GMC Prep girls fall at Bowdon

The GMC Prep girls basketball team had to take a long trip for its state playoff second round matchup.

Bowdon High School, not far from the Georgia-Alabama state line, was the Lady Dogs’ destination Wednesday. It was there their season ended as they fell to the Lady Red Devils by a final score of 48-37.

Bowdon jumped out to a 12-3 lead after one quarter of play as the home team had GMC Prep off its game in the early going.

“In the first quarter I think we were playing a little timid,” Lady Dogs’ head coach Shawn Dennis said. “They were a big team. They had a couple of girls a little over 6 feet, so we weren’t attacking the basket like we normally would… Then we kind of got our confidence back a little. We attacked the basket, got some shots, and then we finally started playing. But eventually their size kind of just wore on us and we had to pick our poison. It was either stop the big girls inside or close out on their 3-point shooters, so they had a little of everything. They’re a well-balanced team.”

Dennis’ offense picked things up in the second quarter, but the team was still down 27-13 entering the half. An 11-4 third helped the Lady Dogs get back into the contest, but as Dennis said Bowdon’s size and perimeter shooting proved to be too much for his team to overcome. The Lady Red Devils played like a state title contender in basically every aspect of the game. They hit free throws, got points off offensive rebounds, shot well from the outside, and closed out on defense to keep GMC Prep from getting any type of rhythm going.

“They were what I expected,” said Dennis. “I had a couple of films on them, and I could see that they had the big girls on the inside and the shooters on the outside. One thing that gives us trouble is when a team has big girls that can really play. We have some height, but not height like other people.

“We played hard and cut the lead to five in the third quarter. Their size eventually took over and they hit free throws. We didn’t really play our best, but we never quit. I’m just proud of the effort that the girls gave this season.”

The loss brings GMC Prep’s impressive 2017-18 campaign to an end as the Lady Dogs finished with a record of 24-4 and a fourth-place finish in the region. Bowdon will move on to face top-seeded Telfair County in the Elite Eight next week.

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