I think you did fine considering, yeah.
Regarding the shadows, there's not a lot you could have done under the circumstances as both obvious solutions weren't very viable in that environment and with your budget.
Having your light sources higher up would have dropped the shadows lower and out of sight, but hobbyist portable light stands only go so high and in a gym there wasn't likely any other places to mount your lights.
Normally, the simple way to eliminate those shadows would have been doing some bouncing of the light, but again, you were in a gym so no handy low white ceiling or walls to help you out.
There's ways to get rid of those shadows in a big space like a gym, but you're looking at an investment in additional lighting gear and assistants that a "hobbyist parent working for free" budget just doesn't cover. You won't want to invest in giant, tilt-adjustable reflectors unless they're bringing in some income.