The Morning Journal (Lorain, OH)
Confident Titans up for St. Edward
The Lorain boys basketball team has a challenge ahead of it March 11.
The Titans will face off against the No. 2 ranked team in Ohio, St. Edward, at Rhodes Arena at the University of Akron.
The teams squared off Jan. 17 at Lorain. The Eagles got the best of the Titans, winning, 64-51. But the final score doesn’t indicate how close the game was.
The score was tied at the end of the first quarter, and St. Edward led by one point at halftime and six heading into the fourth quarter. The Titans went cold in the final frame, however, and scored six points in the quarter to seal their fate. Senior forward Jordan Jackson was playing in his first game after a nine-game absence due to injury.
Lorain coach John Rositano knows his team can take some things away from its first matchup with St. Edward.
“I told the guys that if we don’t rebound, we’re not going to win,” Rositano said. “We got (beat) on the boards the first time, and that was the difference in the game. They outrebounded us by 14 and they had five putback baskets against us. We have to at least stay even (on the boards) with them and neutralize that. We feel that if we do that, we have a shot.”
Senior guard Aaron Whitehead knows his team can’t make mistakes because of how disciplined the Eagles are.
“We played good throughout the game but toward the end, we got sloppy,” Whitehead said. “Now we know that their team is (very) disciplined. So we can’t get sloppy like we did in the fourth quarter of (the first) game we played them.”
The Titans had quite a bit of adversity to deal with this season, including injuries that kept junior guard Seth Wilson and Jackson out of the lineup for extended periods. This led to chemistry problems, which resulted in the Titans losing eight regular-season games.
Now that everyone is healthy, Lorain seems to be hitting its stride. The Titans won two games to close out the regular season and defeated Avon, Avon Lake and Lakewood in the postseason en route to winning a district title.
“We’ve had a five- or six- game stretch where we’ve had our guys together,” Rositano said. “You can just see the way we are playing, the (guys) are more comfortable with each other. They know where (guys) are on the court, and they have a better feeling of what each guy can do. In basketball, you have to have that and you can see that with the way we are playing. It’s more fluid and more structured.”
Senior guard Deonte Benejan knows the Eagles pose a tough challenge for the Titans.
“They are a really good defensive team and they help (on defense) really well,” Benejan said. “They are also able to shoot the ball really well and they have a good point guard in (Montorie) Foster. They have a lot of D-I players that can go so we have to defend them well.”
Rositano has said on multiple occasions throughout the postseason how important defense and rebounding are come tournament time.
“In the tournament, the game is shortened and it becomes a grind,” Rositano said. “If you don’t defend or rebound, you’re not going to beat anyone. That’s been our staple since we’ve been here. We rebound and defend, and that’s why we’ve been successful in tournament basketball.”
Despite some struggles this season, Lorain posted wins over top area teams such as Cleveland Central Catholic, Cleveland Heights and Warrensville Heights.
St. Edward coach Eric Flannery knows how lethal the Titans can be when they are playing well.
“They had some injuries throughout the year ... now they are running on all cylinders and playing great together,” Flannery said. “Seth (Wilson) is a problem because he can do a lot of different things on the offensive end. (They) shoot the ball well, shoot a lot of 3s at a pretty good rate, are athletic, can get to the rim and do a lot of different things and pose a lot of problems. You take all of the losses and throw them away. It’s a new season come tournament time.”
There is one X-factor that has been evident in Lorain’s play recently, and Rositano knows how important it is to his teams’ success.
“The biggest thing right now about our guys is that they are confident,” Rositano said. “They feel that they can beat anybody, and that’s half the battle. When you are confident and you feel that you can beat anyone, you have a shot.
“I know one thing about Wednesday, (there) will not be a lack of effort or heart. These guys are going to throw it out there and whatever happens, happens. But they are not going to walk off the court feeling like they didn’t give it their all.”