Warrensville Flies Past Gilmour, 71-61; Advances to District Final

By Terone Burkes

Warrensville continued its impressive tournament run, as the seventh-seeded Tigers advanced to the Garfield Heights District Final with a 71-61 win over Gilmour Academy in the semifinal on March 7.

Warrensville quickly jumped out to a 17-0 lead to open the game behind sophomore Brandon Rush and Shamar Latham’s  hot shooting.

Gilmour looked stunned from the beginning and never quite overcame that early deficit. The Lancers managed to make it out of the first quarter trailing only 20-9. Warrensville was paced by Latham with 11 first quarter points.

Gilmour tried to settle down but couldn’t hit from the outside and was out hustled by a faster Warrensville team. Warrensville took a 14-point lead at the half (32-18).

The third period went back-and-fourth, as Warrensville turned up the pressure and pushed the lead up to 20 before Gilmour would respond with a run of its own.

Warrensville maintained a comfortable lead for the rest of the night, holding on all the way to the finish line.

The Tigers were led by Brandon Rush’s 22 points and six rebounds.

Latham was right behind him with 19 points and eight boards, while Joe Vallery scored 14 points and also grabbed eight rebounds.

Gilmour was led by Krincic’s 22 points and 10 rebounds. CJ Charleston scored 20 points and grabbed five rebounds.

Warrensville will move on to play top-seeded VASJ on Friday at 7 pm at Garfield Heights High School.