Boys Basketball: Mateo Medina heats up, helps Elyria past Midview

EATON TWP. — Mateo Medina came alive in the third quarter Friday at Midview, and Elyria sewed up third place in the Southwestern Conference. Medina, a junior, scored 15 of his game-high 22 points in the key quarter, giving the Pioneers the 60-51 win over the never-say-die Middies. Elyria (16-6) ended the regular season winning 12 of its final 13 games. The only blemish was a loss at North Ridgeville. Midview enters the postseason at 12-10. "Started the game, I was a little off," said Medina. "I was 0-for-3, 0-for-4, something like that. I really thought picking up the pressure on defense got me and Ryan going on offense." "He brings a bunch of energy," said senior captain Ryan Walsh. "That long halftime may have given him a little more energy on defense, jumping all around getting steals. We wanted to pick the game's pace up. I think he did that all on his own." Coach Brett Larrick loves how his team has played lately. "We think we've kept getting better," he said. "Our guys got back to working hard after that Ridgeville game with good, hard practices. I think our guys are excited, we're excited. We've put ourselves in a good position (for the postseason)." Walsh added 20 points. He said he wasn't feeling 100 percent going in but got Elyria started by scoring its first eight points, hitting two 3-pointers and a layup without missing. "I was throwing up a little bit (Thursday night)," he said. "Came out really feeling well. I knew they'd be in zone, just get ready to catch and shoot." Medina made all six of his field goal attempts in the third quarter — three coming from beyond the 3-point arc. He managed to ice the game by hitting three of four free throws in the final minute. "He got us going — 15 in the third quarter," said Larrick. "We needed it. I thought all of our guys picked it up, energy level, playing faster. We wanted to get out and go. I thought we did that." Elyria outscored the Middies 25-15 after an extended halftime on Senior Night before a packed crowd at Kubuski Gymnasium. The Pioneers scored the final 10 points of the quarter to enter the final eight minutes with a comfortable 48-35 lead. The Middies managed to make it very uncomfortable with an 11-2 run to start the final quarter to trim the deficit to 50-46 with 4:35 still to play. "We had it at three," Midview coach Jim Brabenic said of Elyria's late third-quarter run. "Then we turned the ball over four or five times in a row and they got it up to 13 just simply by getting their hands on some passes that we threw. "I'm proud of our guys. I thought they played hard the whole time. If we're going down, we're going down swinging." Herman Plas was deadly from the corners, winding up with 17 points. Ryan Runser and David Moore each had 10. Drew DiFranco led Midview to a 38-35 rebound advantage with seven, and Moore, Plas, Runser and Marc Reed each had at least four. B.J. Todd, just a sophomore for Elyria, battled inside, picking up seven rebounds and getting to the foul line 12 times. He made only half of them, but his work inside was a factor. "It was a wild atmosphere," said Todd. "Stay focused, stay locked in and do what we had to do. We've had a lot more team chemistry on the court as the season went on." Elyria's zone defense may have been the savior in the final quarter. Midview, after slicing the lead to four, scored only five more points. The Middies tried nine 3-pointers but made only two. Contact Tim Gebhardt at (440) 329-7135 or timothygeb@msn.com. Elyria 60, Midview 51 Elyria (60): Ryan Walsh 6-4-20, Mateo Medina 7-5-22, Jayden Crutcher 1-1-4, B.J. Todd 1-6-8, Steven Furcron 0-0-0, Cam Bell 1-0-2, Xavier Church 1-0-2, Taylor Blanton 1-0-2. Totals 18-16-60. Midview (51): Marc Reed 2-0-4, Ryan Runser 4-0-10, David Moore 3-2-10, Herman Plas 7-0-17, Chris Calloway 0-0-0, Drew DiFranco 2-2-7, Steve Kumar 1-1-3, Evan DiFranco 0-0-0. Totals 19-5-51. Elyria&emsp;&emsp;10&emsp;&emsp;13&emsp;&emsp;25&emsp;&emsp;12&emsp;&emsp;&emsp;&emsp;—60 Midview&emsp;&emsp;7&emsp;&emsp;13&emsp;&emsp;15&emsp;&emsp;16&emsp;&emsp;&emsp;&emsp;—51 Three-point goals: Elyria 8-23 (Walsh 4, Medina 3, Crutcher), Midview 8-32 (Plas 3, Runser 2, Moore 2, D.DiFranco). Field goals: Elyria 18-44 (41 percent), Midview 19-55 (34.5 percent). Free throws: Elyria 16-24 (66 percent), Midview 5-8 (62.5 percent). Rebounds: Elyria 35 (Todd 6), Midview 38 (D.DiFranco 7). Turnovers: Elyria 11, Midview 14. Fouls: Elyria 8, Midview 17. Intentional Foul: Moore. Fouled Out: D.DiFranco.Junior varsity: Elyria, 48-36.