Boys basketball: Elyria Catholic prevails in overtime against Holy Name

ELYRIA — It was an up-and-down effort but Elyria Catholic survived Tuesday night's overtime with a huge 82-75 victory over Holy Name at the Coliseum. The Panthers, appeared to have the game on ice by outscoring the Green Wave 18-3 to finish the third quarter, only to squander a 10-point lead in the fourth quarter by not scoring at all for nearly six minutes down the stretch. EC outscored Holy Name 17-10 in overtime. Elyria Catholic is unbeaten at 3-0 overall and 2-0 in the Great Lakes Conference. Holy Name lost for the first time in three games. "It's Game 3 of the season," EC coach Rob Palmer said. "We've got a lot of work to do to clean things up. It's good to see the depth and the size and the strength that we've got." Edward Wright continued his sizzling start to the season by scoring 23 points to lead the way but he had plenty of help. Branson Taylor had 18 points and 13 rebounds and Eli Palmer (12), Connor Trockley (11) and Jack Griffin (10) joined the double-figure scoring. "We know how to control the game," Wright said. "Sometimes we get sped up but either me, Branson or the other seniors, we all got it together and under control." When the Panthers got the ball inside to Taylor, he usually finished. He was 6-of-11 shooting and 6-of-8 from the free throw line. "My size is a blessing," said Taylor, a Pittsburgh football recruit who stands 6-foot-7 and weighs nearly 300 pounds. "Coach has us do about 30 minutes of free throws. It was a huge win." "It was personal for them for sure because last year we came out and beat them twice," said Trockley, who had a huge blocked shot and three big rebounds in overtime. "We knew they were coming out for our neck. We only had two days of practice for them — we couldn't goof around. Honestly, we didn't execute as well as we thought we could have but ended up making more plays at the end of the game." Elyria Catholic may have taken its foot off the gas a little early. The Panthers had a 65-55 lead with 5:50 left in the game when Holy Name inched its way back in it and eventually tied the game. EC committed six turnovers and missed two front ends of one-and-ones to help open the door. However, in overtime, Elyria Catholic outscored Holy Name 9-1 over the first two minutes and held on. Holy Name connected on 15 3-pointers to stay close. Jack Kenneally (17 points), Mike Lechler (15) and Sam Esposito (14) combined for 10 of 13 3-pointers. "It was not one of our better games but we kept them at bay to win the game," said Palmer. "It's exciting to know we can be so much better. We'll get there." Contact Tim Gebhardt at 329-7135 or timothygeb@msn.com. Elyria Catholic 82, Holy Name 75 (OT) Holy Name (75): Quentin Richardson 1-6-9, Jack Kenneally 5-4-17, Sean Springer 1-0-3, Tony Carter 3-2-10, Josh Tait 0-0-0, Armani Burton 0-0-0, Sam Esposito 4-3-14, Josh Petrilla 2-0-5, Mike Lechler 5-1-15, Logan O'Brien 1-0-2. Totals 22-16-75. Elyria Catholic (82): Edward Wright 8-5-23, Jack Griffin 1-8-10, Eli Palmer 4-1-12, Luke Costantino 0-0-0, Brandon Taylor 6-6-18, Jaret Frantz 0-0-0, Nate Damron 1-0-2, Connor Trockley 4-2-11, Jordan Taylor 2-2-6, Zach Gorczyca 0-0-0. Totals 26-24-82. Holy Name &emsp;&emsp;12 22 18 13 10 --75 Elyria Catholic &emsp;&emsp;18 17 23 7 17 --82 Three-point goals: Holy Name 15-28 (Lechler 4, Kenneally 3, Esposito 3, Carter 2, Richardson, Springer, Petrilla), Elyria Catholic 6-15 (Palmer 3, Wright 2, Trockley). Field goals: Holy Name 22-58 (38 percent), Elyria Catholic 26-58 (45 percent). Free throws: Holy Name 16-24 (66 percent), Elyria Catholic 24-34 (71 percent). Rebounds: Holy Name 40 (Carter 7), Elyria Catholic 42 (B.Taylor 13). Turnovers: Holy Name 15, Elyria Catholic 13. Fouls: Holy Name 23, Elyria Catholic 22. Fouled Out: None. Junior Varsity: Holy Name 66-63.