The gym at Gilmour was packed, the crowd was electric, emotions ran high — all the elements were in place for the annual Battle of SOM with down-the-street neighborhood rival University on Jan. 10. Even Cavaliers coach Kenny Atkinson, whose son Anthony plays for Gilmour, was on hand for the proceedings. The host Lancers overcame the distractions and executed their game plan to a tee, took control with a 14-0 second-quarter run, and held the lead the rest of the way in a 75-68 victory. Gilmour improved to 7-5 in beating the Preppers for the fourth time in the last five meetings. University slipped to 8-4. Senior David Pfundstein scored a game-high 22 points for Gilmour, which included three 3s. @GALancerBoysBB senior David Pfundstein, who scored a game-high 22 points, talks about Gilmour’s 75-68 win over rival University pic.twitter.com/EllBu6d9CR — Jay Kron (@TownCenter2) January 11, 2025 The Lancers frustrated University with tenacious halfcourt defense, often sending two defenders to trap whoever had the ball for the Preppers, getting deflections on passes, and generally making it tough for the visitors to get open looks. Another box Gilmour was able to check was handling University’s pressure. Although the Lancers did turn the ball over 13 times in the second half, in the first half they handled it flawlessly, using deep outlet passes or having help in the backcourt to escape trap attempts. “They like to run and jump, and they love to shoot 3s,” Pfundstein said of the Preppers. “We were sagging off the guys that weren’t able to shoot 3s and doubling their shooters to get it out of their hands.” University took an early 10-5 lead, with Cole Croce and Aditya Nalla knocking down 3s in a game that was played at a high tempo from the start. Another Nalla triple made it 17-10 later in the frame, but the Lancers closed the quarter on a 9-2 run, capped by a corner 3 by Pfundstein to knot the score at 19-19 after one frame. Six Lancers scored, including twice by senior Zac Titas, in a run that took the score from 24-24 to 38-24 run in the second quarter. Gilmour fronted the Preppers at the defensive end and turned that intensity into points at the other end. The Lancers took a 43-31 lead into halftime. “We wanted to contest them early, and we wanted the tempo up,” Gilmour coach Dan DeCrane said. “We felt it was important to attack on the defensive end and not let them get comfortable. We wanted to chase them off their handoffs, and we got some deflections and some steals, and I thought we defended the rim pretty well in the first three or so quarters.” Gilmour kept the lead at double digits through the third quarter, except once when University cut it to nine on a Tylar Robinson bucket off a pass from Joshua Belcher, and took a 61-47 lead to the fourth. University never folded and began taking advantage of turnovers to put up 21 points in the fourth quarter, but the Preppers couldn’t get any closer than six before finally falling by seven. University, which has been a prolific 3-point shooting team this season, connected on just 6 of 28 outside the arc, and sank just 12 of 25 free throw attempts. “It was an awesome atmosphere, and it was fun for the players to play in it,” University coach Sean McDonnell said. “It hurts to lose a game that matters this much. Gilmour played really well. Their defense was outstanding, they hit some timely shots, and made some tough plays.” Nalla led the Preppers with 19 points. Robinson added 15, and Congdon finished with 11, with nine coming in the fourth quarter. “We really try to be careful with the timeouts, because pressure and fatigue are a big part of what we hope to be a factor in the game,” McDonnell said. “We like the guys to work out of jams on their own, but I probably regret not taking more. That (14-0) run was the difference. We were up, and after that we were down.” Gilmour held a 31-23 advantage on the boards and converted nine 3s. The Lancers strove to limit the Preppers’ runs and greatly succeeded in that aspect. “A big thing I thought we did a good job of tonight was to play through the runs,” DeCrane said. “We knew that the way they can score and the way they play that they would go on a few of those. We were able to weather them, and I didn’t have to call too many timeouts in the first half.” Gilmour will travel to Trinity on Jan. 14, and University will visit VASJ on Jan. 17. THE SCORE Gilmour 75, University 68