SANDUSKY — Will Rudolph sat out the first quarter of Tuesday’s Holiday Classic opener for disciplinary reasons.
Apparently, he got the message.

The 6-foot-6 senior with the wide wingspan, came off the bench to score a career-high 26 points, grab seven boards and block five shots as Elyria High got past its biggest county rival, Admiral King, 50-43.

The Pioneers (2-3) go after their seventh Classic crown in the 12-year history of the event tonight against Vermilion, a 62-53 winner over host Sandusky in Tuesday’s second game.

Defending champ Admiral King (3-3) was riding a three-game winning streak.

“We challenged them a little bit this week,” said Brett Larrick of his players following his biggest win as Elyria’s coach. “Read the newspapers, you hear how good King’s been the past few weeks. We challenged our guys to win the inside battle.”

With Rudolph on the bench, Chase Farris, the 6-5 rock-solid junior linebacker off the football team, got things going Elyria’s way.

Farris scored 11 of his 14 points and grabbed five of his game-high 16 rebounds as Elyria asserted itself with a 13-7 lead after one quarter.

“Coach and I had a bet that (King) would get more boards,” Farris said. “I said it wasn’t going to happen. I had to step up. Will wasn’t allowed to play the first quarter.”

“I felt since I sat out, I had to come hard,” Rudolph said. “We needed a win after three losses. We had to get our confidence back.”

“Playing time,” Admiral King coach Al Stacey said. “Sometimes you take it away, it makes you better. (Rudolph) came out on fire. I thought he played really well.”

Rudolph was practically unstoppable once he got the ball inside, often showcasing a soft turnaround jump shot from the right side of the lane. He scored 11 points in the crucial third quarter when Elyria twice built a 10-point lead on the Admirals.

Rudolph then hit nine straight free throws at one point as the Pioneers managed to stave off King, which staged a fourth-quarter rally that cut Elyria’s lead to 45-41 with 1:08 to play.

“I work on that in practice a lot,” Rudolph said. “Backing down, post move — me and Chase — then knock it down in the game.”

“He’s bigger than I thought,” Stacey said of Rudolph. “I don’t really have a big guy to play behind people like that and we didn’t do a very good job of recognizing when they wanted to go to him.

“That was the key. I think our big guys got a little frustrated.”

Elyria controlled the paint — securing 47 rebounds to 38 by King. The Pioneers played the better floor game too, forcing the Admirals into seven first-quarter turnovers — many caused directly by Farris — and 19 for the game. Elyria did have 15 turnovers with six coming in the final quarter when King really got after it. But the Admirals also sent the Pioneers to the foul line 15 times where they made eight.

“I can’t say enough about Chase,” Larrick said, “and his heart and will the first quarter to lead our guys without (Rudolph) on the floor. It says something about him and how hard he plays. He had to get everyone else to match his intensity.”
“You have to play hard,” Farris said. “It’s another county team and you don’t want to hear them talking the rest of the year if they win.”

Elyria’s guards — Mike Cannon and Josh Brubaker — did well against King’s pressure and the Pioneers received good minutes from Maurice Woods and Matt Velasquez as well. Freshman Kody Bender, promoted from the junior varsity, along with Mike Russelle and Devin Swidecki, gave Larrick some valuable minutes off the bench.

King was led by Theron Nelson and Tevin Jones with nine points each. Gary Donald had six rebounds with Jones and Jerome Golson each snaring five. Donald added eight points to the mix.

Elyria 50, Admiral King 43

ADMIRAL KING (43): Theron Nelson 4-0-9, Gary Donald 2-4-8, Pete Rufo 1-1-4, Anton Chaney-Harris 2-0-4, Tevin Jones 4-1-9, Jerome Golson 3-0-6, Louis Mendez 1-1-3, Octavius Jones 0-0-0, Jordan Carter 0-0-0. Totals 17-7-43.

ELYRIA (50): Mike Cannon 2-1-5, Maurice Woods 1-0-4, Josh Brubaker 0-0-0, Matt Velazquez 0-1-1, Chase Ferris 5-4-14, Mike Russelle 0-0-0, Will Rudolph 8-10-26, Kody Bender 0-0-0, Devin Swidecki 0-0-0. Totals 17-16-50.

