Every practice, without fail, the Elyria Pioneers conduct the same drill. They gather in a circle and toss a ball in the air and never let it touch the ground, tipping it constantly.
If the sport were volleyball, it would be one thing. But in basketball, it’s unusual and illustrates Elyria’s central challenge: finding new and resourceful ways of overcoming an inherent height disadvantage.
“We’re a very different team this year than ones in the last couple years,” said Pioneers senior guard Demetrius Dalton. “There’s no real banger in the post on this team. Our center is really more of a slasher. So all of us have to help out in the rebounding to make up for our size.”
In each of the last two years, Elyria (6-2, 3-1 Northeast Ohio Conference) has advanced to the district championship. If the first eight games of the season are any measure, the Pioneers could be poised for another big leap under coach Bob Walsh.
The chief strength of Elyria lies in its overall quickness on defense, especially out of the backcourt, where opponents are averaging 21.8 turnovers per game.
Three Pioneers have averaged in double figures in Dalton (21.6 points per game), Promis Cabbil (12.6 ppg) and Seryrell Davis (13.1 ppg), with Travis Noble (9.7 ppg) knocking on the door as a fourth threat.
“Our team play to start the season has been pretty good as far as sharing the ball and moving it around,” said Walsh. “We’re improving. We’re certainly not at peak form yet, but we’re moving in the right direction.”

Parity rules

One of the most curious developments of the first half of the regular season has been the shake down of the West Shore Conference. Take a glance at the standings and one finds that no team is undefeated and no team is winless.
How unusual is this? It’s a fact that nearly floored Midview coach Troy DiFranco.
After the first three conference games of the year, every team in the eight-team WSC was either 2-1 or 1-2.
“I’ve been coaching for 15 years and 11 as a head coach and in all that time, I don’t recall anything like this,” said DiFranco. “That’s a sign this is going to be a crazy year in the conference.”

Shock therapy

The Keystone Wildcats underwent a rapid change in altitude inside the four days between shocking Lutheran West last Friday — becoming just the second team in the history of the Patriot Athletic Conference to defeat the Longhorns — then falling to Oberlin on Tuesday.
How could a team’s success change so rapidly? Well, a closer look at the two matchups reveals one strength suddenly turning into a weakness.
The Wildcats were able to blanket Lutheran West’s guards with their grinding, physical pressure. But against Oberlin — one of the most athletic teams in the area — Keystone’s defenders were easily shed.

Shore enough?

Coaches love to talk about the dangers of the holiday tournaments. Avon Lake certainly can appreciate this. The Shoremen lost six of their first nine games following last year’s play at the Avon Holiday Tournament.
Fast forward to 2008 and many of the same patterns have emerged.
The Shoremen came into last Friday’s Southwestern Conference tilt with North Olmsted as the only undefeated team in the county. But now they are suddenly saddled with a three-game losing streak after dropping games to the Eagles and North Royalton on Tuesday.
Of course, dropping a game to North Olmsted — or North Royalton for that matter — doesn’t erase the leaps the Shoremen have taken this year. But it bears watching how they respond.  

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