Lancers upset in sectional final

March Madness claimed an early victim, as No. 2 seed Gilmour was stunned by No. 7 seed Aurora, 8984, in a D-II Sectional Final at Gilmour on March 1.

Senior Justin Gentile and junior Ethan Hays each racked up 30 points for Aurora (11-13). Senior CJ Charleston also put up 30 points in his final game for the Lancers. The Greenmen avenged a 96-77 defeat to Gilmour on Jan. 12 on the same floor.

“We came in with a specific game plan,” said Aurora coach T.J. Henderson, a Kirtland graduate. “CJ and Connor (O’Toole) are two of the best basketball players in the area. We knew if we could eliminate some of the stuff that they do, we would have a great chance. Right off the rip, we started hitting some shots, and it was real fun to watch. We had a seasonhigh 21 assists, which is absolutely fantastic.”

Aurora came out with an aggressive, nothing-to-lose approach from the start, and Gentile came out firing in the first quarter. The senior connected on 5 of his first 6 shots, including four 3s, and scored 14 points in the opening frame as the Greenmen raced out to a 26-20 lead.

Gilmour (17-6) took its first lead of the game at the 3:55 mark of the second quarter, when O’Toole, a junior, nailed a triple off a feed from Charleston. But Hays answered quickly for Aurora, and the lead changed hands a few times until Greenmen sophomore Jack Fecko scored the final four points of the stanza to give the visitors a 43-39 lead at halftime.

Hays scored 14 points in the third quarter as Aurora stayed on top, 65-62, heading into the fourth. Gilmour took a 70-68 lead with about five minutes to play on a Garrett Olsen basket, but that would prove be its last lead. Gentile, who sank all 10 of his free-throw attempts in the fourth quarter, knocked down four straight to put Aurora up for good.

O’Toole hit two huge 3-pointers down the stretch, cutting the Lancer deficit to 83-81 and then 8584 in the final minute, but Gentile and Jack Arnold sank four from the line to seal the upset victory.

Gilmour battled back several times in the contest, but each time it did, Aurora seemed to have an answer. A 33-23 edge on the boards, and 8 of 16 shooting from 3-point range helped the Greenmen’s cause, as did a 16 of 17 showing from the free throw line, including March 7. Aurora will play on

14 for 14 in the fourth quarter.

“I thought that for one of the first times in a while, we were a step slow,” Gilmour coach Dan DeCrane said. “I take full responsibility for the end result. I feel like I could have done a better job preparing our kids. I give a lot of credit to (Aurora), they played a great game. They made a lot of plays on the offensive end Did we play our best? No. Did we play our worst? No, I just thought they made more plays than we did.”

Olsen scored 18 points for Gilmour, and O’Toole added 14. Charleston closed out his stellar high school career, at least the basketball part of it, in style. He added 5 assists and 5 rebounds to his game-high total, and knocked down four shots from outside the three-point arc.

“He’s a special athlete and a special kid,” DeCrane said of Charleston.”He’s going to do a lot of great things at Youngstown State. I (reminded) him afterwards what kind of legacy he left here. He’s a once in a lifetime player, for sure. We’ll miss him. I can tell that some of the underclassmen are eager to fill that role.”

Charleston, a first team all-Ohio football player and first team all-district basketball player, will run for the Lancers’ track team in the spring before heading to Youngstown State on a football scholarship in the fall.

“I just couldn’t be more thankful for my teammates and coaches, who have helped me over the past four years and made me into the player and person I am today,” Charleston said. “It really means a lot. I know it didn’t go our way today, but I’m just happy to be at Gilmour Academy and for all the opportunities it has provided for me.”

Anthony Bandwen, Marcus Jordan, and Ryan Coan (6 points, 3 rebounds) join Charleston as Gilmour seniors that will be leaving the program. But O’Toole, Olsen, and Ian Miller head a slew of returnees for next year’s Lancers squad.

“I thought we could have done a better job finishing stronger at the end, and that’s something I’m going to reflect on (in the offseason),” DeCrane said of his first campaign as Gilmour coach. “We lost our last three games in close fashion. I told the kids that’s all on me, and I’ll be more hungry and motivated to get us better for next year.”