring ability, along with great touch from 3, was just the beginning. Joining the point production was a great night on the boards, most of her rebounds came in tougher fights with Webster’s big but she held her own. When everything was finished, she’d procured six boards. [player_tooltip player_id="154942" first="Malaysia" last="Morgan"] - Gilmer County’s leading scorer on the season proved even bigger in the paint. Against Webster’s two bulkier bigs, Morgan cleaned the glass well by grabbing eight boards. The senior showed off the knowledge and willingness to use her athleticism and long lanky body to her advantage. Some of the boards probably should have ended up in someone else’s hands. [player_tooltip player_id="153408" first="Carrah" last="Ferguson"] - Gilmer’s floor leader did an excellent job distributing the basketball to the multitude of weapons at her disposal. While directing traffic and getting people where they needed to be, she also scored 10 points to go along with her three assists. <img class="wp-image-375696 alignright" src="https://prephoops-uploads.s3.amazonaws.com/pgh/uploads/2022/01/Carrah-Ferguson-210x300.jpg" alt="" width="109" height="155" /> The best part about her night, though? Her ability to confi<span style="font-size: 1rem;">d</span><span style="font-size: 1rem;">ently and consistently sell multiple drives into the paint. Those moves got the defense to collapse every time,</span><span style="font-size: 1rem;"> and Ferguson always found the right player to knock down a bucket.</span> &nbsp;