MEDINA — After watching his team brick enough free throws to build the new Elyria High School on Thursday, Pioneers coach Mike Walsh wasn’t pleased with much of anything.

Elyria lost to Cloverleaf 44-32 in the Medina Division I district semifinals and did so with 2-of-16 free throw shooting and a lack of aggressiveness on the offensive end.

The Colts (12-11) took control of the game with an 18-2 run over the third quarter’s final five minutes.

“It’s been pretty much our story: the third quarter,” Walsh said of his team, which finished 9-14. “I shouldn’t say all year because most of the third quarters we’re down by 30 at halftime, but when we’ve been close, the third quarter’s been a bad quarter for us.”

That theme reared its ugly head after point guard Sunny Seymore hit a 3-pointer to put the Pioneers up 23-20, and things went downhill for Elyria in a hurry.

Led by six points, four assists and two steals from point guard Megan Jackson, seven points by center Katie Simpson (game-high 13 points) and a big 3-pointer from wing Shelby Dearth, the Colts roared to a 38-25 lead heading into the fourth quarter.

Elyria went on a 6-0 run to start the final eight minutes thanks to shaky foul shooting by Cloverleaf, but couldn’t cash in a plethora of jumpers —a theme for the evening as the Colts sat in a 3-2 zone.

“I was about a possession away from pulling it out with a three-point lead,” Walsh said. “We struggle offensively (40.2 ppg coming into the night). We don’t have many people who can score. We have to work together to score and tonight it wasn’t happening.”

What wasn’t happening, either, were free throws. Cloverleaf’s large student section was rowdy, but Walsh didn’t offer an excuse after his team missed its first seven attempts from the line.

Had it not been for the offensive rebounding of center Nais Williams (eight points, six rebounds, three blocks), Elyria would have been trailing by about eight points at halftime instead of leading by one.

“Two of 16 at the free throw line?” Walsh said. “Wow, what do you say to that? You don’t want to come to the district and not play well, but we didn’t play well.”

Bridgette Jones did play well for the Pioneers. The guard had a team-high 11 points on 5-of-9 shooting, grabbed six boards and scored four of Elyria’s six points in the disastrous third quarter.

The loss put a damper on Saturday’s impressive upset of second-seeded Amherst.

“I give them credit — their defense took us out of a lot of things — but for some reason we weren’t in the attack mode tonight,” Walsh said. “We were being attacked tonight.”

Cloverleaf 44, Elyria 32

Cloverleaf (44): Shelby Dearth 2-0-6, Marissa Fowls 1-4-6, Katie Simpson 5-3-13, Haley Ploucha 1-0-2, Megan Jackson 2-3-8, Alaina Jordan 2-2-6, Shannon Kilkenny 0-0-0, Ashley Albright 1-1-3, Kelli Slavens 0-0-0, Adrea Baughman 0-0-0, Morgan Siegler 0-0-0, Kendall Yuhas 0-0-0. Totals 14-13-44.

Elyria (32): Briann Owens 0-0-0, Bergen Read 1-0-3, Nais Williams 4-0-8, Alecia Jones 0-0-0, Sunny Seymore 1-0-3, Bridgette Jones 5-1-11, Mary Jones 0-0-0, Quay Brown 3-0-6, Justine Cabbil 0-1-1, Rawshawne Stephens 0-0-0, Galan Jones 0-0-0, Anastasia Barnhill 0-0-0, Kristen Burrey 0-0-0. Totals 14-2-32.

Cloverleaf 8 9 21 6 — 44

Elyria 6 12 7 7 — 32

3-point goals: Cloverleaf 3-9 (Dearth 2, Jackson), Elyria 2-12 (Read, Seymore). Field goals: Cloverleaf 14 of 34 (41.2 percent), Elyria 14 of 46 (30.4 percent). Free throws: Cloverleaf 13 of 19 (68.4 percent), Elyria 2 of 16 (12.5 percent). Rebounds: Cloverleaf 29 (Fowls 7), Elyria 30 (B. Jones, Williams 6). Turnovers: Cloverleaf 17, Elyria 16. Fouls — Cloverleaf 16, Elyria 20. Fouled out — Seymore, A. Jones.

Contact Albert Grindle at (330) 721-4043 or agrindle@ohio.net.

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