Matthew Parker’s late 3-pointer lifts Gilman basketball over John Carroll, 63-61

The Gilman basketball team was down a point against John Carroll with 11 seconds left Wednesday night when coach Will Bartz called timeout and calmly gave out instructions.

As the Greyhounds returned to the floor, he hurriedly barked out one more order: “You worked hard for this — enjoy it.”

The Greyhounds did just that.

They got the ball to star guard Christian Winborne, and when the Patriots defense converged, he found sophomore guard Matthew Parker alone in the left corner.

Parker didn’t hesitate, launching a 3-pointer that found all net with three seconds left to provide Gilman with a thrilling 63-61 win over the visiting Patriots.

In addition to the clutch assist, Winborne scored a game-high 22 points to help the Greyhounds (4-3) end a three-game slide.

Trailing for most of the game, by as many as 11 and 33-25 going into the fourth quarter, Gilman showed resolve in overcoming all the obstacles the Patriots presented. The execution that led to the game-winning basket is what Bartz was most impressed by. Earlier in the fourth quarter, Winborne found Parker open on the right baseline, but he missed.

“We preach trust and Christian is like all-world, whatever, he’s got [scholarship] offers and all that stuff, but I loved that a couple plays before, he makes a pass to the same kid, who misses the shot in the moment. And then in an even a bigger moment, he still trusts [Parker] to make the right pass to the kid,” Bartz said. “That’s why I’m here as a coach — to have that moment and share that with them is special.”

Parker finished with eight points and the unexpected role of hero.

“First time playing varsity [this season] and you hit that big shot for the win,” Bartz said. “It just feels good, feels good for the team and it gives us some momentum when we go to Spalding on Friday.”

The Patriots found their form late in the first quarter, going on a 21-3 run behind Jeannot Basima, who scored eight of his 14 points in the stretch, and Tyson Commanders, whose team-high 17 points included a 3-pointer that gave the visitors a 27-16 lead with 3:51 left in the first half.

But the Greyhounds opened the third quarter with six straight points, including two baskets from Jalen Marshall, to cut the lead to 33-31.

After Gilman took its first lead with 6:11 left in the game when Malik Missouri (13 points) hit a 3-pointer at the top of the key to make it 53-52, the Patriots quickly reclaimed an advantage that would increase to 61-55 with 2:40 to play.

Stops on defense and finding the open man on offense proved the difference for the Greyhounds, who got a follow from Matthew Cooper and then a 3-pointer from Winborne to cut the deficit to 61-60 with 1:34 left.

Parker’s 3-pointer was the last of the offense. The Patriots had one final desperation heave just past halfcourt by Jalen Bryant that was off the mark.

“We needed it — that’s something you only talk to the coaching staff about,” Bartz said. “The way the schedule is set up this year — we were at Mount Carmel, St. Frances, Mount St. Joe, John Carroll and Spalding on Friday. That’s a tough five-game stretch there. It’s kind of fun to have the opportunity, but we needed this to get back on track and for the kids to enjoy the success because it’s been challenging. I’m really proud of them.”

John Carroll fell to 2-5 on the season with a home game against Gerstell next on Friday. Patriots coach Seth Goldberg is seeing promise, and with the condensed, unconventional season because of COVID, patience is required.

“I keep telling the kids our goal is to keep getting better every day,” he said. “The first couple of weeks we were trying to figure out how to win games, but the reality for us is, we got to focus on just being better every day. And so we’ve worked on that – it’s not a habit for us yet, but we’re getting there. And we’re going to get there. I look at a lot of good moments tonight and a lot of tough moments tonight and we’re going to grow from it and we’re going to get better.”

JC – Bryant 7, Commander 17, Basima 14, Tchilombo 6, Vaughn 7, Jakubowski 7, Long Jr. 3. Totals: 23 11-18 61

G – Winborne 22, Lane 4, Marshall 8, Missouri 13, Cooper 8, Parker 8. Totals: 25 5-8 63

Half: JC, 33-25