Friday December 16th, 2011
The Elyria Catholic Boys Basketball Program hit the road for Avon High School in what was said to be the main event of the weekend for students of both schools. Students piled in the Avon gymnasium to witness the toughest teams go head to head in this classic WSC match-up. Although both teams played their hearts out, it was Elyria Catholic who stole the show, and earned themselves a phenomenal victory on Friday night 45-42 over Avon.
From tip off to the final fourth quarter buzzer, this game was anybody's game. EC won the tip-off and scored a 3 pointer right off the bat, but Avon answered back and did the same. This foreshadowed that fans would get more than their money's worth Friday night. "I think our support we've had is unbelievable. This is the biggest crowd we've had all season, and I think they did a great job." Holley had to say.
EC shot very well in the first half, going 5-9 on field goals (55%) and did not make one appearance at the free throw line until the third quarter. EC went into the locker room up 27-21 over Avon. "We crashed the boards tonight, we were focusing on getting rebounds and crashing the offensive boards. That's where most of my points were generated off of." Junior Danny Whitacre stated, "My teammates hit me on some really good cuts I had."
EC still remained ahead at the end of the third quarter, but the Panthers started missing lay-ups and rebounding seemed to disappear. "We really had to pick it up defensively." Point guard Cory Strasko said. Avon cut the lead down to two, 38-36. "They were definitely big and physical." Jeremy Holley said. Come the fourth quarter, the capacity crowd knew this one was going to be close. Student sections sparked, and hearts started racing.
With 5:42 left in the 4th quarter, Avon had cut the lead down to one point, 40-39. In just a minute and fourteen seconds, Avon took the lead by a bucket. EC's major weakness in the fourth quarter was their free throw shooting. Going just 6-15 overall, free throws might not have saved EC this time around like in the previous games. Despite the low free throw percentage, Jeremy Holley hit one free throw to tie the game at 41 with 2:50 left in the 4th. 30 seconds later Holley was fouled again, but only made one free throw to put EC up by one. "We have to win." Was all Junior guard Cory Strasko said about his ongoing thoughts in the fourth quarter, "We just had to calm down and have some good defensive possessions, offensive possessions, we had to get the rebounds and secure them, and take our time on the floor." Avon once again tied the game with a free throw, and EC took the lead with a Joe Dempsey free throw to put EC up by one with 1:10 in the fourth. Another Avon foul sent Holley to the line for an opportunity to put the Panthers in the lead by three, but he missed both. A Jeremy Holley pushing foul sent Avon to a 1-1 situation. The back and forth of the score really got the crowd involved in the game, and it became a huge factor.
With the building in a frenzy, and hearts thumping even more then they were thirty seconds ago, Avon missed the 1-1, and Holley was there to recover the rebound and draw the foul. The Sophomore nailed both free throws despite a ecstatic Avon student section to put EC up 45-42. "I just said to myself, forget about the other four I missed earlier." Holley said, "I had to block the crowd out of my mind and think about the team and do all I could to make these." Avon missed the three pointer at the buzzer, which sent the Panthers into a victorious state of mind. "I think we did a great job of attacking their weaknesses." Holley stated when asked about EC's victory, "Especially Claude, we did a good job of slowing him down."
"5-1, 3-0 in WSC. EC basketball...is back." - Junior guard Danny Whitacre.
EC welcomes North Ridgeville Tuesday night December 20th, 2011 at the Coliseum starting at 7:30pm.
Stats:
Danny Whitacre - 8 PTS 1 BLK
Jeremy Holley - 12 PTS
Tyler Riddell - 8 PTS
Cory Strasko - 7 PTS
Joe Dempsey - 8 PTS 1 BLK
MJ Lotko - 2 PTS
EC JV Boys basketball team beat Avon 51-46 on Friday. The JV Boys held on to the lead even with an Avon comeback in the third quarter which put the Eagles only down by three points. "We came out flat at halftime, and we didn't really play to our full potential." JV Head Coach Cory Taylor had to say. The JV Boys also had themselves a close game, and fouls put Avon in good position for a comeback. "Yes, we've been in a lot of foul trouble." Coach Taylor admitted, "It's something that we work on. There's no easy way to teach how not to foul down in the post. The guys get really excited, they move too fast, and they pick up cheap fouls."
The JV Panthers rallied back in the fourth quarter, and that was all she wrote. EC JV defeated Avon 51-46. Freshman Ceevan Shelton came up big in the game, putting up 10 points. "Ceevan is tough." Coach Taylor stated, "At the JV level he jumps through people. When he takes the ball to the hoop, that's his asset. He showed up tonight and played a big game and played very well." Sophomore Conner Riddell also had to comment about his 13 point performance, "I feel good. I have to give it to the fans who came up clutch when (Avon) was shooting free throws and (the Eagles) couldn't concentrate with our fans going nuts."
Official Elyria Catholic Sports Reporter
Jake Hromada '14
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