Boys Basketball: Elyria looks great ... until the end of an overtime loss to Toledo St. Francis

CASTALIA — It was a game Brett Larrick will no doubt replay in his mind for quite a while after Elyria's performance at the Tourney Tune-Up at Margaretta High. The Pioneers (12-5) played like champions and held the lead for 31:49 against Toledo St. Francis (9-5), a team with three potential D-I recruits and a wealth of experience in tournament-type situations. Some crucial missed free throws and a couple of bad turnovers in overtime spelled defeat for Elyria, 74-70. "I thought our guys did a really, really good job for three and a half quarters," Larrick said. "We battled, busted it. One day scouting report and a lot of different things that we haven't done all year. Our kids did a tremendous job for three and half quarters." It took St. Francis sophomore guard Chris Poellnitz's driving, spinning, layup with 11 seconds to play to knot the game at 62, the first time the game was tied since the opening tip. Poellnitz, already being recruited by Bowling Green and Eastern Michigan, turned out to be the thorn in the Pioneers' side they couldn't stop. Poellnitz struck for 34 points, including making 11 of 15 free throws — 10 of 11 coming in the fourth quarter and overtime. Poellnitz hit all six of his foul shots in overtime as St. Francis took its first lead, 68-67, off his first set of free throws and increased it to 70-67 with his second pair. His final two iced the game with just 1.9 seconds left. Meanwhile, Elyria missed half its six free shots in the extra period and committed two very costly turnovers. Elyria jumped in front 10-0 three minutes into the game, forcing St. Francis to use a timeout with 5:09 left in the first quarter and extended the lead to 30-13 off a drive-in basket by Kendyll Compton to start the second quarter. At that point, the Pioneers had made 11 of their first 18 shots, including seven of 12 from beyond the arc to shock the Knights. Compton led the scoring with 18 points and Jeremiah Daniels and Micah Jackson each scored 14. Compton led the rebounding with seven and Seth Wilkerson and Cam Bell each grabbed five. St. Francis won the rebound battle, 36-29. Daniels hit a huge 3-pointer in overtime to give Elyria a 66-62 lead with 2:50 left but the Pioneers had only one other field goal, a layup by Ethan Rogers with just 14 seconds left that trimmed the lead to 72-70. "Definitely gotta keep running and going after the missed shots," Daniels said when asked about the end of the game. "Not being able to hit the open ones we're used to making and after they made a little run, we just had to keep defending." Elyria made 10 of its 19 3-point tries in the first half and were 14-of-28 overall from the field to lead 39-27 at halftime. The Pioneers had committed only seven turnovers through three quarters and still led 51-34 with 2:31 left in the third quarter. But, even then, the free throw line told the story. Elyria was 8-of-13 through three quarters and finished at 16-of-27. "It's just finishing out a game," Larrick said. "End of the game, you always have to make free throws but give them credit. Cam (Bell) did a heck-of-a-job on (Alan Horton) and we knew (Poellnitz) is one of the best guards in the state as a sophomore. Ten-for-11 from the free throw line. Sometimes you have to give credit. We were splitting free throws and their guy went 10-for-11." St. Francis' 6-foot-8 Miami of Ohio bound Alan Horton was held pretty much in check by Bell, who stands 6-3. Horton did pull in 12 rebounds but scored only 12 points before fouling out with 2:42 left to play in regulation and Elyria up 57-52. St. Francis' other D-I talent, TreSean Chenault, wasn't a factor with just six points and two rebounds. "Obviously we just had one day of practice," said Bell of the preparation for St. Francis. "We knew he's good. He's going to Miami of Ohio. Big kid. The game plan was to just have a lot of help on him. It wasn't just me guarding him, it was all of our guys." "That's a good team," Larrick said. "They have two D-I players and we did a heck-of-a-job for three and a half quarters. We just had to put it away. It stinks you can't pull it out." Contact Tim Gebhardt at (440) 329-7135 or timothygeb@msn.com. St. Francis 74, Elyria 70 ELYRIA (70): Cam Bell 1-2-5, Rondell Grimmett 2-2-8, Jermiah Daniels 4-2-14, Seth Wilkerson 3-1-7, Kendyll Compton 5-6-19, Micha Jackson 5-2-14, Christian Rogers 0-0-0, Ethan Rogers 1-1-3, Isaiah Hill 0-0-0, Mike Lawrence 0-0-0. Totals 21-16-70. ST. FRANCIS (74) Alan Horton 5-2-12, TreSean Chenault 3-0-6, Chris Poellnitz 11-11-34, Robert Hornbeak 2-6-10, Edward Lee 1-3-5, Preston Veller 3-0-7, Ethan Hiegert 0-0-0, Semaj Page 0-0-0. Totals 25-22-74. Elyria 28 11 14 9 8 —70 St. Francis 13 14 15 20 12 —74 Three-point goals: Elyria 12-29 (Daniels 4, Compton 3, Grimmett 2, Jackson 2, Bell), St. Francis 2-11 (Poellnitz, Veller). Field goals: Elyria 21-53 (40 percent), St. Francis 25-49 (51 percent). Free throws: Elyria 16-27 (59 percent), St. Francis 22-29 (76 percent). Rebounds: Elyria 29 (Compton 7), St. Francis 36 (Horton 12). Turnovers: Elyria 11, St. Francis 12. Total fouls: Elyria 24, St. Francis 18. Fouled out: Daniels, Wilkerson, Horton, Lee.