Boys basketball: Jayden Crutcher nails seven 3-pointers, scores 26 points to lead Elyria past Oberlin

ELYRIA — On Elyria High's annual alumni night, Jayden Crutcher treated the old-school players in attendance to quite a shooting performance. Crutcher hit seven 3-pointers — five in a row at one point — in leading Elyria past Oberlin 67-33 in a non-conference game Saturday. Crutcher, who was 7-of-10 from 3-point range, finished his evening early with 26 points — 22 coming in the first half. The Pioneers evened their mark at 5-5 while the Phoenix slipped to 4-7. "Tough loss to the No. 1 team in our conference," Crutcher said of Friday's 63-60 setback to Avon Lake. "I had to do whatever I can to win (Saturday) to move on from the loss. Every time I hit two or three in a row, I feel like I'm on fire." Crutcher helped the Pioneers go 15-of-27 from beyond the arc, just two shy of the school record set against Sandusky in 2016. Crutcher's seven 3-pointers were just two off the school mark set by Louis Tumblin in 2006. Elyria coach Brett Larrick once hit eight threes in a game in 1993. Not only did the Pioneers shoot the 3-ball well, they cleaned up on their misses, grabbing 17 offensive boards and outrebounding Oberlin 42-27. "I thought we had a lot of guys do a lot of good things," Larrick said. "Alumni night, we had some of them speak in our locker room before the game. Talked about the pride and the passion. You can just see the history — how many were here from decades. I thought our guys played with that pride and passion. I thought it really showed. "Jayden obviously got really hot and shot the ball really well. That was good to see. Mateo (Medina) got hot the second quarter, but I'll tell you what, Steven (Furcron) and B.J. (Todd) battled inside. Ryan (Walsh) probably had more assists than points and handling their pressure." Elyria trailed 11-8 midway through the first quarter when Crutcher went on a hot streak. He made a three and a layup and found B.J. Todd open for a layup. Two more threes from Medina and the Pioneers led 21-13 after one. In the second quarter, Crutcher had four 3-pointers and two free throws as Elyria went on a 14-0 run to push the lead to 43-17 with 2:34 left in the half. Crutcher and freshman Cam Bell finished the half with two more threes to give the Pioneers a 49-19 halftime advantage. Elyria got the game to a running clock in the third quarter at 57-21, allowing Larrick to substitute freely the rest of the game. Todd finished with 11 rebounds and Furcron had seven. Walsh, who scored only eight points, had at least six assists and a couple other passes that should have been. Omario Hopkins led the Phoenix with 12 points. Isaac Thompson had nine with nine rebounds but Oberlin shot only 36 percent from the floor with no 3-pointers. For Oberlin coach Phil Payne, it was a tough night, especially seeing the rebounding disparity. The Phoenix were coming off a nice win over Clearview on Friday. "Very frustrating," he said. "With all this height and athleticism, we should never get outrebounded no matter who we play. That's the way I feel. "Ryan had only eight points, I believe but I know how Ryan plays. He doesn't care about his points. He cares about getting that 'W' at the end of the day. We've got a lot of work to do on Monday." WELCOME BACK: Elyria High not only honored its returning alumni (32 players, five coaches) but made a special tribute to Hall-of-Fame coach Bob Walsh, who coached at both schools, winning the 1986 state championship at Oberlin. There were four players and assistant coach Ed "Glider" Dolinar who returned off that championship team and another handful on hand to greet their old coach. Contact Tim Gebhardt at (440) 329-7135 or timothygeb@msn.com. Elyria 67, Oberlin 33 OBERLIN (33): Marcus Perry 1-0-2, Omario Hopkins 6-0-12, Kevyn Steen 1-0-2, Chris Walker 3-0-6, Isaac Thompson 2-5-9, Josiah Bowen-Pride 1-0-2, Isaiah Jones-Smith 0-0-0, Korrie Freeman 0-0-0, Isaac Shahid 0-0-0, Markell Eichler 0-0-0, Joe Holt 0-0-0. Totals 14-5-33. ELYRIA (67): Ryan Walsh 2-3-8, Mateo Medina 5-0-13, Jayden Crutcher 8-3-26, Cam Bell 2-1-7, Steven Furcron 0-0-0, Taylor Blanton 1-0-3, B.J. Todd 1-2-4, Darrion Crawford 0-0-0, Pierre Alston 0-0-0, Nic Rogers 1-1-3, Rondell Grimmett 1-0-3. Totals 21-10-67. Oberlin&emsp;&emsp;13&emsp;&emsp; 6&emsp;&emsp; 8&emsp;&emsp;6&emsp;&emsp;—&emsp;&emsp;33Elyria&emsp;&emsp; 21&emsp;&emsp;28&emsp;&emsp;12&emsp;&emsp;6&emsp;&emsp;—&emsp;&emsp;67 Three-point goals: Oberlin 0-10, Elyria 15-27 (Crutcher 7, Medina 3, Bell 2, Walsh, Blanton, Grimmett). Field goals: Oberlin 14-39 (36 percent), Elyria 21-63 (33 percent). Free throws: Oberlin 5-10 (50 percent), Elyria 10-13 (77 percent). Rebounds: Oberlin 27 (Thompson 9), Elyria 42 (Todd 11). Turnovers: Oberlin 19, Elyria 5. Fouls: Oberlin 13, Elyria 14. Junior varsity: Elyria, 54-29