Boys basketball: Elyria gets lopsided victory over rival Lorain to stay unbeaten

ELYRIA — It's been a long time since Elyria has beaten Lorain by 38 points. Saturday, in a non-conference game between the county's two biggest schools, the Pioneers proved to be too quick, too deep and too good for the Titans in a 74-36 rout. Elyria remained unbeaten at 4-0 while Lorain dropped its third straight to start the season. "Our focus was to stay within ourselves, do what we do," said Elyria coach Brett Larrick. "We put it on the board. Do your job. Play with effort, enthusiasm and energy. Man, this four-game stretch has been unbelievable." Doing what they do has been special, especially on the defensive end. Elyria had beaten Toledo Whitmer, Cleveland Heights and Solon, all by double digits, coming into Saturday's game against its oldest rival. Lorain came in on the heels of losing to Mentor on Friday and North Ridgeville last week by 27- and 18-point margins. You have to go back 40 years to Feb. 22, 1985, to see a bigger deficit. Elyria defeated Lorain 82-33 in Buckeye Conference play. That team was led by Brian Rogers, Jared Wilbanks, Michael Martin and Mark Cannon. Ironically, Brian Rogers is the grandfather of Christopher and Ethan Rogers, who had a hand in Saturday's game. Lorain won last year's game, 64-60, on its home floor and had beaten the Pioneers 10 of 15 times before Saturday since 2010-11, when Lorain consolidated its schools. "They're both really, really good," said Lorain coach Matt Kielian, when asked about losing big to both Mentor and Elyria on the same weekend. "The positives out of our group — we didn't lie down. We kept fighting. It's going to take a little bit of time. I'm not giving up on them and they're not giving up on me. We've got a lot of work to do." Elyria jumped in front 16-0 to start the game, turning over the Titans seven times in the first quarter. By halftime, it was 51-19, and it didn't take long for the Pioneers to reach the 35-point margin required for a running clock. Jermiah Daniels was the lone player to reach double figures for Elyria with 17 points, but 11 Pioneers scored and eight scored at least six points. On the offensive end, they moved the ball freely, finding the open shooter and finishing hitting 58 percent from the floor, with nine 3-pointers on 19 attempts. If there was one area of concern, it was free throws, where Elyria missed five of its six tries. "We scored 74 points with only one guy in double figures," said Larrick. "We had nine or 10 that were almost in double figures, which is really, really good. A game like this is always tough because you get caught up in the emotion and want to do things individually. Our guys did a tremendous job of wanting to be us and be a team and be together. When you defend hard, you can get out and run." "We definitely did some homework on their game (Friday)," said Daniels. "We knew they couldn't do too well with pressure and we're doing really well at rotating, getting at the pressure quick. That was the goal. We definitely communicate a lot, so we're confident in what we're doing." "When we can share the ball, it's tough to take away," said Larrick. "Guys were in the right spots. When you do that, who do you want to take away because other guys react. Our guys do a really nice job of being unselfish." Ethan Rogers had nine points. Rondell Grimmett finished with eight and Tink Shelton and Micah Jackson seven each. Cam Bell, Kendyll Compton and Seth Wilkerson each scored six. Bell led the rebounding with five but again nine others cleared at least one rebound with Shelton getting four, Compton, Grimmett, Seth Wilkerson, Ethan Rogers and Isaiah Hill three each. On defense, Daniels, Shelton and Christian Rogers were the main culprits causing the turnovers. "Tink does a great job of ramping up our pressure, energy and intensity on defense," said Larrick. "Then you bring Chris (Rogers) in to fly around and Jerry (Daniels) and Kendyll. There's a lot of different guys we can throw at people." Lorain was led by Jeramiah Daniels with 14 points and five rebounds. Contact Tim Gebhardt at 329-7135 or timothygeb@msn.com. Elyria 74, Lorain 36 Lorain (36): Kane Taliano 2-0-4, Jeramiah Daniels 6-2-14, Jaylen Jackson 2-2-6. Julian Turner 1-0-2, Javell Morris 2-2-7, Brandon Serrano 0-0-0, Jah'Meir Booker 1-0-3, Dominic Andulics-Valentine 0-0-0, William Rudolph 0-0-0, Isaiah Maldonado 0-0-0. Totals 14-6-36. Elyria (74): Cam Bell 3-0-6, Rondell Grimmett 3-0-8, Jermiah Daniels 6-1-17, Tink Shelton 3-0-7, Kendyll Compton 3-0-6, Seth Wilkerson 3-0-6, Christian Rogers 1-0-3, MIcah Jackson 3-0-7, Ethan Rogers 4-0-9, Isaiah Hill 1-0-2, Mike Lawrence 2-0-4, Arris Malone 0-0-0, Khalil Washington 0-0-0. Totals 32-1-74. Lorain 10 9 8 9 --34 Elyria 26 25 13 10 --74 Three-point goals: Lorain 2-12 (Morris, Booker) Elyria 9-19 (Daniels 4, Grimmett 2, Shelton, Jackson, E. Rogers). Field goals: Lorain 14-38 (37 percent), Elyria 32-55 (58 percent). Free throws: Lorain 6-8 (75 percent), Elyria 1-6 (16 percent). Rebounds: Lorain 24 (Daniels 5), Elyria 31 (Bell 5). Turnovers: Lorain 17 Elyria 3. Fouls: Lorain 6, Elyria 7. Fouled Out: None. Junior Varsity: Elyria 46-38.