Lorain pulls away in fourth

Lorain turned the tides in the second quarter and never looked back. And look out Elyria District, they are headed full-steam ahead to the OHSAA postseason tournament.

After trailing by two points to start the second quarter, Lorain turned in a suffocating rendition of Steel City defense as they took the lead, and eventually blew past Warrensville Heights in the fourth quarter, 66-52, to spoil the Tigers’ senior night on Feb. 21.

The win avenges an earlier season, 61-60, buzzerbeater loss at home to Warrensville Heights back on Jan. 24.

It was the kind of play a coach likes to see as his team prepares to enter the tournament as the No. 1 seed.

“We played a lot more consistent today,” Lorain coach John Rositano said. “We played a really good half-court defense, and I thought the key was that we rebounded really well…We took good shots. We were just more consistent in the areas that we have been inconsistent, which is rebounding, defending hard and moving the basketball.”

Trailing, 18-16, after a competitive first quarter, Lorain’s second quarter defense was a thing of beauty.

Rositano watched as his team applied relentless pressure, forcing three consecutive traveling calls on the Tigers (10-12, 6-6 LEL) to start the quarter.

After allowing 12 points to senior Omahn Dobbins in the first quarter, the Titans held him scoreless in the second.

Lorain (13-8, 7-5 LEL) continued the clamp, forcing nine turnovers in the quarter and outscoring the Tigers 16-5.

Leading the swarm was junior guard Jamir Billings. Billings thrived in a matchup against Tigers playmaker Ramelle Arnold, flustering the junior guard into drawn out possessions in the second quarter with no good look at the basket.

“We just try and come out here and play hard defense every game,” Billings said. “We have been preaching defense in practice since the first day of practice, since the first day of tryouts.”

Billings finished with four points, five rebounds, three assists and two steals.

Arnold eventually broke through in the latter stages of the night to tally a gamehigh 21 points and five rebounds.

Rositano couldn’t say enough about the junkyard dog mentality of Billings.

“Billings, this year, doesn’t score a lot, but what he does on the defensive end…the people in the stands have no idea what he does on the defensive end,” he said. “He took a first, second team All-Ohio guy and made him look average tonight. That’s what Billings does to a lot of guys.”

Lorain took a 32-23 lead into halftime after a chaotic 32 second possession unraveled to a quick pass from Billings to an Aaron Whitehead three-pointer that bounced in just before the buzzer.

Whitehead kept the Titans one step ahead with timely shots, notching 16 points, including three 3-pointers.

Jordan Jackson also tallied a trio of 3-pointers, chipping in 11 points on the night.

Lorain’s offense stalled out in the third quarter as

Warrenville Heights played a frantic style, trying to string together a couple of buckets.

The Tigers briefly broke through with baskets from Arnold and a three-pointer from Jamarion Johnson to trim the Titans’ lead to 4235 at the end of the third.

Lorain came out blazing in the fourth, bolstering their lead back to 47-37 on a three from Whitehead.

But it was the seven fourth-quarter points from Seth Wilson that helped seal the deal and wrap up and impressive victory on the road.

The St. Vincent-St. Mary transfer was locked in, asserting himself throughout the night.

“It was a big one,” Wilson said. “We all decided that we were going to shut down and play defense. We got multiple stops in a row. We just kept the energy up and just kept playing for each other. That was the big thing, just playing for each other.”

Wilson touted a teamhigh 17 points, eight rebounds, two assists and one steal.

Lorain out-rebounded the Tigers 34-24, and notched a consistent 11-of 13 from the free throw line.