SOLON — Superior quickness got Elyria off to a flying start Friday night.
But it was that same quickness, minus the control, that bogged down the Pioneers for much of their 69-48 victory over Solon in a non-divisional Northeast Ohio Conference game.
“We will do that,” Elyria coach Bob Walsh said. “We want to play a quick game, get the other team playing to our speed, but sometimes we’re so interested in playing quickly we play too quickly and forget about the things we’re supposed to do.”
Like take good shots.
Elyria (9-3) built a 28-10 lead through the first 10:30 before going frigid via poor shot selection and trying to get too much too quickly. The Pioneers were 8-of-33 in field-goal shooting through the second quarter and into the third until Demetrius Dalton knocked down a 3-point basket with four seconds left in the period.
Elyria got back in the groove in the fourth quarter. The Pioneers were ahead by 14 points before going on an 11-4 run over 4:49 to make the score
65-44 with just 2:26 remaining.
“Our quickness mattered, especially on defense,” Walsh said. “We wanted to contain them and make them play faster than they wanted. We wanted to make the big guys of theirs have to run up and down the floor with us.
“It was a good road win. Solon took Shaker Heights into overtime, and Shaker is state-ranked. We’re happy to win away from home against a taller team.”
All went well for the Pioneers in the opening quarter. They even outrebounded the taller Comets 12-8. Elyria scored the first seven points, led 12-2 at one time, and scored the last nine points of the quarter for a 23-6 lead.
“To be honest, our lack of effort in the first quarter was as important as their quickness for why we were in a hole,” Solon coach Sean Fisher said. “If you don’t come ready, a quick team like Elyria will make you pay. Good teams will do that.
“We didn’t get the ball in to our big men. We didn’t take advantage of our height. We didn’t do any of the things we talked about. You cannot go down by 18 points and then decide to start trying to win.”
But things bogged down in the second quarter as the Pioneers couldn’t find the shooting touch. Two of their five field goals came off offensive rebounds and two others came off steals. Seven unanswered points by Solon (4-9) cut the lead to 11 points before Elyria got it back to 17 at halftime.
The story was much the same in the third quarter. Elyria got the lead back to 18 points at 49-31 before the Comets rallied to make the score 49-38 just before the close of the period. The Pioneers got a bit of a boost when Dalton, who led all scorers with 23 points, buried a 3-pointer from deep in the left corner to make it a 14-point game heading to the last quarter.
Elyria was 8-of-13 from the field in the fourth quarter and ended the night hitting 26 of 66 field-goal tries and 12 of 16 from the foul line. Solon was 20-of-55 from the field and hit only seven of 19 free throws. The Comets went just 1-of-8 at the line in the second half.
Dalton scored 17 of his points in the second half. Travis Noble had 16 of his
20 points in the first half. Freshman Jakarr Sampson led the Comets with 19 points.
Noble led all rebounders with nine. Dalton and Seryell Davis had eight each for Elyria. Promis Cabbil led the Pioneers with six assists.
Contact Steve Byrne at 329-7135 or ctsports@chroniclet.com.

Elyria 69, Solon 48
ELYRIA (69): Promis Cabbil 1-0-2, Demetrius Dalton 9-3-23, Rayshawn Camel 2-0-4, Seryrell Davis 1-2-4, Travis Noble 8-2-20, Mykel Williams 2-4-8, Ricky Smallwood 1-1-4, John Yeaples 0-0-0, Alex McKenna 0-0-0, Kare King 1-0-2, Michael Higginbotham 0-0-0, Matt Velazquez 1-0-2. Totals 26-12-69.
SOLON (48): Tyler Harper 1-2-5, Collin Baldwin 2-0-4, Darryl Baldwin 4-3-11, Zachary Brillhart 3-1-7, Jakarr Sampson 9-1-19, Calvin Oldham 0-0-0, Jake Voigt 0-0-0, Kyle Goudy 0-0-0, James Ella 1-0-2, Sam Glick 0-0-0, Alex Manning 0-0-0. Totals 20-7-48.
Elyria               23 16 13 17 — 69
Solon                6 16 16 10 — 48
Three-point goals: Elyria 5 (Dalton 2, Noble 2, Smallwood), Solon 1 (Harper). Rebounds: Elyria 38 (Nobel 9), Solon 38 (Oldham, Brillhart, Sampson 7). Turnovers: Elyria 12, Solon 20. Total fouls: Elyria 19, Solon 10. Fouled out: None. Junior varsity: Solon 55, Elyria 49.

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