BUFFALO — Charlie Croff had just 11 points the last time he played at Buffalo State. That game ended in a 25-point loss last year.
He had 16 by halftime Monday. And Lockport didn’t lose.
The junior was a walking bucket. He knocked down five 3-pointers and matched his career-high with 37 points. And this time, he sent third-seeded Lockport past No. 2 McKinley, 78-67, in the Section VI Class AA1 semifinal round.
In their third consecutive trip to Buffalo State, the Lions are headed back to the sectional title game for the second consecutive season after not making it to a Section VI final since 1998. A year after losing to Jamestown, Lockport gets No. 1 Orchard Park at 8:30 p.m. Saturday in the title game.
“I just, you know, don’t want to lose,” Croff said. “I’m trying to come in and do whatever I possibly can for my team to win a game.”
Head coach Dave Gilson credited Croff as a key factor in advancing to the championship round, noting that although he’s struggled on this stage before, he put the game over his shoulder tonight.
When Croff is open and hot, he believes he can also create opportunities for his teammates in addition to helping pull off the win.
Caleb Barry had 18 points, Mike Griffin had nine and Maurice Woods, who ended the game in foul trouble, finished with 12 points. Woods was responsible for some key rebounds and timely buckets.
In general, the defense played well in zone coverage and grabbing boards on both sides of the court helped in the winning effort.
While Lockport held a lead for a majority of the game, McKinley kept it close for the entirety of the second half and clutched a three-point lead in the third before Lockport went on an 8-0 run, capped by a dunk from Barry, to take back the advantage.
“We were able to kind of sustain the rallies that they kept coming with, sustain the runs and things like that,” Gilson said. “We did a nice job just fighting back on our own and settling down when we needed to settle down.”
Part of the reason the team could keep their composure in the high pressure situations of the semifinal match was because of their experience in tough games.
Gilson purposely scheduled a more-difficult season leading up to playoffs to give his team experience in these situations. Not only did it pay off today, but it was beneficial throughout the season for exposing areas the team could clean up.
Last year, Lockport lost to Jamestown in the finals, a 25-point loss they’d like to avenge.
They’re ready to walk out of the gym with different results, and Croff believes they’ve already put some good work in. They just need to stay mentally prepared, and continue to give it their all in practice.
“We still got a lot of work to do,” Gilson said. “We told the kids when we were on the bus, right? This is a business trip. This wasn’t a vacation coming up here. So we still got some work to do.”