Girls basketball: Good (Alexis) Luckey not enough for Elyria against Bay

ELYRIA — Hard times continued for the Elyria girls basketball team, which committed 29 turnovers in a 54-32 loss to Bay on Monday night. The Pioneers (1-13) had high hopes entering the game after snapping their 15-game losing streak Saturday that dated back to Feb. 4, 2024, with a 33-31 win over Amherst. But the Success didn't carry over for the Pioneers, who were held to six points or less in three out of four quarters. Freshman Alexis Luckey led Elyria with 12 points and 11 rebounds. Six of her points came in the third quarter when Elyria made a 12-0 run to open the second half and cut Bay's lead to seven with 4:03 left in the third. "We were doing a better job communicating in the third quarter," Luckey said. "The chemistry was there." That was as close as Elyria got, however. Bay regained some distance when Maddie Bigler made a layup for a 43-29 lead to cap a 12-3 run with 5:51 left in the game. Nine fourth quarter turnovers stymied Elyria's efforts as Bay closed the game out with an 11-3 scoring run. "We were getting tired by that point," Luckey said. "Hustling back on defense was the hardest part. I would attribute all of our mistakes mostly to overdribbling and not looking up and paying better attention. We just need to do a better job of hustling and communicating better." No other Elyria player scored more than six points. The Rockets also dominated in the depth department, winning 18-1 in bench scoring. "We just talked about valuing the basketball," Elyria coach Tony Brown said. "Making sure each possession means something, not just flinging the ball around. We had a couple of turnovers where we threw the ball behind our own people's back. We have it every game. We have one quarter where we play phenomenal. We click. Injuries don't help a lot. "We don't have synergy like you might normally have at this point in the season. We should be jelling and rolling. It makes sense at times. It doesn't make sense all the time so that's why you find yourself scoring six points, six points and then 15 points, but then back to the six points. It's about being poised and having character, making sure you're covering the basics of assessing before you make a decision. It was a very winnable game." Elyria shot just 33 percent from floor (13-of-40) and 30 percent from the free throw line. "We left a lot on the court again," Brown said. "We got Luckey going tonight, but we have to accent those things. We have to have balance and we don't have balance. We won Saturday. Sirriah (Drummer) had 20. No one else really scored. We've got to have balance. We adhere to our practice plans well, but it doesn't translate over to the games. On the court there's no chemistry." Contact Paul Heyse at (440) 329-7135 or ctsports@chroniclet.com. Bay 54, Elyria 32 BAY (54): Quinn O'Leary 4-2-11, Anna Weingart 2-0-4, Caroline Chilton 3-1-7, Grace Manoloff 0-3-3, Nora Trefz 5-0-11, Madelyn Lee 4-2-11, Maddie Bigler 3-0-6, Grace Naughton 0-1-1, Sarah Hein 0-0-0. Totals 20-10-54.ELYRIA (32): Sirriah Drummer 2-0-5, Arabella Sauer 2-0-6, Alexis Luckey 5-2-12, Ava Wahn 2-0-4, KaMariana Scott 2-0-4, Jessalyn Sanders 0-1-1. Totals 13-3-32. Bay&emsp;&emsp; 17&emsp;&emsp;14&emsp; &emsp;6&emsp;&emsp;17&emsp;&emsp;—&emsp;&emsp;54Elyria&emsp;&emsp;6&emsp; &emsp;6 &emsp;&emsp;15&emsp;&emsp; 5&emsp;&emsp;—&emsp;&emsp;32 Three-point goals: Bay (O'Leary, Trefz, Lee, Bigler), Elyria (Sauer 2, Drummer). Field goals: Bay 20-44 (45 percent), Elyria 13-40 (33 percent). Free throws: Bay 10-18 (56 percent), Elyria 3-10 (30 percent). Rebounds: Bay 28, Elyria 31. Turnovers: Bay 16. Elyria 29. Team fouls: Bay 14. Elyria 15.Junior varsity: Bay, 27-16