ELYRIA — You can almost still hear the chant from the Elyria fans.
“De-fense. De-fense.”
And the Pioneers responded Friday night, limiting Brunswick to just 11 points in the second half to grab a 54-39 win and a huge momentum burst heading into next week’s Division I tournament at Midview.
“They really did a great job of shutting them down,” Elyria coach Bob Walsh said of the Pioneers, who finished the regular season at 14-6, 5-5 in the Northeast Ohio Conference. “Brunswick being as selective as they are about shooting — that helped our defense because Brunswick kids don’t force shots. If they don’t think they have the shot, they don’t take it. I think we kept ourselves close enough to them that they didn’t take it. They’d pass the ball up.”
“If you can’t make a shot and you turn the ball over and you’re on the road against a good team,” Brunswick coach Joe Mackey said, “it’s hard to win. They did a nice job on Tyler (Ferrell), obviously, but in that situation, you kind of need somebody else to step up. I thought we had some good looks at the basket — especially in the third quarter — but we never took advantage of it.”
Brunswick only scored three points in the third quarter — a 3-pointer by Bob Ritchie with 2:48 left in the quarter. The Blue Devils misfired on all six attempts to that point and on a pair of free throws to boot.  Elyria’s lightning-quick guards helped cause five turnovers, but the Pioneers only scored six points themselves and led just 32-31 entering the final quarter.
“It was our last game here,” senior point guard Promis Cabbil said. “We knew we had to turn it up.”
Ferrell had 10 points in the first half with a strong effort inside. He added just a pair of free throws in the second and was held to only two shots. Joe Puch scored all 13 of his total in the first half. Brunswick made just three field goals after intermission on 17 attempts.
“When they got it down to (Tyler) Ferrell on the block, he was surrounded by people,” Walsh said. “(Our kids) just did a heck of a job helping each other out — especially with Ferrell. This is the way a team plays together — offense and defense.”
The backbreaker came on a sequence with just under five minutes to play and Elyria ahead 39-34. Ritchie’s 3-point attempt rimmed out and was grabbed by Ferrell underneath, but before he had a chance to do anything with it, Cabbil slapped it away.
Cabbil came up with the ball in the scramble and passed ahead to Demetrius Dalton at the far right baseline beyond the 3-point arc. Dalton’s shot barely wrinkled the cords, giving Elyria an eight-point lead and taking the wind out of the Blue Devils.
“When they got the rebound,” Cabbil said, “luckily I got the steal and kicked it ahead to Putt (Dalton’s nickname) to hit the three. He’s got no conscious, so he shot it.”
“Coach Walsh just told me to be confident with my shot and take my time,” Dalton said. “I kept my confidence, threw it up there and it went in.”
“We were getting loose balls and creating opportunities,” Walsh said.
Dalton scored 17 points, Cabbil added 15 and Travis Noble 10, but Elyria had to overcome three quick fouls on its tallest player — 6-foot-4 senior Seryrell Davis with 5:23 remaining in the first quarter. With Davis on the bench, Walsh was concerned.
“He’s sitting on the bench beside me,” Walsh said. “We’re in trouble. But big Myke (Williams) came through and did a pretty solid job and Promis is our catalyst. Everything goes through Promis. We expect a lot out of him and he gives us a lot.”
Contact Tim Gebhardt at 329-7135 or ctsports@chroniclet.com.

Elyria 54, Brunswick 39

BRUNSWICK (39): Bob Ritchie 3-0-9. Jassen Kavedzic 0-0-0, Joe Puch 3-6-13, Tyler Ferrell 5-2-12, Ryan Pokorny 0-0-0, Bill Slattery 1-0-2, Dan Kissling 0-0-0, Adam Bernard 1-0-2, Dave Dynia 0-0-0, Brett Maloney 0-0-0, Kyle Payne 0-0-0, Alex Lukic 0-1-1. Totals 13-9-39.
ELYRIA (54): Promis Cabbil 5-3-15, Demetrius Dalton 5-5-17, Rayshawn Camel 2-2-6, Seryrell Davis 1-0-2, Travis Noble 4-0-10, Mykel Williams 2-0-4, John Yeaples 0-0-0, Alex McKenna 0-0-0, Michael Higginbotham 0-0-0, Kare King 0-0-0, DeSean Davis 0-0-0, Mike Cannon-Wohlever 0-0-0, Matt Velasquez 0-0-0. Totals 19-10-54.
Brunswick     10    18    3    8    —    39
Elyria        13    13    6    22    —    54
Three-point goals: Brunswick 4-14 (Ritchie 3, Puch), Elyria 6-13 (Cabbil 2, Dalton 2, Noble 2). Field Goals: Brunswick 13-35 (37 percent), Elyria 19-48 (39.5 percent). Free Throws: Brunswick 9-18 (50 percent), Elyria 10-13 (77 percent). Rebounds: Brunswick 30 (Ferrell 6), Elyria 29 (Cabbil, Noble 6). Turnovers: Brunswick 18, Elyria 10. Fouls: Brunswick 10, Elyria 17. Fouled Out: None. Technical Foul: Brunswick bench.
Junior Varsity: Brunswick 38-35.

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