Admiral King 7 9 12 15 — 43

Elyria 13 8 13 16 — 50

Three-point goals: Admiral King 2-8 (Nelson, Rufo), Elyria 0-6. Field Goals: Admiral King 17-52 (33 percent), Elyria 17-55 (31 percent). Free Throws: Admiral King 7-13 (54 percent), Elyria 16-28 (57 percent). Rebounds: Admiral King 38 (Donald 6), Elyria 47 (Farris 16). Turnovers: Admiral King 19, Elyria 15. Fouls: Admiral King 20, Elyria 17. Technical Foul: Brubaker. Fouled Out: Donald, Mendez.

Contact Tim Gebhardt at 329-7135 or ctsports@chroniclet.com.

EATON TWP. — Amherst had a great second quarter … or did Southview have a terrible second quarter?

Either way, that was the difference Tuesday night as the Comets downed the Saints 64-56 in the finals of the 10th annual Bob DiFranco Memorial Tournament at Ed Kubuski Gym.

The Saints (4-3) hit only 4 of 17 shots from the field in the second period and were outrebounded 18-9 as Amherst (4-3) outscored Southview 21-9 in the quarter. That 12-point advantage more than covered the final eight-point margin of victory.

Despite playing a near-flawless floor game with only three turnovers, the Saints shot a miserable 30 percent from the field – including 4-of-20 on 3-point attempts — compared to Amherst’s sizzling 59 percent.

“We had a rough first half,” Southview coach Andy Bastock said. “And for the game that was our worst shooting by far all season. We had some clean looks and they wouldn’t fall. Some of those misses were ugly.

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“We’re normally a good 3-point shooting team. For the season we’re hitting 39 percent. But even as badly as we shot tonight we still hung in there. For the most part our kids played hard defensively.”

The Comets didn’t really analyze what happened in the fateful second, they just knew they got the best of things.

“It was a big win for us,” said Amherst’s Connor Weir, whose 23 points were one off his season high against Berea. “It not only won us a championship but put us over .500. We knew Southview would pressure us a lot but I was able to get some drives past their press for layups.”

Southview jumped out to a 10-4 lead, hitting four of its first six field-goal attempts. But then came the second quarter.
Amherst went ahead to stay, 17-16, on Scott Ferris’ free throw. The lead increased to 39-27 with 4:25 left in the third on a driving layup by Weir, who was fouled and sank the free throw.

With less than two minutes remaining in the third, Southview connected on its first two 3-pointers to start a comeback. The deficit was cut to 49-46 on Angel Gomez’ 3-pointer with 5:40 left in the game as the Saints mounted a serious challenge.

But the Comets held on, sinking seven of their last eight free throws in the final minute of the game.

Amherst junior Shakeem Jones added 14 points and a team-high 10 rebounds.

“They made a good run at us,” Jones said. “But in a timeout we got our heads together and held on.”

Which made Comets coach John Srnis happy.

“Despite their (the Saints) run we kept our heads above water,” he said. “There were more positives than negatives tonight, that’s for sure. Shakeem had a big tournament both nights.

“I thought our free throws were a key to the game.”

Amherst sank 19-of-27 at the line compared to Southview’s 10-of-17.

Amherst 64, Southview 56

SOUTHVIEW (56) — Charles Fletcher 6-6-18, Angel Gomez 5-0-13, Jeremain Frymier 4-3-11, Mike Davila 4-0-9, A.J. Craighead 1-1-3, Brandon Davis 1-0-2, Mike Jimenez 0-0-0, Don Arnold 0-0-0, Johnny Wilson 0-0-0, Eric Gomez 0-0-0. Totals 21-10-56.

AMHERST (64) — Connor Weir 6-11-23, Shakeem Jones 6-2-14, Alex Kneisel 4-3-12, Andrew Sprenger 4-0-8, Scott Ferris 2-3-7. Austin Zink 0-0-0, Jared Warner 0-0-0, Brad Block 0-0-0, Kyle Hagerich 0-0-0. Totals 22-19-64.

