Boys basketball: Elyria wins SWC showdown with Berea-Midpark, stands alone in first place

BEREA — Don't tell the Elyria Pioneers they had no business winning Friday's Southwestern Conference showdown at Berea-Midpark. Don't tell them they had no chance with their point guard on the bench nursing a sprained ankle suffered in practice Monday. Tell them anything you want but the Pioneers found a way to down Berea-Midpark 83-74 to end the first half of the league schedule unscathed at 7-0. The young Titans (7-5, 6-1 SWC) gave it all they had but came up short when it mattered most. "We just told our guys this is one of the first games we kind of relied not on our offensive skills," Elyria coach Brett Larrick said. "But, starting the fourth quarter, they gave us a run and we got the lead. I thought we did a great job half-court defensively, locking in and not giving them open looks." Elyria (11-3 overall) outscored Berea-Midpark 29-15 over the final eight minutes to come back from a 59-52 deficit late in the third quarter and pull out the win. Jayden Crutcher led the way with 27 points, including a huge layup to end the third quarter that sparked the Pioneers to an 11-2 run to start the fourth. "We both came in undefeated (in the league) and we wanted to be No. 1 and be in first place and win the conference," Crutcher said. "We just came in with the mindset we wanted to win." It was a total team victory starting with Christian Rogers, subbing for Jermiah Daniels, the motor that drives the team who twisted his ankle in practice Monday and has missed the past two games. Yes, Rogers made some mistakes but he came up with a huge steal late in the game and followed that with a nice pass to Crutcher that led to a pair of free throws to ice the game. "I feel like I had some really bad turnovers the first half," Rogers said. "I talked to Jerry (Daniels) and he said to keep picking it up and make good passes and make good reads." All five of Elyria's starters ended in double figures, led by Crutcher. Compton had 15 and Taylor Blanton 13 — no surprise there — but Cam Bell and Rogers each scored 10 with Bell pulling in 15 rebounds. And don't forget Pierre Alston's contribution, particularly in the second quarter. With Compton in foul trouble and the Titans threatening to run away with the game, Alston scored Elyria's final eight points of the first half to keep it close at 43-36. "Obviously not having our starting point guard is a little different," Bell said. "He's been the energy for the team for a while. We know we have guys on the bench who can play. Chris had a couple turnovers but other than that did a great job breaking the press. He beat the press himself a lot getting up the court. "It just shows anybody on the team is willing to step up at any moment." Elyria did have 20 turnovers to just nine for Berea-Midpark but the Pioneers had only two in the final quarter. The Pioneers shot 60 percent from the floor to just 35 percent from the 3-point-happy Titans, who took 38 attempts from beyond the arc but made only nine. Elyria won the rebound battle 41-30 behind Bell, Crutcher (eight), Compton (seven, Taylor Blanton (five) and Rogers (four). "We told our guys, we're going to have turnovers," Larrick said. "But we need to keep playing. We're going to go on some runs, they're going to go on some runs, we just need to have the last one." Tyson Clay hit a 3-pointer that pulled the Titans within 76-71 but Rogers followed with a layup, and Compton, Crutcher and Bell each hit free throws to push the lead to 83-71 with 23 seconds left. Berea's Vincent Weaver's 3-pointer with eight seconds left finalized the score. The sophomore starters for Berea-Midpark — Nick Reese, Tyson Clay, Reid Braaten and Andre Alexander — will give opponents fits all year. Reese led the charge with 23 points but Titans coach Kevin Braaten felt their youth might have been the difference in the fourth quarter. "We have a lot of young kids who are learning on the job," said Braaten, Reid's father. "They play extremely hard. Sometimes we make young decisions. You saw that with some shots they shouldn't have took. It's all part of the process. I love this group and I know that they'll keep playing hard." Contact Tim Gebhardt at (440) 329-7135 or timothygeb@msn.com.&emsp; Elyria 83, Berea-Midpark 74 ELYRIA (58): Cam Bell 3-4-10, Christian Rogers 4-2-10, Taylor Blanton 4-2-13, Jayden Crutcher 9-7-27, Kendyll Compton 5-4-15, Pierre Alston 4-0-8, Seth Wilkerson 0-0-0, Freshus Turner 0-0-0, Antonio Pride 0-0-0. Totals 29-19-83.BEREA-MIDPARK (74): Dylan Maddox 4-2-10, Tyson Clay 2-2-7, Reid Braaton 3-0-8, Andre Alexander 6-1-16. Nick Reese 10-1-23, Manny Santiago 0-0-0, Cris Valentin 0-0-0, Vincent Weaver 1-0-3, Cal Maloney 2-3-7. Totals 28-9-74. Elyria&emsp; 21&emsp;15&emsp;18&emsp;29&emsp;—&emsp;83Berea-Midpark&emsp;21&emsp;22&emsp;16&emsp;15&emsp;—&emsp;74 Three-point goals: Elyria 6-14 (Blanton 3, Crutcher 2, Compton), Berea-Midpark 9-38 (Alexander 3, Braaten 2, Reece 2, Clay, Weaver). Field goals: Elyria 29-48 (60 percent), Berea-Midpark 28-79 (35 percent). Free throws: Elyria 19-26 (73 percent), Berea-Midpark 9-11 (82 percent). Rebounds: Elyria 41 (Bell 15), Berea-Midpark 30 (Reece 8). Turnovers: Elyria 20, Berea-Midpark 9. Team fouls: Elyria 10, Berea-Midpark 21. Fouled out: Clay. Junior varsity: Elyria, 61-59