Staff photo / Mason Cole. Girard's Thomas Cordiero puts up a shot in the lane against a Gilmour Academy defender on Thursday night.

CHARDON — The Girard Indians pushed the Gilmour Lancers to their limit in their OHSAA Tournament district semifinal game on Thursday. The two teams traded baskets all throughout the game and then into overtime. But ultimately, Gilmour emerged victorious as they defeated Girard 61-55.

In the win or go home game, both the Indians and the Lancers played high level basketball. Despite his team finishing on the losing end, Girard head coach Craig Hannon was proud of how his players stepped up.

“It was a great game,” Hannon said. “If you were a fan, you got your money’s worth. As a coach, it stinks to be on the losing end of it. But I told my guys there’s absolutely nothing for them to hold their heads down about. We played great, they played great, they made a couple more plays basketball wise down the stretch. But our guys were locked in. It’s unfortunate someone had to lose that game, it really stinks that it’s us, but there’s a lot to be proud of tonight.”

Girard was led by its senior class. Thomas Cardiero led his team with 22 points and made multiple key plays defensively. Gus Johnson added 14 points including a soaring dunk in the second half. Ryan Fitzgerald also gave his team momentum heading into halftime as he ended the second quarter with a five point scoring run before finishing the game with 11.

“I saw exactly what I’ve seen from them all season,” Hannon said. “A bunch of resolve, a bunch of heart, and a will to win. The best thing about our seniors is that they’re the greatest group of kids, they’re the nicest young men. Coaching them has just been an honor.”

After a back and forth first half, Girard’s five point lead at halftime felt huge. The Indians had seemed to be finally breaking through the Lancers’ defense. As Girard began to seize momentum in the second quarter, Gilmour head coach Dan DeCrane thought his team was getting outworked.

“I thought Girard played their absolute tails off,” DeCrane said. “I thought they outworked us in a lot of possessions. We made some shots kind of early, we got to the rim early, and I thought we gave them some easy baskets in the first half, and our plan was to not let that happen.”

Gilmour trailed Girard 40-32 after the third quarter. With their season on the line, the Lancers turned to senior point guard Adisa Molton II. The senior kept his team’s offense composed in late game situations and led the Lancers in scoring with 21 points. With the playmaking of Molton, Gilmour’s offense began to thrive late in the game.

“He’s our engine,” DeCrane said. “He makes a lot of good decisions, and he didn’t turn it over. He got a little bit too drive-happy at the rim going up against Cardiero. It’s hard for him, he’s five-foot-nine going up against six-foot-five. But he found guys late, when he gets in the middle of defenses, good things happen for us.”

Behind the guidance of Molton, the Lancers battled back and forced the game into overtime with both teams tied 50-50. Ultimately, a three-point shot by Gilmour sophomore Zachary Titas sealed the victory for Gilmour.

“He’s shown signs in the last month,” DeCrane said. “He’s a sophomore, he’s a really good athlete, he’s a high level baseball kid… He’s one of those kids you’d want to go down with if you’d want to go down.”

Despite the fight by Girard, Gilmour wore the Indians down late in the game.

“I thought we wore down a little bit,” Hannon said. “I thought they wore us down in that overtime. We just didn’t get enough stops. We were trading buckets.”

With the victory, Gilmour advances to face the Ursuline Fighting Irish in the district final game at 4:00 p.m. at Notre Dame-Cathedral Latin on Saturday, March 4. DeCrane knows his team is in for a challenge when they face Ursuline.

“They’re very talented,” DeCrane said. “They’re very aggressive and good defensively. Their first five guys all can score… We’ve just got to find a way to compete for 32 minutes.”

mcole@tribtoday.com