Boys Basketball: Brett Larrick becomes Elyria's all-time wins leader

AVON LAKE — Brett Larrick won't soon forget his record-breaking win. The Elyria coach had to wonder if it would come at all the way the game started Tuesday, with Avon Lake controlling the action and the score. In the end, the Pioneers were able to put away the game 77-56 to register Larrick's 217th victory, the most in Pioneers history. He passed Dale Reichenbach's 216 collected during his glorious 13-year career from 1953-1966. "It was nice to get it, that's for sure, but we knew it wasn't going to be easy," Larrick said. "If you watch (Avon Lake) on tape last week, they played Lorain down to the wire, winning a lot of that game, winning over Amherst the whole game. We tried to tell our guys they'll come out fast and play with confidence." "I thought we had a chance to get these guys," said Avon Lake coach Eric Smith. "We gave a little scare and they had to play. Our guys were ready to play." Larrick credited his supporting cast and family over his 17-year career for leading him to the record. "It's really, really special," he said. "It's a tremendous honor. Very happy to get it over with. I can't tell you how many great players we've had, teams we've had and great coaches. This may be an individual thing, but it's the furthest thing from it. The support from my family over the 17 years has been great." On Tuesday, perhaps the Pioneers were thinking back to their 101-65 romp the first time the teams played, but the Shoremen are much improved. Avon Lake (3-15 overall, 3-8 Southwestern Conference) pulled ahead 18-8 at the end of one and extended the lead to 20-8 off a short shot inside from junior Jacob Cooke to start the second quarter. Junior Cam Bell managed to keep the Pioneers (14-4, 10-1) in the game with some aggressive play inside. "I was in the middle of (Avon Lake's) 2-3 zone," said Bell, who finished with a season-high 18 points. "Obviously I was hitting shots trying to keep us in the game. All credit to my guys. They had a lot of attention on them but they were able to get me ball in the middle." "(Bell) kept them in it the first half," Smith said. "That's the sign of a good basketball player and the sign of a good basketball team." Elyria had a nightmare first quarter, hitting just four of its 17 shots from the field, while Avon Lake made seven of 12, including a pair of 3-pointers from Cameron Moore. Trent Smith couldn't miss, hitting all three of his shots and adding a pair of free throws. Senior Jayden Crutcher, who is on the verge of setting Elyria's career scoring mark, was 3-for-9 in the first half, and his sidekick, junior Kendyll Compton, was 1-for-6. But Bell hit five of his seven shots — four of five in the second quarter along with two free throws — as the Pioneers took the lead, 31-30, in the final minute of the half. Freshman Liam Besaw's jumper from the foul line gave Avon Lake the halftime lead, 32-31. The complexion of the game quickly changed in the third quarter. "The first half I was forcing it a little bit," said Crutcher, who is 10 points away from tying Louis Tumblin's 1,419 points. "But I just found my shot and kept going. At half, Coach was saying we had to pick up our energy on defense. We had to get more fast breaks, wide-open layups." After that dreadful start, Crutcher and Compton got hot, combining for 33 points in the second half as Elyria outscored Avon Lake 46-24. Crutcher finished with 20 points, hitting his last five shots, including a trio of 3-pointers. Compton made all six of his second-half shots to finish with 17 points. The Pioneers were 28-of-50 (56 percent) after the first quarter. "I thought it was really important that we kind of weathered the storm," Larrick said. "Second quarter, we had some guys really step up and give us some energy. Cam Bell was huge. I thought Jerry (Jermiah Daniels), Chris Rogers and Nic Rogers really set the tone energy-wise and carried us to that third quarter." The pressure from the traps and rotations at midcourt took its toll. Avon Lake committed 14 turnovers after the first quarter. "The second half was played at pace that we didn't want to play," Smith said. "We want to play fast, but they are very good at what they do. The pace got going quicker than what we wanted it to go." Contact Tim Gebhardt at (440) 329-7135 or timothygeb@msn.com. Elyria 77, Avon Lake 56&emsp;&emsp; ELYRIA (77): Cam Bell 7-2-18, Jermiah Daniels 2-0-4, Taylor Blanton 0-0-0, Jayden Crutcher 10-0-25, Kendyll Compton 7-1-17, Christian Rogers 1-0-3, Pierre Alston 2-0-4, Nicolas Rogers 1-0-2, Freshus Turner 1-0-2, Antonio Pride 0-0-0, Isaiah Hill 0-0-0, Seth Wilkerson 1-0-2. Totals 32-3-77. AVON LAKE (66): Trent Smith 5-2-13, Cameron Moore 3-1-10, Luke Gillespie 4-1-10, Ezra Jones 2-0-5, Liam Besaw 2-0-4, Joe Falish 1-0-3, Jacob Cooke 2-0-5, Alex Soloff 0-00, JP Gannon 1-0-2, Tucker Budzar 2-0-4, JJ Bradley 0-0-0, Mason Ambrose 0-0-0. Totals 22-4-56.Elyria&emsp;&emsp;8&emsp;&emsp;23&emsp;&emsp;25&emsp;&emsp;21&emsp;&emsp;&emsp;&emsp;—&emsp;77Avon Lake&emsp;&emsp;18&emsp;&emsp;14&emsp;&emsp;12&emsp;&emsp;12 &emsp;&emsp;&emsp;&emsp;—&emsp;56Three-point goals: Elyria 10-25 (Crutcher 5, Bell 2, Compton 2, C.Rogers), Avon Lake 8-17 (Moore 3, Smith, Gillespie, Jones, Falish, Cooke). Field goals: Elyria 32-67 (48 percent), Avon Lake 22-48 (46 percent). Free throws: Elyria 3-3 (100 percent), Avon Lake 4-6 (66 percent). Rebounds: Elyria 35 (Bell 8), Avon Lake 30 (Smith 8). Turnovers: Elyria 5, Avon Lake 16. Fouls: Elyria 11, Avon Lake 6. Junior Varsity: Elyria, 63-38.