The Morning Journal (Lorain, OH)
Pioneers bounce back behind Rogers’ 30 points
Elyria shakes off loss from night before to beat Clearview in nonconference game
Caleb Rogers is averaging over 15 points per game this season, so when the Elyria senior scored six points in a loss to Euclid on Jan. 11, he knew he had to shake off the tough outing and lead his team to victory.
Rogers bounced back with his best offensive performance of the year, scoring a seasonhigh 30 points to help power Elyria past visiting Clearview, 76-67, Jan. 12 in what’s become an annual meeting between the two nonconference rivals.
“I usually try not to let bad games affect me because I know I can always do better
than what I did before,” Rogers said. “I’ll always come out, keep trying my hardest and keep playing.
“Our coach said (Clearview) would try to gamble a lot and that the corners would be open. So our guards were getting past their defenders and I was open for most of my shots and I’ve been shooting good in practice so it paid off here.”
It was especially encouraging for not only Rogers, but his coaches and teammates as well, to find that spark after battling an ankle injury the past several weeks.
“Since I’ve been injured I haven’t been doing much to help the team,” Rogers said. “It’s starting to get better so I’ve been trying my hardest to play well on the offensive and defensive sides.”
Clearview scored the first points of the game and went on a 12-2 run before ending the first quarter with a 2213 lead. But it was Rogers who scored the Pioneers’ first points on a put back to make it 2-2 early, and Elyria Coach Brett Larrick said that first basket was key in building Rogers’ confidence back up.
He had nine points in the first quarter and finished the first half leading all scorers with 21.
“He got that one offensive rebound right in the paint and any time you see the ball go in as a shooter it really, really helps,” Larrick said. “I used to like a free throw or a layup and then you get going, but I thought that was big for him.”
Despite the hot start, Clearview (8-2) couldn’t maintain pace the whole game and Elyria (6-7) finally wore down the shorthanded Clippers. Javon Todd, Clearview’s leading scorer with 16.1 points per game, was unable to play against the Pioneers.
“We came out strong and I think (Elyria) wore us down a little bit,” Clearview coach John Szalay said. “They’re just physical. They make you hurry on every possession and they play hard all the time . ... We’re a team that gets a run and we couldn’t really get that run. We got a couple deflections and we couldn’t turn them into buckets . ... There were times where I thought fatigue kind of hit us a little bit.”
Clearview had four players reach double-figures including Jamir Billings with 16 points, Jaylen Paschel with 12, Dre Taylor with 11 and Josiah Hitchens 10.
Aiden Carter was the only other player to score in double-figures for Elyria with 11 points, and Will Waddell chipped in a gamehigh 11 rebounds including a pair of put backs midway through the fourth quarter that seemed to seal the Pioneers’ fate.
Elyria travels to Keystone Jan. 15 for another nonconference game before returning to Greater Cleveland Conference play at home against Mentor Jan. 18.
“We went in that locker room and we celebrated,” Rogers said. “It felt good to be hype and get a good win over Clearview.”