Toledo Central Catholic came out hot against Gilmour Dec. 31, racing to a double-digit lead. But the Lancers chipped away. They had a double-digit run of their own and tied the game late in the second quarter. Gilmour took its first lead at the start of the fourth. But the Irish hung tough and used a late run to take a 68-64 victory. Toledo Central Catholic moved to 5-1 on the season and Gilmour fell to 5-4. PHOTOS: Gilmour vs. Toledo Central Catholic boys basketball, Dec. 31, 2024 The Irish started on an 18-0 run, highlighted by a Dre Wardrop transition dunk. The biggest issue for Gilmour in the early going was its ball control. The Lancers had six turnovers in the first quarter. Coach Dan DeCrane sayd they needed to clean up that area for any chance of a comeback. "They try to push you out, they're a real physical, half-court defense team," DeCrane said. "They do a good job converting your immediate mistakes into points. They're physical and long, they can go 6-foot-5 to 6-foot-7 across the front line. We had some shots that we didn't hit early, when we had a good look we just didn't convert it. But we wanted to attack the paint more." The Lancers tightened up on the ball control, with just six turnovers the rest of the contest. Gilmour trailed, 26-10, after the first quarter, but came out firing in the second quarter. The Lancers connected on six of seven 3-pointers, with David Pfundstein and Nick Illiano leading the way. Illiano had 13 of his team-high 23 in the first half, while Pfundstein had 11 of his 17, and they combined for six 3s in the second. Pfundstein hit his third with 1:42 left in the half to tie the game at 35-35. But a 4-0 Irish run to end the frame put them back ahead. The strength from beyond the arc created more lanes for the Lancers to cut to the basket. Illiano took advantage of that with two dunks in the second half, one on a baseline drive. "We play a lot of guys and we like a lot of what the guys bring," DeCrane said. "We used this game to find what the right combination is and we had a few wrinkles that we wanted to try on both ends of the floor with different pairings. We wanted to wear them down early, which was part of the game plan and the guys played well." But the lead still eluded Gilmour. Another Pfundstein 3 to end the third quarter tied things at 54-54 going to the final frame. The Lancers took their first lead at the start of the fourth as Pfindstein found Illiano for three and made it 57-54. Toledo Central Catholic battled back into the game and a Manny Johnson drive tied the game at 62-62 with 3:30 left. The next Irish possession, Cayden Kynard found Kaeden Carruthers down low for the lead. Kynard drew a foul and made both free throws to ice the game for the Irish. DeCrane said Gilmour will see many teams similar to Toledo Central Catholic in the postseason, and it's going to be a challenge they need to figure out. "We said this was going to be like a regional game," DeCrane said. "Northeast Ohio is a lot deeper in D-III than Toledo so you look at who we play, our strength of schedule is one of the best in the state in the divisions. We have high aspirations to win games like this. While we didn't in December, we plan to in March." The Irish were led by Isaiah Mack-Russell, who scored 25 even though he missed a lot of the fourth with foul trouble. Wardrop and Carruthers had 10 points each and Caruthers had nine rebounds. Gilmour aims to get back to winning ways when it travels to Avon Lake on Jan. 3.