Southview 14 9 15 18 — 56

Amherst 11 21 15 17 — 64

Three-point goals—Southview 4-of-20 (Angel Gomez 3, Davila), Amherst 1-of-2 (Kneisel); Field goals—Southview 21-of-69 (30 percent), Amherst 22-of-37 (59 percent); Free throws—Southview 10-of-17, Amherst 19-of-27; Rebounds—Southview 36 (Fletcher 5), Amherst 40 (Jones 10, Ferris 8); Turnovers—Southview 3, Amherst 15; Fouls—Southview 23 (Frymier, Craighead fouled out), Amherst 13.

Contact Jerry Rombach at 329-7137 or ctsports@chroniclet.com.

BRUNSWICK — Alyssa Lee, critically injured in a Dec. 11 crash, hangs on to life at Cleveland MetroHealth Medical Center. The Brunswick 16-year-old sustained serious brain injuries in a deer-related crash on Substation Road, relatives said. Her parents, Rob and Tanya Lee, decided to take her off her respirator Monday, family members said. She is breathing on [...]

LODI — The owner of a mobile home park in Lodi is wondering what to do following a failed rezoning bid. Mayor Dan Goodrow said Village Council’s Zoning Committee rejected two changes that would have aligned Meadowview Village and Sunset Estate mobile home parks to the village’s zoning code. Earlier this year, the owners of Meadowview Village [...]

By Aisha Sultan, St. Louis Post-Dispatch

According to the Consumer Product Safety Commission (CPSC), there were an estimated 235,300 toy-related injuries treated in emergency rooms in 2008. Here are some useful toy safety tips from Malcolm Denniss, technical director for SGS Consumer Testing Services, to avoid the ER this holiday season:

The most important aspect of buying gifts for children for the holidays is to make sure the toy or game is age-appropriate for the child. The guidelines were developed by the US Consumer Product Safety Commission and Toy Industry Association, and take into account the typical ability of children to handle certain toys.

1. Children are naturally excited to play with new toys at holiday times, often in a robust and possibly in an overly enthusiastic manner. It is important that parents periodically check their children’s toys for any damage or breakage, which could create sharp edges or a choking hazard. If a toy looks damaged, take it away.
2. While toy shopping during the holidays, check recall notices at the toy or department store to verify none of child’s existing toys have been recalled and are still in your child’s room or toy box.
3. If you are buying toys for nephews, nieces, or other children that you may not see on a regular basis, it is always a good idea to check with the parents and make sure you know what they think is appropriate for the child, particularly for very young children where maturity can vary significantly. Be particularly careful when buying for children under the age of three years. This age group often still puts toys in their mouths, so check the front of the toy package to see if the toys have small parts before buying.
4. Teach kids outdoor and indoor play safety. It’s important to teach them to not play ball games near roadways and to always look where they are running if the ball goes outside the play area. Never let them play near roads and areas where automobiles are driving. Even if it is cold on Christmas morning, and they are excited to play with their new toys, do not let them play with flying toys indoors where they can not only knock over decorations but can also hit bystanders.

The WAVE is not leaving Cleveland. You will always be able to find us online at wnwv.com. We are programmed locally and we’ll still present the best national smooth jazz concerts and host WAVE Nights Out with local bands. Pass it on…

To read more about the change click here.

By Jessica Yadegarank, Contra Costa Times

During her 20s, Kindall Reding went all out for New Year’s Eve. Cruising the Las Vegas Strip. Counting down in Manhattan’s Times Square. Hitting the slopes in Vail, Colo.

But, for the past six years, Reding, now 35 and a stay-at-home mother of two, has hosted half a dozen families at her home in Danville, Calif. This way, they enjoy each other’s company, share appetizers, blow some noisemakers, and “check it (the holiday) off the list,” so no one feels pressured to find a babysitter and plan a big night out.

“This way we can say we did something,” she says. “You feel like a failure if you don’t have plans for New Year’s Eve.”

