The Morning Journal (Lorain, OH)
Wright, Panthers overcome Rockets
Through one quarter of Elyria Catholic’s game against Bay on Jan. 17, Edward Wright was having an off night.
Wright — who came into the game second in the GLC averaging 24.6 points per game — scored four early points but was held scoreless for the rest of the quarter, thanks in large part to a shot to the stomach he took halfway through the quarter.
Luckily for the Panthers, Jaret Frantz was ready to pick up the slack.
Frantz totaled six points in the first quarter for the Panthers, three of which came on a buzzer-beating 3-pointer that put Elyria Catholic up, 20-8, at the end of the quarter.
Wright shook off the early rust, totaling 18 points in the Panthers’ 77-61 win.
“I thought we played a really good first half on defense, and the guys were really locked in,” Elyria Catholic coach Rob Palmer said.
“I didn’t feel like we played our best game of the year, but I thought we put a workmanlike effort on defense for a large portion of the game.”
After taking the aforementioned shot to the stomach, Wright stayed on the court for a few possessions despite clearly being in pain. After sitting for the final few minutes of the first quarter, Wright made his presence known early in the second quarter, going on a personal 5-0 run punctuated by a deep 3-pointer from the top of the key that sent the Elyria Catholic’s gym into a frenzy.
While the Raiders were able to survive a slow start from the offensive leader, the same couldn’t be said for Bay, who never seemed to find a rhythm offensively thanks to a tough start from Ashton Price. While Price, who came in leading the GLC averaging 26.2 points per game, finished with 20 points, most of which came in the second half when the game had all but been decided.
“We know he’s the best player on that team and that he can create on his own,” Palmer said of Price. “We knew he was going to get those shots in the second half. Really it was about containing him.”
The Panthers supporting cast played a big factor in the win, with Frantz (14 points), Jack Griffin (10 points) Elias Palmer (nine points) and Connor Trockley (nine points) all knocking down big 3-pointers throughout to help spell Wright’s cold streaks.
“You never want a guy to have a bad game, but as a coach you can use those games to help build trust throughout the team,” Palmer said. “To Ed’s credit, he tells these guys to shoot the ball. He knows that teams are going to key on him in the postseason and we’ll other guys to his shots.”
While it wasn’t his team’s most consistent performance, Palmer said he’s still able to take away a plethora of positives from the win.
“The way we moved the ball on some possessions in the second half (really impressed me),” Palmer said. “We have four guys that are hitting three others than Ed, which is huge. He was cold tonight, but he could come back next game get 30 points.