MEDINA — Add Jody Peters to the growing list of people coming away impressed with Elyria High as teams prepare for the upcoming tournament.
“Elyria’s very, very good,” said the Medina coach following a 64-40 thumping by the Pioneers on Friday night. “When they’re focused and they come ready to play, I’m not sure there are too many teams around here that can beat them. They’ve got the whole package.
“They’re going to be tough to beat when you look at the tournament over there at Midview.”
Granted, the Bees are young and inexperienced and were no match for Elyria’s quickness and athletic ability, but Bob Walsh has his Pioneers playing as a team at the right time of year for sure.
“We wanted to put pressure on them,” Walsh said. “They’re not the strongest ball handlers in the world. We knew if we pressured them, they’d hurry and make mistakes.”
The Pioneers (13-5, 5-4 Northeast Ohio Conference) pressed the Bees (3-16, 0-9) almost from the time they stepped off the bus. Medina turned it over seven times in the first quarter as Elyria jumped in front 21-8. The Pioneers scored in bunches all night – going on nine-point runs twice in the first half and rolling up 17 unanswered points to start the second half to open a 53-21 lead.
Walsh was able to substitute freely the whole game, giving ample minutes to his bench players.
“Early in the game when we put them in, I thought they did a real good job,” Walsh said of his bench. “The latter half of the game, it became garbage time and the game deteriorated terribly.”
“They pose so many problems,” Peters said of the Pioneers. “They score so quickly. We turn the thing over and bang, they’re scoring right now. Their big guys are long — they get to the ball — and their guards are quick. That’s a tough combo.”
One of those quick guards is senior Promis Cabbil, Elyria’s leading scorer Friday with 14 points.
“We’ve been working hard in practice on our defense,” Cabbil said. “We want our defense ready for the tournament.”
With Cabbil and his senior backcourt mates Rayshawn Camel (10 points) and Demetrius Dalton (eight), Elyria’s full-court pressure proved too much for Medina. The Bees committed 20 of their 21 turnovers before Walsh pulled his starters for good early in the fourth quarter.
“We know each other well,” Cabbil said. “On the court, we know where each other will be. We set up the trap defense and risk things and hope the other one’s got our back.”
Up front, 6-foot-2 junior Travis Noble and 6-4 senior Seryrell Davis, along with sixth man Mykel Williams, a 6-5 senior, controlled the boards. Williams, who scored 10 points, grabbed 10 rebounds with Noble and Davis clearing nine each.
Contact Tim Gebhardt at 329-7135 or ctsports@chroniclet.com.

Elyria 64, Medina 40

ELYRIA (64): Promis Cabbil 6-1-14, Demetrius Dalton 4-0-8, Rayshawn Camel 4-0-10, Seryrell Davis 1-1-3, Travis Noble 3-0-7, Mykel Williams 5-0-10, Michael Higginbotham 1-0-2, Ricky Smallwood 2-0-4, John Yeaples 1-0-2, Alex McKenna 0-0-0, Kare King 1-0-2, DeSean Davis 0-0-0, Mike Cannon-Wohlever 1-0-2, Matt Velazquez 0-0-0. Totals 29-2-64.
MEDINA (40):  Tyler Peters 1-0-2, Mike Rodgers 2-2-6, Danny Rymer 3-3-10, Corey Morse 2-0-4, Richard Sumlin 1-0-2, Matt Ellenbest 2-1-5, Zach Peters 4-1-9, Brenden Bryant 0-0-0, Josh Polola 0-1-1. Totals 14-10-40.
Elyria        21    15    19    9    —    64
Medina     8    13    7    12    —    40
Three-point goals: Elyria 4-17 (Camel 2, Cabbil, Noble), Medina 2-10 (Rymer, Ellenbest). Field Goals: Elyria 29-74 (39 percent), Medina 14-47 (30 percent). Free Throws: Elyria 2-4 (50 percent), Medina 10-19 (53 percent). Rebounds: Elyria 47 (Williams 10), Medina 36 (Rymer 7). Turnovers: Elyria 14, Medina 21. Fouls: Elyria 16, Medina 8. Fouled Out: None. Technical Foul: Dalton.
Junior Varsity: Elyria, 50-41.

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