Elyria’s season comes to close in district semifinal

The St. Edward Eagles come in waves.

They’re long, they’re deep and their run-andjump pressure makes it tough on opposing offenses.

Elyria was on a roll coming into this game — winning 14 of its past 15 games — but its season came to an end on March 1 in a Division I Lakewood District semifinal, 74-46.

No. 1 St. Edward (20-2) advanced to the district final on March 4 against the winner of No. 6 Maple Heights and No. 8 Medina.

“I thought our guys fought like heck. I’m proud of the effort,” Elyria coach Brett Larrick said. “At the start of the game, we were playing so hard, so fast. We didn’t want to back down. I don’t think we backed down at all.”

The Pioneers (18-7) came out with the intensity that was needed to try and knock off a team of the Eagles’ caliber. Mateo Medina scored the game’s opening points to make it 2-0, but the Eagles never trailed after that. Although the intensity was there, so were the jitters to begin the game. It took a quarter to settle in, but by that time St. Edward jumped to a 14-2 advantage.

More than two minutes into the game, Brevyn Coleman made two free throws to finally put the Eagles on the board. Danny Lavelle and Brian Sullivan made jumpers to put St. Edward by six in the final minutes of the quarter. The Eagles also found their 3-point stroke late in the quarter with back-to-back triples from Sullivan and Joey Scarpitti to close it out. Elyria also committed seven turnovers in the first.

“They don’t slow down, they go 10-12 (players) deep,” Ryan Walsh said.