The News Herald (Willoughby, OH)
Height advantage gives Lancers edge
The Andrews Osborne girls basketball team knew what was coming when it was facing visiting Gilmour on Feb. 6.
Stopping it was a whole other issue.
Gilmour continuously fed the ball into the post to 5-foot-10 forwards Cooper Flowers and Lauryn Stover — especially over the final three quarters of the game — leading the Lancers to a 59-50 victory.
THE SCORE GILMOUR 59, ANDREWS OSBORNE 50
Flowers scored 10 of her team-high 15 points in the pivotal third quarter, while Stover scored eight in the second and four in the fourth before fouling out.
The 1-2 punch was too much for AOA to handle.
“I think Lauryn Stover ... with how well she played on both ends of the court,” said Gilmour coach Julie Solis. “I think it settled in for Cooper in the second half. In the third she settled in a little more. Those two are the reason we were able to win.”
Stover hit four baskets in the second, including a conversion layup, to stake Gilmour to a 28-25 halftime lead.
In the third, a 10-0 Gilmour run was fueled by Flowers, who at one point scored seven straight points for the Lancers, two on a putback, three on an and-one off a pass from Megan Duffy and two more on a fast-break bucket.
The 10-0 run was capped by a Madeline Martino, a run that turned a 34-30 deficit into a 40-34 lead
that the Lancers never lost.
“So much of a problem,” said AOA coach Olivia Nance of Gilmour’s post play. “But the girls continued to fight through.”
AOA (7-6) cut the deficit to 44-39 early in the fourth on a Giselle Johnson free throw, but two Stover buckets, including one on a nice drop-step move, opened a 43-39 lead.
A short while later, another mini-run, including a Katie Puletti drive, a Nicci Finazzo drive and a Flowers free throw, gave Gilmour its biggest lead of the game at 3-1.
Tai Roberts (game-high 16 points) hit a trio of shots in the final 70 seconds, but the Lancers were able to hold off any substantial comeback effort by the Phoenix.
“I think our energy was there today,” Flowers said. “I think we played really well as a team.”
That was the case on both ends of the floor. Defensively, the Lancers jumped into double-teams often when Roberts and Johnson got the ball. Those two still shook loose for 28 of their team’s 50 points.
“I think our energy was there today. I think we played really well as a team.” — Gilmour’s Cooper Flowers
When Gilmour got the lead, the Lancers spread the floor wide, which allowed for some cuts to the hoop from Finazzo and others.
“We usually do that when we have a lead,” Solis said. “Nicci does a nice job of getting to the rack. She hit a couple of layups that sealed the game for us.”
Gilmour (13-8) will wrap up its regular season next week against Hathaway Brown.
“I feel real good about this win,” Stover said. “We came together and played today like we used to. It was good.”
AOA will play Akron Hoban next week, continuing a rough regular-season schedule that Nance said will benefit her team once the Division IV postseason play begins.