Boys basketball: Game gets away from Elyria Catholic in second half in season-opening loss to Olmsted Falls

EATON TWP. — Jason Smith's second debut as Elyria Catholic's basketball coach didn't go as planned. The Panthers lost the lead in the second half and fell 68-56 to Olmsted Falls during the 24th annual DiFranco Memorial Classic at Midview. It was Elyria Catholic's first time in the DiFranco Classic since 2017 when it was still a tournament format. EC lost the championship game to Midview that year. For Falls, it's the first time the Bulldogs were invited to play. "Olmsted Falls is a really well-coached team," said Smith, who's in his second stint as EC's coach. "We knew it going in. Their execution is really good, especially in the half-court. They run their five-out sets beautifully. We were hoping to put a little more pressure on the ball to prevent the drives." Especially to start the third quarter. EC had a 26-16 lead midway through the second quarter but the turnovers started to take their toll and the Bulldogs got hot — particularly in the third quarter when they sank six of 11 3-point shots on their way to a 26-point period. The main culprit was senior Ryan Raich, who drained five of his nine 3-point attempts on the night. He was 4-of-5 in the third quarter. The Panthers didn't help themselves either by turning the ball over eight times in the third quarter and 23 times in all. All is not lost for the young and inexperienced Panthers. There were moments when they played extremely well. Sophomore Mattise Williams, son of former great Billy Jo Williams, will be a force to be reckoned with this season. He finished with 23 points to lead all scorers, going 10-of-14 from the field and 3-of-4 from three. Junior Purvie Smallwood III added 10 points. "Everything about our offense starts from the transition," Smith said. "We wanted to get into three-on-two situations as much as we could. We did that the first half. We finished well. The second half, our press break just got away from us." For Olmsted Falls coach Chris DeLisio, it was a satisfying season opener, especially the way the Bulldogs played in the second half. "That's what we were looking for in the first half," he said. "I didn't feel the first half we played with much flow or pace. It looked like the first basketball game (of the season). We hung tough enough in the first half." Contact Tim Gebhardt at (440) 329-7135 or timothygeb@msn.com. Olmsted Falls 68, Elyria Catholic 56 &emsp;&emsp; ELYRIA CATHOLIC (56): Omarion.Miller 2-0-4, Purvie Smallwood 4-0-10, Sean O'Donnell 0-0-0, Tyler Wilson 4-0-8, Matisse Williams 10-0-23, Donovan Shumpert 2-0-4, Trent Merrell 2-0-4, Zeke Lind 1-0-3 Totals 25-0-56. OLMSTED FALLS (68): Owen Timura 2-0-6, Logan Connelly 2-0-4, Nate Ryan 3-0-8, Mason Cerovac 7-3-17, Ryan Raich 5-0-15, Jaiden Beyer 1-0-2, Chris Tenn 1-2-5, Jake Pasiak 1-0-2, Cole Odon 3-0-9, Angelo Longo 0-0-0. Totals 25-7-68. Elyria Catholic&emsp;15&emsp;16&emsp;14&emsp;11&emsp;—&emsp;56Olmsted Falls &emsp;12&emsp;15&emsp;26&emsp;15&emsp;—&emsp;68 Three-point goals: Elyria Catholic 6-12 (Williams 3, Smallwood 2, Lind). Olmsted Falls 11-26 (Raich 5, Odon 3, Ryan 2, Tenn). Field goals: Elyria Catholic 25-47 (53 percent), Olmsted Falls 25-61 (41 percent). Free throws: Elyria Catholic 0-1 (0 percent), Olmsted Falls 7-8 (87.5 percent). Rebounds: Elyria Catholic 25 (Shumpert 8), Olmsted Falls 34 (Odon 6). Turnovers: Elyria Catholic 24, Olmsted Falls 16. Fouls: Elyria Catholic 15, Olmsted Falls 9. Fouled out: Miller.