But you don’t have to feel that way. Many of us place too much importance on what we will be doing on the eve of the new year. Against our better judgment, we may be inclined to put up with traffic, crazy drivers, and inflated restaurant dinner prices when we’d rather be sitting at home with a glass of wine. Why the conflict? It’s because of the symbolism surrounding the New Year’s Eve holiday, says Judy Levit, an Oakland, Calif., marriage and family therapist.

“It’s supposed to be a new beginning and a time to start again,” Levit says. “In a deeper sense, it can be an opportunity to reflect on your life and feel renewed hope for the future. But for some people, it’s a time to have terrible regrets and blame themselves for making the wrong choices.”

Levit calls New Year’s Eve a kind of Rorschach test — it holds different meaning depending on who you are. Some people enjoy being alone and realize that New Year’s Eve is just another night, she says. There’s nothing wrong with blowing a noisemaker alone and crashing before midnight. Still, in other people, the holiday may trigger feelings of insecurity so they need to make something of the night, she says. For many, having plans accentuates feelings of being special.

“If you are going to a wonderful party or someone is taking you out to dinner, you feel important,” she says. For some, thanks to that hyped-up midnight kiss, being single or romantically unattached can exacerbate feelings of sadness leading up to New Year’s Eve, says Danville-based dating and relationship coach Jeannine Kaiser.

“Of all the holidays, New Year’s Eve is particularly tough on singles because it’s such a date night,” Kaiser says. “People are usually out doing something romantic with their significant other.”

This rings true for Anton Shelepov, a Russian college student who lives in Martinez, Caloif.

“You just feel lonely,” he says. Shelepov, 20, says it’s even more of a bummer spending New Year’s Eve in America, since he’s not of legal drinking age to hit the bars and perhaps meet that someone special.

For Shelepov’s friend, Megan Sutton, ringing in the new year with friends is just as rewarding.

“You just want to start the New Year off right, with friends,” says Sutton, who is also 20 and lives in Martinez. “I usually know what I’m doing a week before. I always like to dress up.”

Samantha Gaw of San Francisco admits that her relationship status helps her justify quieter celebrations, and enjoying them. This year, Gaw, 29, and her boyfriend are considering drinking Champagne in a hot tub somewhere or throwing a low-maintenance dinner party at home.

“Low-key sounds much more appealing to me than high expectations,” Gaw says. Her boyfriend, Irvin Szeto, 33, concurs. “I do feel a little pressure to do something for New Year’s Eve, but it is less and less every year,” says Szeto, adding that crowds annoy him and is happy staying home and watching the countdown on TV. “Like birthdays and every other holiday, the older I get, the harder it is to care that much.”

Indeed, holiday pressure isn’t limited to New Year’s Eve. Think about Christmas, which is associated with warm and fuzzy feelings of perfect families, Levit says. Same with Valentine’s Day, and its promises of roses and romance. “Love is depicted as a lover on Valentine’s Day, but you could show love by giving to other people,” Levit explains.

Ultimately, the culture defines so much of these expectations for us that we feel we have to live up to them, Levit says. “Just remember, when you’re watching the count down on TV, it looks like everyone is having the time of their life. The reality is that half of those people are trying to have a good time, wondering why they’re not, and thinking, ‘Wasn’t it supposed to be better than this?’ ”

Low-key options

Want to keep the maintenance and expectations low for New Year’s Eve? Here are five options:

• Ask a like-minded friend to spend the evening with you. That is the extent of your plans. You will decide what you want to do when the mood strikes.
• Invite five friends over and ask each person to bring an appetizer dish. Play cards, board games or watch movies.
• Watch the ball drop on television and go to sleep. With the money you save, treat yourself to a special dinner and entertainment one weekend in January.
• Invite five friends over for a cocktail party. To save money, ask each person to bring a cocktail recipe and the ingredients for the cocktail in addition to a sleeping bag. No one will be driving home.
• Spend New Year’s Eve cooking dinner with or for an elderly friend or relative, or someone who would otherwise be alone during the holiday. You’ll get their year off to a great start.

VERMILION — Initially, when the Monday portion of the annual Vermilion Holiday Tournament was completed, Bay was leading the team race over Admiral King.

