D-I Regional Boys Basketball: Elyria battles St. Ed's to finish but falls short of Final Four

AKRON — It came down to the last possession Saturday at the Division I regional final at Akron University's James A. Rhodes Arena. Elyria coach Brett Larrick couldn't ask for more, but the last shot, a contested 3-pointer from the right baseline, just wouldn't go in and Elyria (19-7) lost a gut-wrenching chance to advance to its first state tournament in 49 years. St. Edward (22-4), a nemesis of the Pioneers for years, hung on to win 53-50 to advance to next week's final four against either Cincinnati Princeton or Cincinnati Oak Hills in Dayton on Saturday. It was the ninth straight time the Eagles have beaten the Pioneers and eighth in tournament play. Elyria's effort, particularly on the defensive end, couldn't have been better. In four tournament games, the Pioneers have relinquished 44, 46, 39 and 53 points. "That's what they've done this whole tournament," Larrick said. "I just told them ... this should hurt. It hurts more because of how special the group was, how special the moment was. It hurts a little bit more." St. Edward eliminated the Pioneers a year ago in the district semifinal, 63-58, by pulling away late. This time, the Eagles barely survived. "Obviously, we're happy to be moving on," St. Edward veteran coach Eric Flannery said. "But you feel for Elyria and you feel for Brett. When you're that close and you have an opportunity to win or tie and it doesn't happen. I've been there before. It's heartbreaking. "We obviously feel the joy on the other side, and we're excited to move on. I'm extremely proud of our guys for the way they just kind of held it together. We didn't play our best basketball, but you have to win a game like that somewhere along the way. All the credit to Elyria, all the credit to Brett for how they fought." The Eagles were on their heels as the second half wore on. Elyria roared back from a 37-25 deficit with just under five minutes to play in the third quarter to tie it at 50 off a hard drive for a basket by Cam Bell, who was fouled on the play with under two minutes left. His free throw tied the game but St. Edward's Ian Murray made a close-range shot with under a minute to play and, after the Eagles missed three of four free throws, Elyria had two chances but a turnover off a bad pass ended one and Rondell Grimmett, who had shaken off his recent shooting slump to hit four of five 3-pointers, couldn't get the fifth to fall as time ran out on a great season for the Pioneers. "That's a shot I would hit in practice," Grimmett said. "It didn't knock down." "I'm so unbelievably proud," Larrick said. "That could have been real easy to get blown out the way we started offensively (0-for-8 from the 3-point line and 2-of-11 overall in the first quarter). We were missing some shots we normally make but the fight our guys gave defensively, rebounds ... our guys kept it close." Elyria ran off 10 unanswered points after falling behind by 12. Cam Bell rebounded a miss into a score and Grimmett hit a corner three. Jermiah Daniels pulled up in the lane to hit a jumper and Grimmett hit another 3-pointer to slice the lead to 37-35 and get the large throng of Elyria fans cheering on every play. St. Edward finished the quarter on a 5-2 run to lead 42-37 entering the final quarter but the Eagles knew they were in a game. Back-to-back 3-pointers from Micah Jackson and Kendyll Compton, who was saddled with foul trouble, pulled Elyria within 46-43. St. Edward made one basket on an improbable tip-in that was slapped in the direction of the basket and somehow found the bottom of the net. The Eagles just barely managed to keep the lead until Bell's basket and free throw. Elyria's defense had 12 steals — four by Grimmett, three by junior Tink Shelton — and caused 17 St. Edward turnovers. Shelton also had three assists, but the Pioneers' assist-to-turnover ratio wasn't up to their standard. They had 17 turnovers and only 10 assists. "Kendyll gets four (fouls) and then we lose the lead again," Larrick said. "You're down in the fourth and they just keep fighting. That's how it's been for the past three weeks." Elyria has shown heart with its tournament run after losing a chance at a three-peat in the Southwestern Conference race. The seniors pulled the team together for the postseason. It was Elyria's first district title since 2017. Bell (four years) and Daniels (three) have been around the longest. Compton transferred from Lutheran West last year and Grimmett came back to rejoin his classmates after taking last year off. "We played hard (Saturday)," Bell said. "Obviously, (St. Edward) is 22-4 for a reason. We were right there. It came down to one shot. We got a good look ... sometimes they fall, sometimes they don't." "We play hard," Daniels said. "We try to communicate as much as we can. It was a game of possessions and (St. Edward) definitely had the better possessions at the beginning of the game." St. Edward jumped in front 12-3 during a slow first quarter and led 19-9 with 6:14 left in the first half before Elyria got going off back-to-back threes by Grimmett and Shelton and two free throws from Compton. "It's been a great year, lots of ups and downs," Compton said. "The conference, it wasn't what we wanted. We looked past it in a fast way. We got ready for the playoffs, and we made a turn and great history this year." "Leave everything out there," Grimmett said. "Even if we were going to lose, leave it all out there." Contact Tim Gebhardt at (440) 329-7135 or timothygeb@msn.com. St. Edward 53, Elyria 50 ST. EDWARD (53): JT Kelsheimer 5-1-12, Carson Link 2-2-6, Zymir Knox 6-0-12, Ian Murray 4-2-10, Bryan Vlosich 1-3-6, Mike Williams 0-0-0, Kaleb Gettis 2-0-5, Dustin Hess 1-0-2, Owen McGurer 0-0-0, Brenan Ansberry 0-0-0. Totals 21-8-53. ELYRIA (50): Cam Bell 4-1-9, Rondell Grimmett 6-0-16, Jermiah Daniels 5-1-11, Tink Shelton 1-2-6, Kendyll Compton 1-2-5, Micah Jackson 1-1-4, Seth Wilkerson 0-0-0, Christian Rogers 0-0-0, Ethan Rogers 0-0-0. Totals 18-7-50. St. Edward&emsp;12&emsp;16&emsp;14&emsp;11&emsp;—&emsp;53 Elyria&emsp;5&emsp;14&emsp;18&emsp;13&emsp;—&emsp;50 Three-point goals: St. Edward 3-16 (Kelsheimer, Vlosich, Gettis), Elyria 7-25 (Grimmett 4, Shelton, Compton, Jackson). Field goals: St. Edward 21-47 (45 percent), Elyria 18-48 (37.5 percent). Free throws: St. Edward 8-15 (53 percent), Elyria 7-11 (64 percent).