Titans’ speed and size too much for Shoremen

Height and speed are a dangerous combination, and for Avon Lake, it proved to be a lethal combination for Berea-Midpark as the Titans topped the Shoremen, 56-21, on Dec. 19 at Avon Lake.

The Titans’ (4-0, 2-0 Southwestern Conference) height advantage was apparent from the tip, when 6-foot-11 center Nolan Gerrity barely had to jump to win the opening tipoff.

The speed advantage became apparent very quickly as well, as Berea-Midpark’s full-court press never really allowed the Shoremen (1-4, 1-3) to get into an offensive rhythm, while also creating havoc for Avon Lake in the turnover department. Berea-Midpark owned a sizeable 23-7 margin in that depart- ment.

“The height difference was huge,” Avon Lake coach Eric Smith said. “They’re out there at 6-foot-8, 6-foot-11 and 6-foot-7, and the biggest guy that we’re running out there is 6-foot-4. That’s a huge difference. They get the ball inside and there’s not a whole lot you can do at that point.

“And their press was designed to get us to play faster than we wanted to. It worked. It’s designed to wear you out, and that’s exactly what it did.”

Initially, it looked as if the Shoremen could hang around with a Berea-Midpark offense that entered the game averaging 79 points per game.

The Titans’ 6-foot-6 forward Bret Swinnerton came out firing, scoring the first eight points for Berea-Midpark, but 3-pointers by junior Trey Boys basketball Rees and sophomore Carson Toy kept the Shoremen within striking distance at 8-6 midway through the first quarter.

That is when the cracks truly started to show as the Titans closed the quarter on a 6-1 run to take a 14-7 lead into the second quarter.

“I thought we handled the pressure well in the first quarter,” Smith said. “We had some good looks and we knocked them down early.”

Those cracks in the Avon Lake offense continued to grow in the second quarter as the Shoremen turned the ball over nine times — many of which were unforced — and made only one of their five shots, a jumper by junior James O’Connor, while being outscored by Berea-Midpark, 14-2, to enter halftime trailing, 28-9.

“If you’re a team that is long and athletic like they are, the pressure becomes cumulative,” Smith said. “Over a period of time, it begins to wear on you and wear you down. And that’s pretty much what happened. That’s why they’re good.”

It was much of the same in the third quarter for Avon Lake. The Shoremen committed six turnovers and started the quarter on the wrong end of an 18-0 run that saw the Titans’ lead balloon to 46-9 with a minute remaining in the quarter.

The entire Shoremen offense in the third quarter came from senior A.J. Outcalt in the final 17 seconds of the game as he split a pair of free throws and then nailed a buzzerbeating 3 to enter the fourth quarter trailing, 46-13.

With the second-string playing most of the fourth quarter for BereaMidpark, the Shoremen managed to score eight points via a pair of 3-pointers from sophomore David Mesh and junior Logan Good, along with a Good jumper. Still, the Titans’ came out on top with a 56-21 victory.

Despite the lopsided score, Smith said that he felt his defense played well.

“When you consider how many times they got the ball for free from us, only allowing 46 points is not bad,” Smith said. “Our guys played defense. They played hard and did everything that they could. Right now, we’re just at a point where we’ve got to put the ball in the basket and not turn it over. That was the key.

“I don’t ever question these guys, their heart or their effort. They play hard and do everything that we ask them to do. Now we just have to go out and execute a little bit better.”