Africentric can’t answer threes
Friday at Value City Arena.
The Lancers ( 23- 5) did what seven teams failed to do in the state tournament against the Nubians ( 25- 4), and that was to win a semifinal.
“We’ve been doing that all year, making threes,” said Gilmour coach Bob Beutel, who has 693 career victories. “When we needed them, we made them. A couple of them were, ‘No, no, no, uh, good shot.’ ”
Kelley scored 24 points on 6- of- 11 shooting from behind the arc, and Gurley had 17 points on 4-of-6 three-point shooting.
Africentric seemed to have things under control when sophomore point guard Jordan Horston hit a threepointer for a 41-34 lead with 5:11 left in the third quarter.
The Nubians were still in good shape after Horston hit a runner in the key for a 47-44 lead with 6:32 left in the game.
Gilmour, though, used a slick inside-out passing game with Hillmon to hit four three-pointers in a 2½-minute stretch to lead 56-49 on a basket by Gurley with 3:10 left.
“We were having a hard time communicating on screens, and that caused a lot of confusion,” Horston said. “We didn’t score after they made the threes. If we would have scored it could have been a different outcome.”
Any chance Africentric had of a comeback was nixed when Gilmour made nine of its last 12 free throws.
Kelley said the Lancers had more confidence than in 2016, when they lost a state semifinal.
“When we have the energy flowing between us, you can’t stop the three,” she said.
Gurley said Hillmon was a key in drawing the defense to her on entry passes and kicking it outside.
“They hit big shots,” McKinney said. “It’s tough to lose, but at the same time I appreciate good basketball. They deserved to win; I can’t put my head down.”