TOP OF THE CROP

Girls Basketball 1: (1) Elyria Catholic (9-0) 2: (2) Olmsted Falls (13-1) 3: (5) Firelands (6-0) 4: (NR) Westlake (7-1) 5: (10) Columbia (8-0) 6: (NR) Vermilion (8-3) 7: (6) Avon (7-3)

8: (NR) North Ridgeville (8-5)

9: (8) Clearview (4-2) 10: (3) Lorain (1-2)

Watch List: Bay

Crop Comments: The top two teams in the crop are essentially 1a and

1b . ... Elyria Catholic has embarked on an incredible 30-game winning streak that dates to last season. The Panthers have picked up right where they left off after graduating eight seniors including The Morning Journal player of the year. Annika Bredel and Emily Rapacz lead the way for Elyria Catholic, which looks ready to make another tournament run. … Olmsted Falls hasn’t lost since its opening game against Aurora. The Bulldogs are again leading the Southwestern Conference for the third year in a row behind a deep and talented team. … The Lorain County League is once again being controlled by Firelands, which went unbeaten to win the league in 2020. The Falcons play Columbia twice next week in what are essentially the league championship games. … Speaking of the Raiders they’ve grown tremendously under third year head coach Corey Taylor and have a threeheaded monster on offense that drives them. Ally Ross, Avery Lavender and Mallory Hottell. … Westlake, despite graduating almost the entirety of its offense from last season is right back near the top of the SWC. … Vermilion has doubled its win total from a season ago under head coach Jason Sockel. The Sailors are led by guard Marianna Plas, who is averaging over 20 points per game. … The second tier of the SWC has been in flux throughout most of the young season. Teams like North Ridgeville and Avon have shown flashes, but also dropped games they maybe shouldn’t have. Clearview once again anchored by senior Brooke Rebman are playing strong. … Lorain drops from third to tenth through no real fault of their own. The Titans were set to tip-off back in November before their season was postponed. It wasn’t until early January that Lorain returned to the court.