Gilmour girls’ basketball flattens Akron Springfield

“They were really dominant,” said Coach Tyler Hammond. “I was excited. You never know with those postgame jitters what it could end up being and the girls came out confident and played the game and played our game plan to a tee and it made me really excited about moving on.”

It marked the first career playoff victory for the first-year coach, who led the Lancers to a 17-5 record, the best regular season record since Gilmour went 20-3 in the 2017-18 campaign, when it finished as the Division II state runners-up. That earned them the third seed in the district.

For a team that lost seven seniors last year, it was an impressive turnaround for a program that also hired a new head coach.

“I thought it would be really challenging and there would be some pushback but there was none at all and the girls bought in once we had our meeting at the beginning of the year,” Hammond said “They said hey this is how we want to play, we want to play fast, play defense and then sit down and they all bought in. I did not think it would be like that.”

What made the Lancers’ regular-season success even sweeter was that they only had one senior.

“I think they have not thought or talked about it but it is definitely in the back of their head where they know we can be really good next year because we are just going to be one year better and maybe one year deeper,” Hammond said.

Gilmour’s (17-5) earned the right to hold home court advantage for the sectional portion of the tournament for the seventh straight season since it was transferred from Division III to Division II.

For a team of players making their postseason debut, Hammond said it could not have been more perfect.

“It feels good to get your first playoff game this year at home and getting the crowd and support here,” he said. “I know the girls love playing at home especially the first one when you can get your confidence up especially with shooting the ball as well.”

Gilmour raced out to a 17-3 record but then lost its final two games of the regular season against Division I powerhouses Canton McKinley and Olmsted Falls on back-to-back nights.

“Those two teams were really good,” he said. “I put those two games on the schedule so it prepared us for our district.”

On Saturday, the Lancers seized control in the first period and hit two 3-point shots early courtesy of junior center Helen Holley and freshman guard Aubrey Terranova.

Hammond said Gilmour’s success from the outside made the Spartans want to reconsider their defensive alignment.

That played into the Lancers’ hands as they outscored Akron Springfield 22-6 in the opening period. Five different players scored.

“We were able to force a bunch of turnovers early to get ourselves going early in transition and that helped us a lot,” Hammond said. “When you are able to force turnovers and run in transition especially with the athletes on our team, it makes scoring a little bit easier for us.”

Hammond added the Lancers’ faster pace made Akron Springfield uncomfortable, and they pounced on that weakness to hold the Spartans to only two field goals and a pair of free throws.

“We forced a lot of turnovers and we got them to play faster than they wanted to and were not able to really set up in their offense and I think that was the tale of the game,” he said. “We sped them up and got them to play faster than they wanted to get them to force some turnovers.”

The Spartans slowed the pace in the second period but Gilmour kept its defensive intensity up, outscoring its opponent by a 13-8 margin to take a 21-point advantage at the half.

The Lancers continued driving inside in the third quarter, collapsing the Akron Springfield’s defense and sending the Lancers to the free-throw line 12 times.

The 6-foot-1 Holley scored 6 points in the third quarter and shot 4 of 4 from the foul line.

“She is just down there dominating,” Hammond said. “She only had six rebounds on Saturday but had five offensive rebounds which was huge. That is how much she dominates the paint right then and there with five offensive rebounds.”

Despite the Spartans finally scoring in double digits, Gilmour extended its lead to 51-24 before the end of the period.

As big as the lead was, the Lancers remained disciplined defensively and committed only four fouls in the game.

“It is great and is just one of those things where just because if we look at the score we still want to do things normally in a game if it is close or if you are down 20 or up 20,” Hammond said. “We still want to play the same way we do and develop good habits. The discipline was amazing, just for them to keep good habits because we do not want to get into bad habits of fouling or reaching whether it is a close game or up 30 points.”

Should Gilmour top Elyria Catholic in the district semifinal on Wednesday, it will play either Cuyahoga Valley Christian Academy or Peninsula Woodridge in the district title game on Saturday evening at 7 p.m. at Elyria High School.