D-I District Boys Basketball: Elyria battles, knocks off McKinley, wins first district title since 2017

BARBERTON — Ugly never looked more beautiful to Elyria coach Brett Larrick. Taller and favored, Canton McKinley fell to the gritty Pioneers 50-46 on Saturday night, giving Elyria its first district title since 2017. Elyria (18-6) moves on to meet Brunswick (21-3) at Akron's JAR Arena on Wednesday. "We just battled," Larrick said. "It was not the prettiest game, but defensively we just battled. We battled on the boards. We battled on the defensive game plan. "Offensively we weren't the cleanest. That's partly on (McKinley). They sped us up, they're long and athletic. They blocked a bunch of shots but, man, that defensive effort just fighting — fighting for boards, fighting to stay in the game. Just amazing." Larrick has won 238 games in his career as head coach but perhaps none more exciting or rewarding than beating one of the state's true basketball powers. "Proud of these guys," he said. "We knew they had it in them." It was the defense that turned up the heat — particularly the second half — turning over the Bulldogs a dozen times in the half and 19 for the game. Meanwhile, the Pioneers had zero turnovers in the fourth quarter that lifted them to victory. Canton McKinley, which finished 19-5, made more field goals (21-16) and had 10 more rebounds (41-31) but it couldn't make up for hitting just one of nine free throws or the turnovers. Elyria outscored the Bulldogs 29-20 in the second half. Kendyll Compton, who sat out part of the fourth quarter with four fouls, including a technical, proved his leadership when it counted most. He scored 21 points to lead Elyria and made all four of his free throws in the final 12 seconds to seal the win. "We just tried to get stops as many times as we could," said Compton. "I talk to myself all the time on the court, giving myself positive vibes all the time." Compton hit all seven of his foul shots for the game and Elyria made all but one of its 13 to help make up the difference in field goals. Elyria also had six 3-pointers to just three for McKinley, with Compton hitting three. Canton McKinley hit a half-court 3-pointer at the buzzer after the Pioneers pushed the lead to 50-43 with nine unanswered points. The run started with the shortest player on the court — 5-foot-5 junior Tink Shelton — hitting a huge 3-pointer from the right wing that gave Elyria the lead it wouldn't relinquish. "Not to be cocky, but I have a lot of confidence in myself no matter how many shots I've missed," Shelton said when asked about the clutch 3-pointer after having a bunch of shots swatted back at him earlier in the game. "Kendyll looked at me and I knew it was going in." Elyria may have lost the rebound battle, but Cam Bell, the 6-3 four-year letterman, made McKinley earn it. Bell collected eight rebounds, took a huge charging call and scrambled all over the floor to make the Bulldogs work hard inside. "Obviously we came out slow offensively to start the game," Bell said. "I think we had 21 points at halftime. That's not a normal game for us. We usually score a lot more. Knowing our offense was that bad but we're only down five at the half gave us some confidence. Thankfully, the third and fourth quarter, we were able to pull it out." "Once we sniff blood, we know we've got it," said Shelton. For Canton McKinley's coach, Sean Weatherspoon, the reasons Elyria won were obvious. "One-for-9 from the free throw line, double-digit turnovers," he said. "They shoot the ball well from the 3-point line. Coming into the game, our game plan was to get the ball in the paint. We had our chances. Just didn't execute offensively." "How many times have we talked about fourth-quarter free throws?" Larrick said. "Kendyll 4-for-4 at the end. That's huge. Once we got (the lead) above three, five and keep extending it, man, what a great job." HISTORY LESSON McKinley, truly one of the blue bloods of Ohio high school basketball, has won three state championships, the latest back-to-back in 2005 and 2006, its last trips to a Final Four. The Bulldogs have been state runners-up eight times and have qualified for the state tournament 28 times. The school recently won its 2,000th game. Elyria and McKinley hooked up for a home-and-home series in 1981 and 1982. Both games were won by the Bulldogs. In December 1981, McKinley won 75-56. Terry Wearsch and Mike Lotko each scored 12 points to lead Elyria. The following year, in December 1982, McKinley won on a last-second shot by Gary Grant, 64-63 at Elyria. Jeff Thomas scored 20 points for the Pioneers. Mike Riley, the one-time coach at Elyria, was McKinley's coach. John Dickerson coached the Pioneers. The following year Riley took the Bulldogs to their first state championship after being labeled a bridesmaid for so many runner-up finishes. Contact Tim Gebhardt at (440) 329-7135 or timothygeb@msn.com. Elyria 50, Canton McKinley 46 ELYRIA (50): Cam Bell 3-1-7, Rondell Grimmett 0-0-0, Jermiah Daniels 3-0-6, Tink Shelton 1-2-5, Kendyll Compton 5-7-21, Micah Jackson 2-2-7, Seth Wilkerson 1-0-2, Christian Rogers 0-0-0, Ethan Rogers 1-0-2. Totals 16-12-50. CANTON MCKINLEY (46): Javeion Carter 2-0-4, Anthony Capers 6-1-14, Ed Webster 2-0-4, Davey Thompson 1-0-3, Jamal Keyes 5-0-11, Major Cheek 2-0-4, Jaylen Elder 1-0-2, Jay'Dyn Nelson 2-0-4, Legacy Lee 0-0-0. Totals 21-1-46. Elyria&emsp;9&emsp;12&emsp;16&emsp;13&emsp;—&emsp;50 McKinley&emsp;10&emsp;16&emsp;11&emsp;9&emsp;—&emsp;46 Three-point goals: Elyria 6-20 (Compton 4, Shelton, Jackson), Canton McKinley 3-13 (Chavers, Thompson, Keyes). Field goals: Elyria 16-54 (29 percent), Canton McKinley 21-50 (42 percent). Free throws: Elyria 12-13 (92 percent), Canton McKinley 1-9 (11 percent). Rebounds: Elyria 31 (Bell 8), Canton McKinley 41 (Keyes 14). Turnovers: Elyria 10, Canton McKinley 19. Fouls: Elyria 13, Canton McKinley 16. Technical foul: Compton.