WOODRIDGE–Gilmour Academy turned a 13-point halftime lead into a 31-point victory over Crestwood in an OHSAA Division II district semifinal on Wednesday, 63-32.
The Lancers put together a 37-19 second-half advantage to punch their ticket to the district championship game against Aurora on Saturday.
“We didn’t shoot the ball very well. We relied on that, and we shot a lot of 3-pointers. It’s a nervy game,” said Gilmour Academy coach Kevin Byrne. “At halftime, we talked about getting a little separation, and we were able to do that. (Crestwood) hit the first shot of the half, and then we were able to get a couple of steals and easy baskets.”
Gilmour jumped out to an early 15-5 lead in the first quarter with five different Lancers accounting for baskets.
Crestwood responded thanks to Madie Gonczy, who scored five of her team’s eight points in the quarter to breathe life into the Red Devils, who went into the half trailing 26-13.
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The Red Devils opened the second half scoring but Gilmour took it from there.
The Lancers used a 20-9 lead to pull away from the Red Devils in the third quarter with Katie Puletti and Nicci Finazzo scoring six points each.
Gilmour led 46-24 after three and then outscored Crestwood in the fourth, 17-8,
The Lancers focused their defensive efforts on slowing down Crestwood standout Hannah Ward. They’ll have a similar task ahead of them when they play Aurora and Sam Stask.
“(Force someone else to beat us) is the game plan,” Byrne said. “We were trying to be right on top of (Hannah) on the catch so she can’t get into the threes and try to have secondary defenders ready to help on the drive. We just had to try and make it as hard on her as possible because she’s super talented. The second you make a mistake, (her shot) is in the basket.”
The Lancers used a balanced scoring effort with three players scoring in double figures and 11 different players recording at least one point in the win.
Puletti led the way with 14 points while Finazzo scored 13 and Elaina Kline-Ruminski finished with 10. Tia Shaw added six points, Kelsey O’Toole scored five, and Aubrey Terranova, Morgan Pfundstein, and Camryn Patterson each finished with three points. Hellen Holley, Maddie Minotas, and Celia Duffy pitched in with two points each to round out the scoring.
Crestwood ended its season, but the Red Devils have a lot to be proud of after a 14-win season.
“It’s actually something we talked about after the game,” said Crestwood coach T.J. Henderson. “If you would have told me we had this many injuries and illnesses and we made it to a district tournament with 14 wins, I would have said, ‘I’ll take it. A season-ending (loss) is never fun, but these girls came to practice every day and worked their butts off. We’re young, and we’ve learned a lot.”
The Red Devils will graduate three seniors, but they return plenty of experience, talent, and optimism.
“This could be a bright future for us,” Henderson said. “(Girls stepping up) was huge. I think them seeing it, learning from while being on the floor, it’ll pay off in the long run as long as we continue to work, focus on each other, and get better daily.”
Hannah Ward, Lily O’Bryant, and Kaitlyn Huffman have played their final games for Crestwood but have left a lasting impact on the team.
“I always say, ‘Captains steer the ship, the seniors put the wind in the sail,’ and our captains did a great job of that, from working hard on the court to being great teammates,” Henderson said of his seniors. “They were always focused on what was best for the program and the team. The three seniors this year did a phenomenal job of that.”
Crestwood went from a four-win team a season ago to a 14-win team and district qualifier, and with the program’s youth, the sky seems to be the limit.
“For us, it’s huge,” Henderson said. “If these kids are passionate about basketball, it’ll springboard them into the offseason. Hopefully, they can look back at this and remember this saying, ‘We don’t want this again.’ The growth from last year of winning only four games to 14 this year was a huge jump. Hopefully, we can continue that trend and improve on our win-loss for next year.”
Ward led Crestwood with 13 points while Gonczy scored nine. Becca Brady added six points and Maddie Dustman finished with three.
