But on Thursday night in Barberton, the Cowboys couldn’t find enough offense in transition or from the perimeter and allowed too many points in the paint from Gilmour Academy in a 59-52 loss to the Lancers.

“When you reach this level, you have to execute on a high level, and we did not do that tonight,” Chaney coach Marlon McGaughy said. “They took away our strength, our guard play, with a box-and-one and triangle-and-two and we didn’t handle that well. We never got into a real flow and (Gilmour Academy) did a nice job taking away our transition as well.”

The Cowboys, who finish the season at 12-7, led 15-5 after the first quarter but were outscored 54-37 the remainder of the contest.

“We started pretty well and were able to force some turnovers, and Sharrod (Taylor) hit back-to-back 3s to begin the game,” McGaughy said. “But after that first quarter, we struggled on offense and we allowed their top player to get some open looks. He knocked them down and they got right back into it.”

Staff photo / Brad Emerine Chaney's Cameron Lawrence passes to a teammate while being guarded by Gilmour Academy's Vinny Bandwen during their Division II regional semifinal at Barberton. The Cowboys lost 59-52.

Chaney led 10-1 out of the gate and held Ben DeMell scoreless in the first 8 minutes. But DeMell netted three 3-pointers and scored 11 points in the second period as the Lancers pulled within 27-22 by halftime.

DeMell, who finished with 26 points, scored Gilmour Academy’s first nine points of the third quarter and, in the final minute, Ryan Mueller and Brandon Rose scored on drives as the game was knotted at 37 entering the final quarter.

Chaney trailed 45-42 midway through the fourth period when Matt Benisek made a 3-pointer for his lone points of the contest to make it 48-42.

A bucket by Cameron Lawrence trimmed Chaney’s deficit to 54-50 with 28 seconds left, but the Lancers made five of their final six free-throw attempts to salt the game away.

“It was a good year and we’re going to miss our three seniors (Taylor, Lawrence and Quincy Jones), but we’ve got a lot of sophomores and juniors who got this experience this year and will be better in the future because of it.

“We want them to continue to do the right things and build on the foundation we’ve laid these past two years. I’m proud of the seniors for persevering through this tough year. We had adversity with the COVID-19 and we also played a heck of a schedule, which will help us down the road.”