Boys basketball: Two gyms, one loss ... Elyria weathers change of venues but can't pull out win against St. Edward

LAKEWOOD — A couple rebounds, a couple plays, a couple calls. Take your pick, they all ended up costing Elyria in a 63-58 loss to St. Edward in a Division I district semifinal Wednesday night at Lakewood High School. Give the Eagles credit. With their tournament pedigree, they found a way to win. The game started under the most bizarre of situations. A leaky roof at the St. Edward gym left a puddle dangerous enough to cause Elyria's Jermiah Daniels to slip and fall, forcing the game to be moved to Lakewood High after only a minute of play. Despite the delay and change of venue, Elyria never lost its focus or desire to win. The Pioneers had the early advantage and still led with 4:37 left in the game but the Eagles were able to make the plays late to pull out the victory. The Pioneers led 28-18 with 3:46 left in the first half but St. Edward closed on a 14-5 run to cut the deficit to 33-32 at halftime. Again, in the third quarter, the Pioneers built a 40-34 advantage and still led 48-42 with a half-minute left only to allow the Eagles to pull within 48-45 on a Boden Grant rebound basket and free throw. Grant, all of 6-foot-3, was the biggest thorn in Elyria's side. He came up with several key rebounds and had a number of close-range baskets to turn the momentum. Boden collected 11 rebounds and scored 17 points. St. Edward won the rebound battle, 34-20. This St. Edward team (15-8) isn't one of the powerhouse versions of the Eagles on the court but showed enough grit and determination to beat Elyria (17-6) and advance to Saturday's district final against Cleveland Heights (14-9). "I just told the guys, really, really proud," Elyria coach Brett Larrick said. "Adversity is kind of what we've been through, right? Gym change, for us to come out, I thought we did a really good job handling the circumstances and still coming out focused." Jayden Crutcher, Elyria's all-time leading scorer, was sick all day but managed to play anyway. He scored 14 points but had a good look in the last few seconds that could have tied the game at 61 only to have it hit the front of the rim and bounce St. Edward's way. The Eagles, who had made only three of 12 free throws through three quarters, converted four in a row in the final seconds. "I thought it was going in," Crutcher said. "I had a good look at that one." The Pioneers can hold their heads high. Kendyll Compton, the junior transfer from Lutheran West, was guarded closely all night but still managed to score 17 points. He also had six rebounds. Taylor Blanton carried the team in the early going and ended up with 13 points. Cam Bell and Daniels handled St. Edward's defense well. Daniels scored nine points and had a handful of assists. Larrick was also able to get valuable minutes off the bench from Christian Rogers, Pierre Alston, Seth Wilkerson and Nicolas Rogers. "We just fell short," Blanton said. "They did make a couple plays. They hit us hard on the boards. We really didn't get the shot that we needed." Bell had five rebounds but also had an unfortunate technical foul called on him when an official thought he bounced the ball hard off the floor on a foul call. In reality, it was one of St. Edward's players that did the bouncing. "Couple little plays here and there," Larrick said. "I'll have to watch the tape to see some of the calls that swung the game. I don't think we were even involved in it (the technical). I'll look at the tape and I hope I'm wrong. I hope the game didn't flip because of that. "Really proud of our guys — our senior group. Some of those guys, 18 wins, 18 wins, 17 wins — district three years. I just told them two years ago we got outmatched here (by St. Edward). We closed that gap. Now we have to keep making those steps forward." Contact Tim Gebhardt at (440) 329-7135 or timothygeb@msn.com. St. Edward 63, Elyria 58 ELYRIA (58): Cam Bell 1-1-3, Jermiah Daniels 4-0-9, Taylor Blanton 5-0-13, Jayden Crutcher 5-1-14, Kendyll Compton 6-4-17, Christian Rogers 0-0-0, Pierre Alston 0-0-0, Seth Wilkerson 0-2-2, Nicolas Rogers 0-0-0. Totals 21-8-58. ST. EDWARD (63): JT Keisheimer 2-1-7, Drew Yurcich 3-0-8, Boden Grant 8-1-17, Zymir Knox 3-2-8, Bryan Viosich 4-4-19, Luke Vislosky 0-2-2, Carson Link 1-0-2, Ian Murray 0-0-0. Totals 23-10-63. Elyria&emsp; 14&emsp;19&emsp;15&emsp;10&emsp;—&emsp;58St. Edward&emsp;14&emsp;18&emsp;13&emsp;18&emsp;—&emsp;63 Three-point goals: Elyria 8-20 (Blanton 3, Crutcher 3, Daniels, Compton), St. Edward 7-17 (Viosich 3, Keisheimer 2, Yurcich 2). Field goals: Elyria 21-44 (48 percent), St. Edward 23-51 (45 percent). Free throws: Elyria 8-9 (88 percent), St. Edward 10-20 (50 percent). Rebounds: Elyria 20 (Compton 6), St. Edward 34 (Grant 11). Turnovers: Elyria 10, St. Edward 13. Fouls: Elyria 16, St. Edward 12. Technical: Bell.