However, a couple of Bay forfeits weren’t factored in originally, and, as a result, it is the Admirals who are leading the team portion with 360 points heading into today’s final portion of the tourney.

Bay is second with 336 points, while host Vermilion is third in the 10-team tournament with 304 points.

Wrestlers from each team competed in five matches apiece Monday, and they will have four more matches to wrestle today. However, due to an inordinate amount of forfeits, most wrestlers actually only got three matches in Monday.

Admiral King coach Jim Black was very happy with his team’s performance.

“We split on our Bay matches at the end — we won at 171, they won at 215,” he said. “It could be a good race. It will be a fun day (today).

“My team is starting to think they are a wrestling team, and they’re doing well. They’re doing everything the coaching staff asks of them. They worked out hard over the holiday season, and they all made scratch weight today, which is hard coming off the holidays. They’re starting to believe in themselves, and I think you’re going to start seeing a lot of good things from us.”

Other area teams competing in the tournament are Clearview (sixth, 246), Firelands (seventh, 220), Oberlin (ninth, 178) and Elyria Catholic (10th, 161).

One of the highlights of Monday’s action was Vermilion junior 152-pounder Anthoney Budka winning his 100th career match, thanks to a pinfall victory over Firelands’ Matt Ingold.

“I didn’t really know I was that close to 100 wins until I was told today,” said Budka, who is the youngest wrestler in Vermilion history to accomplish the milestone. “I was nervous to get the 100, but I overcame it. I went out and wrestled and won.

“I feel a lot more relaxed now. It’s an honor to have this happen at our home tournament on our home mats in front of a home crowd.”

Budka’s coach and father, Tony Budka, was proud of the accomplishment.

“Being a dad and a coach, it’s hard to separate those sometimes,” he said. “But when you know he’s coming to that realm of that 100th win, especially this early in his career, it’s a heck of an accomplishment. It’s all his doing, and I’m proud of him.

“So, far, we’re pretty pleased with where we’re at (as a team), especially with how young we are. We’ve lost a few kids due to eligibility issues, so, with us not having a full lineup, I’m pretty pleased to be in third place.”

Last season, Budka shared the Most Valuable Wrestler Award with Elyria Catholic’s Josh Taylor. Taylor summed up a dismal afternoon for the Panthers with a 9-1 major decision loss to Archbold’s Jordan Cowell and is 2-1 heading into today.

The Admirals have seven of their 12 wrestlers taking undefeated records into today’s action – Antonio Lopez (103), Johnnie Spinkston (112), Juan Lugo (125), Bishop Overton (140), Michael Mincy (152), Brandon Medina (171) and Caleb Borden (285).

“It was a big day,” said Medina, a senior who improved to 13-3 and is looking for his first tournament win of any kind in his career. “I knew I probably had my hardest matches today, and I really wanted to get after it.

“My last match against (Tim Hughes from) Bay, I had lost to him earlier this season, so I knew that was basically the championship match for me, and I won it. It means the world to me right now. I’ve got to keep it up (today), because I want to help this team win.”

Amon Willis (215) came within an eyelash of making it eight unbeaten Admirals. However, in the final match of the tournament, Willis was defeated by Bay’s Harlan Page, 7-6, in overtime.

“Amon’s a really good friend and a really good guy, and we left it all out on the mat,” Page said. “We both did what we had to do, and fortunately, I came out of it with a win. We’ve been working hard in practice, and it paid off today.”

Page is one of five Rocket wrestlers who are unbeaten heading into today. Also without a loss are Ben Tepper (103), Adam Tepper (112), Steve Burns (160) and Joe Kubinski (152).

Other local unbeaten wrestlers Monday include Clearview’s David Cooper (171), EC’s Cory Campbell (152), Firelands’ Angel Alexander (130) and Aaron Sterk (135), Oberlin’s Colin Styer (145) and Vermilion’s Alex West (125), Jason Anthony (160) and Vinnie Mannino (189).

Wrestling will resume today at 10 a.m.

“We’re very confident,” Medina said. “We know we got most of the hard matches out of the way, and we know that we can score points to help our team. We’ve really stepped up as a team, and we’re trying to get more support. We’re just trying to show this city what we can do and that Admiral King can be a contender in wrestling.”

