January 20th 2012
The Elyria Catholic Boys Basketball team hosted WSC foe the Vermilion Sailors in what had already earned the reputation of being a close match-up after the last time these two teams met. The Panthers were suffering in the first half due to turnovers, but after cutting the turnovers, and a fantastic fourth quarter, EC got out of their losing funk, and once more tasted victory.
The first quarter was back and forth action between both Vermilion and Elyria Catholic, but the same fate has killed Elyria Catholic every time, turnovers. The Panthers had 10 turnovers in the 1st half alone, and Vermilion surely took advantage of EC's faults. Vermilion hit 4 of 7 three point attempts last night in the first half compared to EC's 2 of 6 in the first half. Vermilion went into the locker room on top 36-29 over EC.
Coming out of the half and throughout the third quarter, Vermilion was still on top of EC. The fourth quarter is when the Panthers' funk ended. It all started with Tyler Riddell who tied things up with a big three point shot. Just seconds later Riddell was fouled on a fast break and sunk a free throw to take the lead. It was only the next possession EC would lose their 1 point lead. But Sophomore Jeremy Holley was a riot in the 4th quarter, springing and 1's all over, including one that took the lead for EC at the 5:10 mark. Joe Dempsey, who was absent for two games, furthered the lead at the 5 minute mark with an offensive rebound and sunk the lay-up for two points.
"I really missed being out there with the guys for two games. I've been practicing this whole time," Dempsey said. "And I was excited to get back." Dempsey was yet again clutch on the free throw line hitting all 5 of his free throws,
"At the end I knew (Vermilion) would foul, so I wanted the ball in my hands because I was confident I could make my free throws."
From the 5 minute mark to the final buzzer, EC played the way EC plays basketball.
"I have to credit our defense as a team for our comeback." Sophomore Jeremy Holley said who finished the game with 30 points. EC finished the game strong, and beat the Vermilion Sailors 70-59.
"It feels great (to score 30), but it feels even better to get the win." Holley stated, "Those points would not have meant anything if it were not for the win. It feels like we haven't won in years."
"Its been awhile." Joe Dempsey said about winning, "I'm confident we can keep that moving through this weekend and all of next week."
Elyria Catholic is now 7-6 (5-2 in WSC) and this weekend play cross-town rival Elyria High School on Saturday with tip-off at 7:30p.m. at Elyria High School.
Stats:
Jeremy Holley - 30 PTS, 15 RB
Tyler Riddell - 20 PTS, 2 RB
Joe Dempsey - 11 PTS, 5 RB
Cory Strasko - 3 PTS, 2 RB
Andrew Konno - 2 PTS, 1 RB
M.J. Lotko - 2 PTS, 1 RB
Ceevan Shelton - 2 PTS, 2 RB
EC's JV Company Blows Sailors Out of the Water:
The Elyria Catholic JV Squad welcomed Vermilion into the Coliseum on Friday night. The last time these two teams met, the EC JV Boys won by a longshot. When speaking to Coach Corey Taylor and asking him if the plan has changed from "To put up points" against Hillsdale to anything new against Vermilion last night, he responded "No." Again, very straight forward, Coach.
The first half alone was all EC, and the JV Panthers held the JV Sailors to only 9 points heading into halftime, and the Panthers walked into halftime with 27 points. The second half was not much different as the EC JV Boys dominated the boards, limiting turnovers, and hitting shots. The only fault of the JV Panthers in the second half were the fouls. The JV Boys had 10 fouls in the third quarter alone, finishing out with 12 in the whole second half.
EC's JV Company was lead by Sophomore Angelo Cruz, who sunk four three pointers and finished with 14 points overall. Drew Kaplan followed Cruz with 8, Freshman D.J. Graham had 7, and Freshman Justin Taylor had 6.
EC's JV Company is now 9-4 on the season.
Official Elyria Catholic Sports Reporter,
Jake Hromada '14
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