Titans finish perfect 12-0 in Lake Erie League

mmcnees@morningjournal.com @MarissaNM on Twitter Lorain concluded its fifthstraight 20-win regular season on Feb. 22 after a 75-60 win on the road against Warrensville Heights, finishing a perfect 12-0 in Lake Erie League play. The Titans were led by none other than senior Devon Grant, who scored a game-high 28 points and was one of four players to reach double figures including Deonte Benejan with 17 points, Taevon Pierre-Louis with 14 and Jordan Jackson with 12. Coach John Rostiano called it a “game of spurts,” and it certainly started off that way as Lorain jumped out to an early 15-1 lead midway through the first quarter before Warrensville Heights (13-9, 7-5 LEL) had a spurt of its own, cutting the lead to 21-11 after the opening eight minutes. It was Benejan who had a pair of back-to-back 3-pointers to put the Titans up big during that run and the junior finally hit his stride offensively after struggling the last few weeks.

“It’s more of a mental thing,” Benejan said of his shooting woes. “I just been getting down on myself when I been missing shots so my teammates been helping me, my coaches been helping me to keep my head up and just keep playing. That’s what I did today. I just kept playing hard, kept my confidence up. (If) I missed a shot I just got back on defense. “It was a big confidence booster for myself. I feel like I need to step up my game going into the tournament because my teammates, my coaches, they expect a lot out of me so I have to step up and fulfill their needs.” Warrensville Heights managed to get within 5 several times in the third quarter but Lorain outscored the Tigers 14-4 through nearly the threeminute mark of the fourth. With less than two minutes to play, Rositano cleared the bench and took his starters out with the game seemingly in hand, but a 7-0 Warrensville Heights run forced him to send the starting five back on the court with a 67-60 lead and 45 seconds on the clock. Seconds later, PierreLouis grabbed a steal and broke away for a dunk that sent the visiting fans into a frenzy, and four Grant free throws later the game was all but over. “We played spurts … but that’s a good team,” Rositano said of Warrensville Heights. “They’re a good team and they were real physical with us and caused us a little bit of issues. I thought it was a good performance getting ready for next Saturday because like I just told them the real season starts next Saturday.” Brandon Rush led the Tigers with 18 points while Ramelle Arnold and Kaylin Heard each added 10. The top-seeded Titans have the next week off before hosting a Division I Elyria District sectional final March 2, facing the winner of No. 9 Berea-Midpark-No. 8 Midview.