Team Standings (through first day of wrestling)

1.       Admiral King (AK) 360, 2. Bay (B) 336, 3. Vermilion (V) 304, 4. Strongsville (S) 283, 5. Archbold (A) 267, 6. Clearview (C) 246, 7. Firelands (F) 220, 8. St. Edward (SE) 180, 9. Oberlin (O) 178, 10. Elyria Catholic (EC) 161.

Individual Standings

103 – 1. Antonio Lopez (AK) 2-0, 2. Ben Tepper (B) 2-0, 3. Tom Kilbane (SE) 2-0, 4. David Tomko (V) 1-1; 112 – 1. Adam Tepper (B) 1-0, 2. Travis Harbert (V) 0-1, 3. Mike Hollingsworth (C) 0-0; 119 – 1. Johnnie Spinkston (AK) 2-0, 2. Kyle Perri (S) 2-0, 3. T.J. Weirauch (A) 1-1, 4. Dave Rihvalsky (SE) 1-1; 125 –1. Alex West (V) 3-0, 2. Juan Lugo (AK) 2-0, 3. Ricky Perez (S) 2-1, 4. Erickson Andrews (O) 2-1; 130 – 1. Robby Hartman (S) 3-0, 2. Angel Alexander (F) 2-0, 3. Oliver Stuckey (A) 2-1, 4. Edwin Diaz (C) 2-1; 135 – 1. Jordan Cowell (A) 3-0, 2. P.J. O’Reilly (SE) 2-0, 3. Aaron Sterk (F) 2-0; 4. Josh Taylor (EC) 2-1; 140 – 1. Bishop Overton (AK) 3-0, 2. Danny Young (A) 3-0, 3. Oliver Shea (SE) 2-0, 4. Jordan Altpater (EC) 1-1; 145 – 1. Colin Styer (O) 3-0, 2. Justin Feinberg (S) 2-0, 3. Jeremy Mincy (AK) 1-1, 4. Devonte Peoples (C) 1-1; 152 – 1. Anthoney Budka (V) 3-0, 2. Michael Mincy (AK) 3-0, 3. Cory Campbell (EC) 3-0, 4. Matt Tusick (SE) 3-0; 160 – 1. Steve Burns (B) 2-0, 2. Jason Anthony (V) 2-0, 3. Zach Driver (A) 2-1, 4. Dan Lo (C) 2-1; 171 – 1. Brandon Medina (AK) 2-0, Tim Hughes (B) 2-0, 3. David Cooper (C) 2-0, 4. Joey Kudela (F) 2-1; 189 – Vinnie Mannino (V) 3-0, 2. Alec Medina (AK) 2-1, 3. Mason Bremke (O) 2-1, 4. Shem Neuenschwander (A) 2-1; 215 –1. Harlan Page (B) 3-0, 2. Amon Willis (AK) 3-0, 3. Tyler Mielcarek (C) 2-1, 4. Tyler Pigott (O) 2-1; 285 – 1. Caleb Borden (AK) 3-0, 2. Brandon Dennie (A) 3-0, 3. Joe Dewitt (F) 2-1, 4. Ricky Marshall (EC) 2-1.

Contact Dan Gilles at 329-7135 or dangilles73@gmail.com.

AVON — Yogi Berra was talking about baseball when he uttered his famous quote, “It ain’t over ’til it’s over.”

But it applies to basketball as well. Case in point was Clearview’s 57-51 victory over Elyria Catholic on Monday night in the opening game of the annual Avon Holiday Tournament.

For most observers, the game was over when Clearview (3-1) owned a 21-point lead, 44-23, with 5:12 remaining in the third quarter. But Elyria Catholic (1-5) made a statement in the last 11 minutes, declaring Yogi was right on, as he was in another famous quote, “When you come to a fork in the road, take it.”

Starting with Adam Kirsch’s long jumper, the Panthers outscored the Clippers 9-5 in the last five minutes of the quarter.

