Gates Mills, Ohio - Gilmour came into their sectional semi-final matchup riding the momentum of a two game win streak. The last time they stepped on the floor they took home a dominant 77-40 victory over Andrews Osborne Academy. St. Martin de Porres desperately searched for a win, coming in having lost three games in a row. Gilmour’s extraordinary defensive efforts helped them end tonight victorious.
I got to speak with Gilmour Head Coach Dan DeCrane about the defensive efforts tonight.
“We wanted to keep forcing the issue with our pressure defense and then really just trying on the offensive end to get clean looks in the open court," said DeCrane. "I just thought we were able to take away easy baskets for them”
Gilmour came out with a high sense of urgency defensively. They forced nine turnovers while using their press to get good opportunities in the open court. They jumped out to a quick 11-2 lead just a minute and a half into the quarter. The Lancers continued to dominate and ended the quarter up 28-10.
Gilmour came out in the second and expanded upon their lead. Even though St. Martin started to take care of the ball better, they just couldn’t get in a consistent offensive rhythm. Gilmour led 38-13 with three minutes to go in the quarter. They finished the half up 44-15.
Gilmour came into the second half with that same high intense style of play. They started to find easy baskets in the paint. Iliano, Tim Lee and David Pfundstein all scored around the basket. The Lancers outscored St. Martin 28-7 in the quarter going into the fourth leading 72-22.
The fourth quarter slowed down completely and there was minimal success for both teams. The Lancers only scored nine points in the period, two of them coming from freshman Michael Holt II late in the quarter. Terrance Davis scored the last bucket for St. Martin. Gilmour ended the game on top winning 79-27.
Nick Iliano led the all scorers with 15 points, David Pfundstein finished with 12 points and Jimmy Lawless finished with nine.Terrence Davis led St. Martin with seven points.
Gilmour will be back in action Friday March 1st, 2024 at Edgewood High School at 7 PM.