ELYRIA — Neither Mike Walsh nor Anjie Caffarel knew what to expect Friday night in the second game of the Lorain County Holiday Classic at Elyria High School.
Opening games are like that.
Simply stated, the Pioneers started with a 10-0 run and beat Vermilion, 58-41, to advance to tonight’s much-anticipated matchup with longtime rival Admiral King. The Admirals slipped past Keystone, 46-41, in Friday’s opener.
“I was happy with the focus,” said Walsh, Elyria’s coach. “I remember last year we didn’t come in real focused. We won our game last year but we looked sloppy in the first game. I thought Vermilion was a dangerous team. I was happy to have a good start.”
“I think it was Elyria’s a great team and everybody knows it,” said Caffarel, the Sailors coach. “I think our girls figured out when they play, they can hang with anybody. It’s just getting out from a bad routine from last year. We’ve got to realize, we’ve got to run our plays and we can’t worry about what another team does.”
Elyria’s 6-foot tandem underneath had a lot to do with the way things started. For the night, 6-0 junior Brigette Jones pulled down nine rebounds and blocked a couple of shots. Senior Tai Dotson (6-2) had eight rebounds and four or five blocks.
The two combined to score 23 points — all in the paint with the exception of one 3-pointer Dotson drained early in the second quarter. Dotson’s 13 points led Elyria’s scoring. Elyria had a wide, 38-23, rebound advantage.
“I haven’t had this too often in the past,” Walsh said. “We can get a little more aggressive and pressure the ball because if we do get beat off the ball and they drive, those two can block some shots, alter some shots. … I didn’t used to have that. My posts used to be 5-7. My guards were bigger.”
“We’re big this year (as a team),” Dotson said. “We need to pound it inside, board and just play aggressive. We have a tough season ahead of us. Coach tells us all the time to crash the boards.”
The Pioneers established things early — running out to a 28-6 lead off a 13-point run to start the second quarter. Walsh was able to experiment from there as he played 12 girls. The biggest lead was 57-33 following Tess Sito’s 3-pointer with 2:42 left in the third quarter.
It wasn’t long after that Walsh took his starters out for good. Sito joined her senior mates in double figures with a dozen points.
Vermilion’s Anne Hamilton finished with scoring honors — hitting 21 points — all but two free throws coming in the second half.
Walsh’s biggest concern — the play of his guards — was answered positively for the most part, but tonight’s test against King should provide more answers.
“They’ll get a big test (tonight) obviously,” said Walsh, “but Kourtney (Schweitzer) and Cynthia (Woodard) are rookies basically. Kourtney was on the varsity but played JV last year and Woodard came off the bench for the JVs last year and is only a sophomore. And Ashley Stolarski came off the bench for us and she didn’t even play basketball last year. We’re young and inexperienced at the guard, but we’re also pretty good at the guard. All three of them can play.”
Elyria hasn’t lost a game in the 10-year history of the tournament but Admiral King eliminated the Pioneers in the district final last year and is certainly capable of handing Elyria its first Holiday loss tonight.
“It’s a big game,” Walsh said. “Everybody wants to see it, but it’s still only Game 2. It’s early in the season. The important thing is maybe we’ll see them again later in the season.”
NICE GESTURE: The proceeds from the 50-50 at Friday’s Holiday Classic were designated to aid the family of long-time official Dave Zaborniak, who died of a heart attack earlier this year.

Elyria 58, Vermilion 41

VERMILION (41): Julie Clark 3-0-6, Katelyn Peterson 1-0-2, Katie Karres 0-0-0, Katie Swinehart 2-2-7, Anne Hamilton 5-6-21, Andrea Rini 1-0-2, Alex Shuster 1-0-2, Sarah Besida 0-1-1, Adroemme Green 0-0-0, Chelsey Lantsberry 0-0-0. Totals 13-9-41.
ELYRIA (58): Kourtney Schweitzer 0-0-0, Cynthia Woodard 4-0-9, Brigette Jones 5-0-10, Tai Dotson 6-0-13, Tess Sito 3-4-12, Jasmine Fluker 1-0-2, Ashlee Stolarski 2-1-5, Nais Williams 2-0-4, Ashley Nemes 0-1-1, Alesha Mahone 0-2-2, Bergen Read 0-0-0, Galan Jones 0-0-0. Totals 23-8-58.
Vermilion     6    5    20    13    —    41
Elyria    15    13    19    11    —    58
Three-point goals: Vermilion 6-13 (Hamilton 5, Swinehart) Elyria 4-12 (Sito 2, Woodard, Dotson). Field Goals: Vermilion 13-37 (35 percent). Elyria 23-63 (37 percent).Free Throws: Vermilion 9-12 (75 percent). Elyria 8-12 (66 percent). Rebounds: Vermilion 23 (Hamilton 5). Elyria 38 (Jones 9). Turnovers: Vermilion 25, Elyria 17. Fouls: Vermilion 9, Elyria 10. Fouled Out: None.

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