That set the stage for a tremendous comeback in the fourth quarter, sparked by Elyria Catholic’s defense, which forced nine Clearview turnovers. In one span, the Clippers turned the ball over on six straight possessions, which enabled the Panthers to cut the deficit to five points, 52-47, with 2:05 left in the game.

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But then EC committed two straight turnovers of its own and Clearview held on for the win despite missing three of four free throws in the last minute, including the front end of two one-and-one attempts. The Panthers’ Connor Voreis made a layup with three seconds left to cut it to the final six-point margin.

Wednesday at 7:30 p.m., Clearview will face Avon, which beat Keystone in the nightcap Monday, for the tourney championship. Elyria Catholic will meet Keystone at 6 p.m., Wednesday, in the consolation game for third place.

Clearview was sensational in the first two and a half quarters, hitting a number of 3-pointers, totally dominating the boards and scoring six points on fastbreaks after EC turnovers. The Panthers had 13 turnovers in the first half but cut it down to just five in the last half, another key to the success of their rally.

The winners were sparked early on by Anthony Hitchens, fresh off a great football season. The 6-foot-1 senior scored 12 of his 17 points in the first half. He not only led Clearview in scoring but rebounding with seven, matching teammate Kyle Baughman, as the Clippers outrebounded the Panthers, 35-22, including a wide 18-7 advantage in the first half. Elyria Catholic did control the boards during its fourth-quarter rally, 11-8.

Hitchens had one of Clearview’s six 3-pointers and had a pair of long jumpers just inside the arc. Collin Watson had four of the Clippers’ threes.

“Normally, I’m not a great 3-point shooter,” Hitchens said. “But tonight, I got some good looks from outside and they went down for me. We came out strong tonight, but then at the end, Elyria Catholic played good defense and their pressure hurt us. I think we’ll have a good season because I know we will get better.”

“I thought we played really well in the first half,” said veteran Clearview coach John Szalay. “We work very hard on improving our 3-point shooting and it is showing improvement. But our ball handling was questionable in the second half. To our credit, we kept the lead. Collin Owens (seven points) did a very good job off the bench for us.”

“I told the kids at halftime to chip away at the lead and not try to get it back all at once,” said Elyria Catholic coach Alan Januzzi. “Clearview is a very good team. They have a lot of weapons and we helped them early on with some bad decisions. But our kids kept their heads and kept battling.

“It’s a very resilient bunch of kids. I was very happy with the second half. But that first half we just dug too big of a hole, similar to what happened when we played Southview. I know we’ll get better as the season goes on.”

Clearview was hot from the field, sinking 50 percent of its attempts, including 12 of 23 in its big first half. The Panthers also shot well, sinking 41 percent, highlighted by going 12 for 26 in the last half.

Clearview 57, Elyria Catholic 51

ELYRIA CATHOLIC (51): Connor Voreis 4-8-16, Sergio Montanez 4-2-11, Joe Januzzi 3-0-8, Andrew Kubuski 1-2-4, Nick Ksenich 2-0-4, Adam Kirsch 2-0-4, Spencer Roule 2-0-4. Totals 18-12-51.

CLEARVIEW (57): Anthony Hitchens 6-4-17, Colin Watson 4-1-13, Tony Williams 5-0-10, Collin Owens 3-1-7, Aaron Arnozcky 2-0-4, Eric Thompson 0-3-3, Kyle Baughman 1-0-3, Kevin Watson 0-0-0, Davon Daniels 0-0-0, Jacob Senquiz 0-0-0. Totals 21-9-57.

Elyria Catholic 7   11       14       19    —    51

Clearview 18   17       14         8    —    57

Three point goals: Elyria Catholic 3 of 14 (Januzzi 2, Montanez), Clearview 6 of 14 (Colin Watson 4, Hitchens, Baughman); Field goals: EC 18 of 43 (41 percent), C 21 of 42 (50 percent); Free throws: EC 12 of 16, C 9 of 16; Rebounds: EC 22 (Januzzi 5), C 35 (Hitchens 7, Baughman 7); Turnovers: EC 18, C 23; Fouls: EC 16, C 14.

Contact Jerry Rombach at 329-7137 or ctsports@chroniclet.com.

