The Gilmour Academy boys basketball team found itself down early, but the Lancers stayed the course and battled back to claim a 59-52 victory over Chaney High School in an OHSAA Regional Semifinal at Barberton High School.
With the win, Gilmour's magical postseason run continues. The Lancers have advanced to a Regional Final—the "Elite Eight"—for only the second time in program history and the first time since 1992.
"Wow. I didn't realize that. I have to do my history homework," head coach Dan DeCrane said when asked about returning the Lancers to a Regional Final for the first time in 29 years. "I'm just really thrilled for our kids. It was another game where we had a ton of adversity. We kind of got hit in the mouth early on, but then we delivered punches three, four and five, and that's what was the difference. We just kept coming back. Our motto has been to persevere through all of this since the start, and we've kept believing. We've kind of set our motto to our Bible verse lately—'We walk by faith, not by sight.'"
Gilmour will play powerhouse St. Vincent-St. Mary High School on Saturday, March 13 at 1 p.m. at Barberton High School, with a berth to the state tournament on the line.
Ben DeMell '21 played a huge role in the win, scoring 26 of the Lancers' 54 points over the final three quarters. He also added seven rebounds on the night. He was quick to pass on taking credit for his strong performance.
"Well, it was my teammates," DeMell said when asked about the key to his success. "They were just driving into the defense, collapsing them, and they would look out and kick it out to me."
Gilmour got off to a slow start as Chaney took advantage of some steals to score 10 of the game's first 11 points. It took the Lancers over five minutes to convert a field goal attempt, and they trailed 15-5 after the opening quarter.
Facing its biggest deficit of the postseason to date, Gilmour did not panic.
"We just kind of had to catch our breath," DeCrane said. "We just were trying to make too many quick plays. There was a lot of emotion—a bigger stage, a good opponent who was playing very well and very confidently too as they had a nice run. We just wanted to keep cutting and find guys in open space and get downhill. We really wanted to attack vertically—when you're getting pressured like that you have to. You can't go east and west. When we started to do that, we started to find guys. It worked out for us."
The Lancers had a perfect start to the second quarter, scoring six straight points to get right back into the game. Ryan Mueller '22 converted an old-fashioned three-point play on the quarter's first possession before DeMell drilled a trey from the top of the key on Gilmour's next trip down the court.
Chaney kept trying to push its lead back toward double digits, but a trio of threes by DeMell in the quarter helped Gilmour only trail by five at the intermission (27-22).
"All week, our coach emphasized that they're going to go on runs," DeMell said. "We expected a run from them, we just didn't know when it was going to come. And we were ready to punch back when it came."
The Cowboys still held a four-point lead with under 90 seconds to play in the third quarter. The Lancers proceeded to score four points in the closing stages of the frame to tie the game (37-37) heading into the fourth. Brandon Rose '23 hit a driving layup before finding Mueller with a pass over the defense on a sideline out of bounds play.
Those four points proved to be the start of a 10-2 spurt that pushed the Lancers into the lead for the first time in the game.
Vinny Bandwen '21 drove in from the left wing and hit a runner early in the fourth quarter to give the Lancers the lead. Mueller then found DeMell on a curl cut toward the rim before Adisa Molton '23 had a nice, left-handed finish at the rim to cap off the run.
With the Lancers leading by three past the midpoint of the fourth quarter, Matt Benisek '21 and DeMell helped put the game away. The former hit a big three from the right wing, off a feed from Rose, before the latter ran the floor in transition and was rewarded with a feed from Molton.
Mueller and Molton both made a pair of free throws in the final minute to help seal the win, the Lancers' second upset victory of the tournament.
Mueller finished with 11 points and eight rebounds while Molton notched seven points and five assists. Rose also added seven points.
The Lancers will have little time to prepare for a mammoth test in the Regional Final. Their next opponent, the Fighting Irish, is ranked No. 1 in the state and have won two of the past three state titles.
"Yeah, I think they're the best team in the state of Ohio, no matter what division," DeCrane said. "They're certainly one of the top 25 teams in the country. A lot of talent, a lot of ability. But, we're looking forward to it. Our guys haven't backed down. We're going to put a game plan together in the next 12 to 18 hours. We'll get back on the practice floor tomorrow, and we'll go from there."
Tipoff for Saturday's Regional Final contest is set for 1 p.m. The game will be livestreamed by the Gilmour Digital Media Club. Visit gilmour.org/live to tune in!
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