The Gilmour Academy girls basketball team advanced to the OHSAA District Final with a nail-biting 49-46 victory over Beaumont Wednesday evening inside Lancer Gymnasium.
Next up, the Lancers will next make the short trip to Laurel School for the District Final matchup this Saturday, Feb. 27, at 7 p.m.
Nicci Finazzo '24 had a huge role in the Lancer win, leading the team with 15 points while adding four rebounds, three assists and three steals. Finazzo played a key role down the stretch to help Gilmour come out on top of a game that could have gone either way.
Gilmour had swept a home-and-home series with Beaumont during the regular season, but the Lancers knew taking down the Blue Streaks for a third time this season would not be an easy task.
The game was a nip-and-tuck affair with neither side able to pull away from the other.
After trailing by a single point after the opening quarter, Gilmour took a 21-19 lead at the half.
A Cooper Flowers '22 turnaround jump shot pushed Gilmour's lead to 27-21 in the third quarter, but Beaumont responded with back-to-back three pointers to level the contest.
After having a 34-31 lead after three quarters, Gilmour fell behind for the first time since early in the second quarter when Beaumont hit a pair at the charity stripe. The two free throws allowed the Blue Streaks to edge ahead 37-36 with just over five minutes remaining.
However, after falling behind, Gilmour came right back with a game-defining run. The Lancers scored the game's next nine points, with Finazzo leading the charge. She had five points during the stretch and also added an assist on a fastbreak layup by Angelina Lonardo '22. Lauryn Stover '22 capped the run with a driving layup through the paint to put Gilmour ahead 45-37 with 1:44 left to play.
Beaumont refused to go quietly as the Blue Streaks hit a pair of threes over the final 90 seconds, the second of which pulled the guests within a single point - 47-46 - with 24 seconds remaining.
Gilmour was able to fend off the final Beaumont comeback attempt, hitting a pair of free throws in the final 20 seconds and surviving a half-court heave at the buzzer by the Blue Streaks.
Stover finished with 10 points for Gilmour while Flowers reached double digits in the rebounding category.
After earning a bye in the opening round of the tournament, Gilmour had begun its postseason run with a convincing 54-27 win over Tallmadge High School in the Sectional Final last weekend. The Lancers had opened up a double-digit lead by the end of the first quarter, and the outcome was not in doubt down the stretch. Madeline Martino '22 led the Lancers with 15 points in the win against the Blue Devils.
A live stream of Saturday's District Final against Laurel will be available by clicking here.
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