AMHERST — Seniors Bridgette Cruz and Mandy Taylor made the difference in Amherst’s tough 56-51 victory over Southview on Monday night.

They did it in very different ways, Cruz from long distance, Taylor with a putback. Cruz nailed three of the Comets’ four 3-point field goals on her way to a team-high 14 points. The close-range goal was Taylor’s only basket in the second game of the Comet Holiday Basketball Tournament.

Put together, they added up to victory, given that Amherst scored four 3-pointers to Southview’s one. And without Taylor’s points, the Saints could have tied it with a 3-pointer of their own as time ticked down.

Cruz said defense was prominent in the Comets’ minds as Southview stayed close in the late going.

“Defense and playing together,” she said. “We needed to be smart with the ball. That was really important. You have to trust your teammates in that situation. It was definitely a physical game. But you just grind that out. We’re physical in practice, we’re tough.”

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For their efforts, the Comets (6-1) get a shot at Keystone in tonight’s 7:30 championship game. The Wildcats routed Columbia, 69-34, in Monday’s opener. The Raiders and Southview (4-4) meet in the consolation game at 6 p.m.

Amherst led Southview 8-2 and 18-10 in the first quarter as Morgan Madera scored six points and Cruz five. The Comets stretched their lead to 36-25 at the half, but Southview battled back. The Saints opened the third quarter with a 10-3 run, cutting the margin to 41-36, and were still in the hunt, 46-40, going into the final eight minutes.

Southview cut the lead to 51-49 with 2:49 to play after Danielle Montanez and Shanique Ogle scored baskets and Montanez made the second of two foul shots. The teams traded baskets, but Taylor gave the Comets breathing room with her putback with 1:12 to play.

“I just remember someone shot and the ball was coming down,” said Taylor. “I just thought, ‘I have to get the ball.’ I know I had missed a couple shots before that and they weren’t the best shots. But that was a layup and we make layups every day. This was a big win. It kind of shows how tough we really are.”

A big reason the Saints hung around is they cut their turnovers dramatically in the second half. They turned it over 15 times in the first two quarters, but only six times over the final 16 minutes. Southview coach Scott Plzak said he warned his players in advance to be careful with the ball.

“We expected (Amherst) to be physical,” said Plzak. “We told the girls it’s their tournament and their court, and they’re going to come out and play real hard right from the beginning. We told them they were going to be physical and aggressive and they had to be physical and aggressive right back. Give Amherst credit. They play real hard.”

Senior guard Lizzie Soto, with 12 points, was the only other Amherst player to score in double figures. Ogle led the Saints with 14 points and Montanez added a dozen.

“I still say we’re not playing great basketball by any means,” Comets coach John Rositano said. “But what we did do tonight is the last few possessions of the game, we needed stops and we got stops. In a close game, you have to get stops and that’s what we did.”

Amherst 56, Southview 51

Southview (51): Tanitra Smith 3-0-7, Valencia Frymier 1-0-2, Danielle Montanez 2-8-12, Shanique Ogle 5-4-14, Sanita Quinn 2-0-4, Breanna Fortney 1-2-4, Melody Farris 3-0-6, Alicia Arnold 1-0-2. Totals:18-14-51.

Amherst (56): Julia Porostosky 2-3-7, Lizzie Soto 4-4-12, Morgan Madera 2-2-6, Bridgette Cruz 5-1-14, Marissa Thomas 3-2-9, Brianna Shagovac 1-2-4, Abby Rositano 1-0-2, Melanie Tonty 0-0-0, Mandy Taylor 1-0-2. Totals: 19-14-56.

Southview 14 11 15 11 – 51

Amherst 20 16 10 19 – 56

3-point goals: Southview 1-4 (Smith); Amherst 4-9 (Cruz 3, Thomas). Field goals: Southview 18-44 (40.9 percent); Amherst 19-56 (33.9 percent). Free throws: Southview 14-22; Amherst 14-24. Rebounds: Southview 30; Amherst 29. Turnovers: Southview 20; Amherst 20.

Contact Daniels at 329-7135 or basketball@bobdaniels.info.