ELYRIA - It was an ominous sign when Akron Archbishop Hoban began with a trio of 3-pointers Friday night at the Coliseum.

The Knights (10-5, 9-2 in the North Coast League) used the threes to grab a quick lead en route to a 50-31 victory over Elyria Catholic (3-14, 2-9).

Hoban simply outmanned and wore down the Panthers by using a two-platoon substitution system - rotating two sets of five players throughout the game. As a result, the Knights only had one big scorer - 17 points from Evan Pannell - and no other player with more than seven.

With nobody playing more than half the game, Hoban played 12 players with nine of them scoring. The second unit entered the game midway through the opening quarter.

The Knights also played a tight man-to-man defense which kept the Panthers at bay, had near-perfect ball control - just seven turnovers - and dominated the boards for a 40-28 rebounding edge. Like the scoring, their rebounds were scattered among nine players, with Nate Greczanik finishing with a team-high five.

Despite trailing by 10 or more points most of the game, Elyria Catholic stayed patient, always looking for the open man. The Panthers only attempted seven 3-pointers, making their only three with 5:10 left in the fourth quarter.

The Knights dedicated the game to assistant coach Tom Goodall, who died Sunday.

“He was a father figure to me and I spoke the eulogy at his funeral (Thursday),” said Hoban coach T.K. Griffith.

Griffith said his substitution platoon is not a normal strategy for his team.

“I wanted to have everyone participate,” he said. “We played with passion tonight, doing a great job defensively, one of our best in that regard this season.”

On the plus side for Elyria Catholic, its defense held the Knights 15 points under their average.

“Again our kids played hard, but it is difficult to do night after night and not being rewarded with wins,” said Elyria Catholic coach Alan Januzzi. “(Griffith’s) got great depth and a lot of good athletes who play really great defense.”

The real excitement for Panthers fans Friday was winning the junior varsity game 52-50 on Joe Dempsey’s buzzer-beating jumper.

Before the game, Elyria Catholic athletic director Barb Salata had a brief ceremony of condolence in honor of Goodall.

At halftime, Salata led a ceremony to honor retiring Elyria Catholic girls tennis coach Terry Butler, who was recently named the Ohio girls tennis Coach of the Year by the National Federation of State High School Associations. There was a reception for Butler in the auditorium after the game.

Contact Jerry Rombach at 329-7135 or ctsports@chroniclet.com.

Akron Hoban 50, Elyria Catholic 31

AKRON HOBAN (50): Evan Pannell 5-6-17, Latroy Lewis 3-0-7, A.J. Pero 2-0-6, Greg McMullen 2-1-5, Nate Greczanik 1-2-4, Trevor Oldham 2-0-4, Sean Robbins 1-0-3, Lucas Sokol 1-0-2, Adam Zsely 1-0-2, Kolin McMillen 0-0-0, Norm Jesser 0-0-0, Evan Luse 0-0-0. Totals 18-9-50.

ELYRIA CATHOLIC (31): Connor Voreis 4-2-10, Joe Januzzi 3-2-9, Adam Kirsch 2-0-4, Spencer Roule 2-0-4, Nick Ksenich 1-0-2, Sergio Montanez 1-0-2, Clay Jerge 0-0-0, M.J. Lotko 0-0-0. Totals 13-4-31.

Akron Hoban                17            10            8              15            -           50
Elyria Catholic             4              8              8              11            -           31

Three-point goals - Akron Hoban 5 of 16 (Pero 2, Robbins, Pannell, Lewis), Elyria Catholic 1 of 7 (Januzzi). Field goals - Akron Hoban 18 of 53 (33 percent), Elyria Catholic 13 of 38 (34 percent). Free throws - Akron Hoban 9 of 17, Elyria Catholic 4 of 6. Rebounds - Akron Hoban 40 (Greczanik 5), Elyria Catholic 28 (Roule 5, Kirsch 5). Turnovers - Akron Hoban 7, Elyria Catholic 18. Total fouls - Akron Hoban 10, Elyria Catholic 18. Fouled out - Voreis.
Junior varsity - Elyria Catholic, 52-50.

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