Boys basketball: Five Lorain County teams take court in district finals Saturday

Over four months ago 19 teams across Lorain County took the court for the first day of practice, hoping a district title appearance would be waiting at the end of a long season. Five of those teams are only 32 minutes away from calling themselves district champions. A trio of Southwestern Conference teams — Elyria, Avon and Amherst — and two from the Lorain County League, Brookside and Oberlin, will play today for a chance to cut down the nets and represent their respective division in next week's regional tournament. No. 6 seed Elyria will put its 17-6 record on the line when its faces fourth-seeded Canton McKinley at Barberton High School in a Division I final. "Tuesday night was a great night for us. Our guys really came locked in and focused," Elyria coach Brett Larrick said of the Pioneers' 76-44 district semifinal win over Medina. Elyria will face a tougher task today against the Bulldogs, who have won six of their last seven games after an 80-69 district semifinal win over Massillon Jackson. "McKinley is a good, physical athletic team, so it's going to be a good challenge," Larrick said. "We scrimmaged them the past couple of years. This year, this scrimmage was a hard physical battle, just like I expect this game will be." Avon and Highland bring identical 17-6 records into their Division II district final at Wooster High School at 3:30 p.m. The No. 10 seed Eagles beat SWC rival North Ridgeville in the district semifinals. Highland enters the game as a No. 8 seed, but the Hornets have struggled of late, going 4-4 in their last eight games, including Tuesday's 66-50 district semifinal win over Stow. On the opposite side, after a three-game midseason losing streak, Avon comes in having won eight of its last nine games. Avon was one of two Lorain County teams to win district titles last year. "All year, we've been really focused on one game at a time," Avon coach Mike Fitch said. "Not only have we been watching film on our opponents and breaking down stuff, we've also been watching a lot of film on ourselves, so we've been able to cut down practice time and focus on the things we need to work on." Avon is a better offensive team this season, averaging 65 points per game, five more than last season. "We've played in a lot big games this season," Fitch said. "We're still young but, this year, we've experienced some big crowds, some weird game times over winter break. I think that all really helps." Unlike their SWC rivals, who had first-round home games, 15th seed Amherst had to go on the road, after an 18-day layoff, to win its Division II semifinal at No. 14 Lakewood. The Comets, who are looking for their first district title, will take the court at Valley Forge High School at 7 o'clock for their final against defending Division II state semifinalist North Royalton. "We know we have a big task ahead of us," Comets coach Pat Bray said. "(North Royalton) is a really good team, really physical. We know we have to match their physicality." The 14-9 Comets overcame midseason struggles to enter the matchup with the 19-5 Bears on a three-game winning streak. "We knew we had a pretty good team coming into the year," Bray said. "We had a little letdown, where we lost quite a few games in a row. When tournament time came around, we told the team, 'This is a second chance and we're taking advantage of that second chance.' "The SWC is one of the toughest conferences in Ohio. We've had a lot of big games and we're hoping we can have another one. We have a lot of good teams and good coaches in our conference, and having four teams in the district finals is a testament to that." Brookside and Oberlin will both have to face top-seeded teams in their final. The No. 8 seed Cardinals (19-5) will at least have the advantage of being close to home, as they face Canfield (21-3) in a Division IV final at the North Ridgeville Academic Center at 3:30 p.m. Canfield's only loss since Dec. 19 came against Alliance (22-2). Including its district final win over NDCL, Canfield is 17-1 over that span. "We're going to have to play really good defense. They have a lot of guys that can score," Brookside coach Larry Babics said. "The biggest key for us is be locked in defensively and make shots when we're open, because they're also a good defensive team. We look forward to the challenge." Brookside is playing in its first final since 1990 while Canfield is looking for its third consecutive title. "I always tell the team, obviously you don't want the nerves to get the best of you, but it's fine to be nervous going into a big game," Babics said. "Once you get up and down the floor a couple of times, you settle in." Like Amherst, Brookside has already won a game away from home this postseason, when it defeated Orrville in the district semifinals. No. 10 seed Oberlin (15-9) won its first two postseason games at home against Independence and Rootstown. The Phoenix have to travel to Salem for the 7 o'clock Division VI final against Kirtland (21-3) "For the past week, we've been trying to balance making sure we're rested with staying in shape," said Oberlin coach Kurt Russell, whose team has been idle since Monday. "We've watched a lot of film. That's a really great team we're going to face. We've been preparing by focusing on the things that we do well. We have to make sure we play great defense and really know our concepts." In Oberlin's last 10 games, opponents Brookside and Valley Forge were the only teams to score more than 50 points. Contact Todd Shapiro at (440) 329-7135 or ctsports@chroniclet.com.