The Morning Journal (Lorain, OH)
Right place, Wright time for EC heroics
THE SCORE
There was no hesitation — he just let it rip.
Edward Wright calmly drained what turned out to be the game-winning 3 with 20 seconds left as No. 2 Elyria Catholic escaped Bedford with a thrilling 58-56 victory over No. 3 Crestwood in a Division III Bedford
ELYRIA CATHOLIC 58, CRESTWOOD 56
District semifinal March 3.
Elyria Catholic advances to face No. 4 Warrensville Heights in the Bedford District championship game March 6 at 7 p.m.
While it wasn’t a buzzerbeater, it had all the makings of one.
Wright’s shot came amid a furious back-and-forth fourth quarter battle that looked bleak at times. The Red Devils (20-4) had taken back the lead with 36 seconds left on two free throws from Trent Jakacki. The junior guard racked up 18 first-half points and had torched Elyria Catholic for most of the night.
It seemed he was going to burn them one more time.
But as Elyria Catholic inbounded up the court, Elias Palmer eventually found Wright on the wing.
From there, it was all just instincts on a designed play.
“It’s exactly how Coach drew it up,” Wright said. “It’s all about execution, and we have to execute those plays.
“I trusted his play, and I knew I trusted my ability to hit that shot. All game I was a little off, so I knew, that last one, I had to put it in.”
Elyria Catholic coach Rob Palmer wanted the ball in Wright’s hands during crunch time.
“Ed is not bashful to take those shots,” Palmer said. “There isn’t a moment too big for him when it comes to taking those shots. He has the confidence and the skill to put that thing through the hoop.”
Wright finished with a team-high 19 points, five rebounds and three assists.
The heroics were part of a collective second-half effort to recover from another sluggish start. Elyria Catholic began the evening 3 of 12 from the field and succumbed to the red hot shooting of Jakacki and the rest of the Red Devils in the early going as the Panthers trailed, 15-6, at the end of the first quarter.
The Panthers (19-5) cut the lead to, 29-23, at halftime, and that’s when Palmer made some adjustments and leaned on a defense that rose to the occasion.
“Jordan Taylor coming into the game kind of changed the whole mentality,” Palmer said. “We started playing 94 feet, and we started frustrating them a little bit. It was just getting some easy turnovers and some runouts, and Jack Griffin attacking the basket.”
Griffin notched four points in the quarter, but it was a pair of steals that helped Elyria Catholic creep closer. Panthers senior Branson Taylor snapped out of his funk, racking up five free throws in the quarter to help cut the lead to 41-40.
Elyria Catholic stormed out of the gate in the fourth with a 4-0 run on buckets from Nate Damron and Taylor.
The 6-foot-7 Pitt football commit was reveling in the opportunity to crash in the paint.
“It’s always fun to get a little physical down there because I’m a football player, so it’s fun to get a little physicality down there,” he said. “It’s always fun to play through me, and when they give it to me, my teammates get open. I just love to see my teammates succeed.”
Taylor tallied 16 points, eight rebounds and one block, and Griffin added 10.
Elyria Catholic went 12 of 17 from the free-throw line, while Crestwood notched 11 of 18.
The Panthers stretched the lead to 52-44 midway through the fourth quarter as Connor Trockley nailed a 3 and bucket, but then Elyria Catholic went stagnant as a last-ditch effort from Jakacki and Mason Angle allowed the Red Devils to sneak back into the contest, taking a 54-53 lead.
“Talk about heart,” Crestwood coach Josh Jakacki said. “Those kids battled. We got down nine with darn near three minutes left to go. They got some deflections and easy buckets. Got to the free-throw line and made some free throws, which we didn’t do at the beginning of the quarter. I’m just super proud.”
Jakacki finished with a game-high 30-point performance for the Red Devils. Angle added 12, and Mason Jakacki notched six.
With all eyes on No. 1, Wright, dished it to Trockley for the jumper to put the Panthers back on top, 55-54, with just over a minute left.
That set up the thrilling finish.
“He has been working on that for that moment,” Taylor said of Wright’s 3-point dagger. “We had full confidence in him to drain it and win the game.”
Palmer sees the thrilling win as just another stage of development for the young men who are maturing before his eyes.
“They are 16, 17, and 18–year old kids. They are young men, growing in the world, and this is development for them,” Palmer said. “At the end of the day, a game like this really builds toughness … you can’t replicate that in practice, and that’s what was best about tonight’s game.”
The loss ends a 20-win season for Crestwood, who also claimed a Portage Trail Conference championship this season.