Vermilion, North Ridgeville pick up wins

Vermilion topped Sandusky in the Lorain County Holiday Classic to force a showdown with Lorain for the title, while North Ridgeville defeated Brookside in nonconference action.

Vermilion withstood a late Sandusky run in the annual Lorain County Holiday Classic and beat the Blue Streaks, 67-55, Dec. 28 at Elyria.

The Sailors will face Lorain in the championship game Dec. 29.

Mason Montgomery, one of the area’s top scorers, had a game-high 21 points for Vermilion (8-1) while Jonah Pfeil had 17 and Seth Hurd added 13.

The Sailors quickly jumped out to a big lead and led, 26-9, after the first quarter — a start that ended up being crucial to the outcome of the game as Sandusky exploited a frantic, unorganized Vermilion team in the final eight minutes to pull within 10 with 1:34 left in regulation.

The Blue Streaks missed an open jumper that would’ve cut the lead to single digits and Vermilion settled down in the final minutes to hang on for the win.

“That hot start was crucial,” Montgomery said. “We had a lot of critical mistakes down the stretch. We got in our own head.

“(Sandusky) brought up the pressure a lot. They were playing a lot harder and more aggressive than they were in the first half and we got flustered and were missing shots. We just got in our own heads and didn’t close out a game like we normally do.”

For much of the game, Vermilion put forth a wellrounded performance, spreading the ball around and attacking the boards. Zach Kovach added a game-high 12 rebounds for the Sailors while Montgomery chipped in nine rebounds and four assists and Pfeil had five boards and four assists.

It was that level of play that sustained them through a fourth quarter in which Sandusky outscored them, 18-14.

“The big problem we have is we’re so aggressive and so amped up to be aggressive, we have a hard time slowing down when we need to pull back a bit and take some time,” Vermilion coach Kurt Habermehl said.

“We just got a little anxious I think. We were trying to make the tough pass instead of the easy pass . ... Our magic number was 10. We didn’t want them to get under 10 because we knew then we’d be in a little bit of trouble. For the most part we did our thing for three quarters.”

Sandusky was led by junior Tahj Staveskie with 17 points, seven rebounds and a pair of assists.

The Blue Streaks will face Elyria in the consolation game.

RANDY MEYERS — THE MORNING JOURNAL Vermilion’s Mason Montgomery brings the ball up the floor against full court pressure applied by Tahj Staveskie of Sandusky at the Lorain County Holiday Classic on Dec. 28.