The Morning Journal (Lorain, OH)
Defense lifts Titans to tournament crown
Lorain forces 20 turnovers in matchup of two of Lorain County’s best teams
Top-ranked Lorain’s uptempo pressure on defense fed the offense all night long as the Titans played lights-out against Vermilion in a showdown of two of the best in the county as Lorain claimed a 9373 win on Dec. 29.
Two of the best teams all season long got a chance to show who’s top dog in Lorain County, and the Titans were not be denied. Lorain’s fastpaced offense kept Vermilion out of its comfort zone.
“Make no mistake about it, they’re an amazing basketball team, I hope I get to see them down in Columbus in a couple months,” Vermilion head coach Kurt Habermehl said. “(Lorain coach) John (Rositano) does a great job with them and they’re always ready to play and I think we’re a better basketball team than a 20-point loss against them. But I’m not sure anybody was going to beat them on this night. I thought they were really good.”
A veteran savvy group like the Sailors can make things uncomfortable for any team. Rositano knew if his team let Vermilion get into a rhythm, then it could have been a longer night.
“Vermilion’s a really good team. They’re going to win a lot of games and they’re going to fight for a regional and possibly state tournament run and they’re a really good team,” Rositano said.
“You can’t let a team like that get comfortable. They shoot a too well, if they get comfortable, they’re going to cause damage and I thought we took them out of their comfort level early in the game and once we got control it was pretty much over.”
The Titans forced 20 turnovers and pushed the ball on offense. They 27 scored points off turnovers.
Knowing the bread and butter of his team is intensity on the defense, Rositano said creating the discomfort was key.
“The offense gets all of the clippings in the press and all that, but we are smart enough to know that you win championships on the defensive end and that’s where we spend the majority of the time at practice at, especially this past week,” Rositano said. “I think last night we were doing a better job of defending the basketball at the point of attack and not giving up easy baskets and when you do that with the skill level we have on offense, we feel we have a chance to beat a lot of teams.”
Once the ball fell back into the hands of the Titans, Lorain’s Devon Grant, named tournament MVP, finished off his impressive night with 30 points. Taevon PierreLouis added 22 points and was a force inside and out to be added to the all-tournament team.
Pierre-Louis said the Titans work hard to get those numbers moving.
“Our momentum comes from the defense,” PierreLouis said. “We just gotta stay solid and teams will fall over just from our pressure. Sometimes we gamble, but all we have to do is stay solid and maintain.”
For Grant, the personal accolades are nice, but the teammates who set him up for success mean everything.
“It means a lot, I can’t do most of the stuff I do without my teammates,” Grant said. “I just feed off them and they feed off me so we just combine as a team to everything we input to the game.”
Elyria takes third
Playing in front of a home crowd in the consolation matchup of the Lorain County Holiday Classic, Elyria’s hot start was just enough as the Pioneers hung on for a 7471 win over Sandusky on Dec. 29.
Elyria came out fast and energized after a disappointing loss to eventual tournament champion Lorain. A stark contrast from the previous night.
“We talked about it this morning, we talked about it right before we came out, we talked about it in the huddle right before, fans were coming in late, 6 o’clock game sometimes it’s tough and I thought our bench was really key,’ Elyria head coach Brett Larrick said. “I thought our guys got out to a great start, first two plays we get a charge in there and we had the whole bench up.”
Playing selfless basketball, the Pioneers moved the ball efficiently and spread the wealth evenly among the team’s top three scorers. MarSaun Robinson led the way for the Pioneers with 23 points. Aiden Carter added 20 and all-tournament team member Caleb Rogers added 19.
Finishing off 2018 on a high note, Larrick told his team he was happy with the confidence his team came out with to earn a tough ‘W.’
“I’m really, really proud, it’s a great way to finish off the year,” Larrick said. “We didn’t want to have a bad taste in our mouth and I thought for three-and-ahalf quarters we played great.”
“Our momentum comes from the defense.”
— Lorain’s Taevon PierreLouis