Girls Basketball: KaMariana Scott's 13 second-half points help lift Elyria over SWC foe Amherst

ELYRIA — Don't look now, but the Pioneers have a winning streak. Senior guard KaMariana Scott scored 13 of her game-high 19 points in the second half Wednesday, helping Elyria to pull away and defeat Amherst 45-35. Along with its win Monday over East Tech, it marked the first time the Pioneers won back-to-back games since opening the 2023-24 season with wins over Brooklyn and Valley Forge. The victory improved Elyria to 3-16 overall and 1-12 in the Southwestern Conference. Amherst fell to 3-14, 1-12. It's been another rough season for both programs. Elyria lost 15 straight before its win over East Tech. Amherst has lost eight straight. Its last win was 55-30 over Elyria on Jan. 7. "It took us time to get our tempo up there and distribute the ball around the court," said Scott. "It feels great, especially since we haven't been winning a lot. It's a nice feeling that we worked as a team and did something to get a victory." It was no easy task for Elyria, which had lost nine of its last 10 games to Amherst dating to the 2016-17 season. Eight of those losses came in nine SWC matchups dating to the 2021-22 season when Elyria joined the conference. Elyria snapped a seven-game losing streak to Amherst on Jan. 11, 2025, with a 33-31 win on a buzzer-beater by Scott. "I was just trying to get more than I did the last time we played them," said Scott. "We have a tendency to lose momentum towards the end of games. That's what happened the last time against them." Wednesday game started out slow. Amherst led 8-7 after the first quarter and was still up 10-9 before Scott hit the second of her four 3-pointers with 1:23 left in the first half. Amherst junior guard Amalee Caldera answered with a 3-pointer with 52 seconds left in the half to give Comets a 13-12 lead. Sophomore Alexis Luckey gave the Pioneers the lead for good with 18.8 seconds left in the half, splitting a pair of free throws. "To have back-to-back wins is special. It's been awhile," said Elyria coach Anthony Brown. "We beat them here last year on a buzzer-beater move by Kam to the hoop. When you take care of the ball a little more it gives you more opportunities and good things happen that way." A strange aspect to the game was that Elyria committed 28 turnovers, which Amherst could only capitalize on with minimal success. The Comets, conversely, had 20 turnovers — half which the Pioneers converted into baskets. "You're supposed to be gelling toward the end of the year," said Brown. "You are supposed to be clicking and things start to make more sense towards the end of the year. Hopefully, that's what the case is. "We played a little bit better defensively. We gave up some weird threes, but that happens. We definitely had more people contributing. More people were driving to the bucket for us and showing us their true talent and it's paid off." Scott was the only player on both teams in double digits. She also led Elyria's 37-31 rebound advantage with 10. Luckey contributed with nine points and seven rebounds. Caldera led Amherst in scoring with eight points. Junior Grace Bender had nine rebounds for the Comets. "Alexis has been extremely efficient in the paint," said Brown. "She's been changing shots, blocking shots. Bella (Arabella Sauer) has been hitting her threes. She had a bunch of threes on Monday. That helps when you spread the defense a little bit. That helps us to kind of extend the offense and spread the floor." Elyria and Amherst have struggled to win in the SWC. The win was just the third SWC victory for Elyria in five seasons since joining the league. Amherst also has had recent problems winning in the SWC. It was 5-9 in 2022-23 and 7-7 in 2023-24 but slipped to 2-12 last season. "We didn't shoot the ball very well (13-of-50, 26 percent)," said Amherst coach Dave Zvara. "You have to make shots. We had breakdowns on defense and we couldn't get rhythm. We had some shots that were in and out and in and out. We had 20 turnovers compared their 28, but they probably converted off half of those. "The good news is that we still have three games left. We have Saturday, Monday and then Saturday before our tournament game." After Luckey scored on a layup with 2:05 left in the third for a 31-24 Elyria lead, Amherst was only as close as six points one time the rest of the way. "Elyria played nice, solid defense, but nothing different than the last time," said Zvara. "The last time we pressed them. This time when we pressed them we didn't do a very good job. They executed better than we did on both ends of the floor. We had some chances. I thought for awhile we might make a run at them, but we didn't." Contact Paul Heyse at 329-7135 or ctsports@chroniclet.com. Elyria 45, Amherst 35 AMHERST (35): Amalee Caldera 3-0-8; Grace Bender 2-0-4; Alaina Allen 0-0-0; Abby Broaddus 2-0-6; Morgan Lymer 1-0-2; Sarah Iliff 2-0-5; Libby Voidovich 1-2-4; Callie Beckler 2-2-6. Totals: 13-4-35.ELYRIA (45): Kaidyn DeChant 2-0-4; Arabella Sauer 3-0-7; Brooklyn Cruz 3-0-6; Alexis Luckey 3-3-9; KaMariana Scott 7-1-19. Totals: 18-4-45. Amherst&emsp;8&emsp;5&emsp;13&emsp;9&emsp;—&emsp;35Elyria&emsp;7&emsp;10&emsp;16&emsp;12&emsp;—&emsp;45Three-point goals: Amherst 5 of 13 – Caldera 2, Broaddus 2, Iliff. Elyria 5 of 11 – Scott 4, Sauer. Field goals: Amherst 13 of 50 (26 percent). Elyria 18 of 38 (47 percent). Free throws: Amherst 4-8. Elyria 4-5. Rebounds: Amherst 31 (Bender 9). Elyria 37 (Scott 10). Turnovers: Amherst 20. Elyria 28. Fouls: Amherst 10. Elyria 6. Junior varsity: Amherst, 30-25