Remember this prediction a little more than a month ago? 'Virtually every boys and girls district involving Lorain County teams is wide open. Wide open enough where we could have more than one team make it to the regionals.'
How about three teams?
First things first, belated congratulations to Cheryl Bansek and her Admiral King Lady Admirals for winning the Medina District and advancing to the Regionals for the first time in a quarter century. Bansek was recently named Division I Co-Coach of the Year by the Associated Press after leading the Admirals to a sparkling 21-3 record including 19 straight wins.
On the boys side, Vermilion and Elyria both overcame plenty of adversity and will both get their shot at the Sweet 16 starting on Wednesday when Elyria faces St. Edward at Cleveland State University's Wolstein Center.
Five weeks ago, I didn't think Elyria had much of a shot to get this far. I saw them surrender a big lead to Strongsville largely due to a 31-10 fourth quarter by the Mustangs. They couldn't hit their free throws and seemed to lose their poise. Actually, Elyria had trouble all year long putting teams away and as we moved closer to the tournament, the Pioneers were not firing on all cylinders.
That was before Bob Walsh's team found themselves on Senior Night and beat Brunswick. Then they survived a challenge from Medina to open the tournament at Midview before their rematch with Strongsville last Thursday.
Understand that Elyria had lost to Strongsville in the District Finals two years in a row. The Pioneers often allowed things like officiating and questionable calls to rattle them. And the script was playing out exactly that way for the first two and a half quarters as the Mustangs built up an 18 point lead.
Then, late in the third quarter, Bob Walsh called for the press. "It was a question of when to do it, but we needed time to overcome where we were. If we run out of gas, we run out of gas," Walsh told Don Vincent and I after the game.
The defensive intensity keyed Elyria's remarkable comeback as they outscored the Mustangs ironically by a 31-12 margin on the way to a 68-64 victory. Another 31 point quarter two nights later would propel the Pioneers to the District title in a win over Olmsted Falls.
And now, Elyria gets their shot at Ed's.
Thursday Night, Vermilion will head to my alma mater of Bowling Green State University for a matchup with the Lexington Minutemen. I hadn't seen the Sailors at all this season until I called their championship game with Bay on Friday. It turned out to be one of the most memorable games I've broadcasted in a very long time.
The Sailors are a very unique team. They don't have one truly dominant player. They don't have a ton of depth. But they play incredibly well together and have completely bought into Kurt Habermehl's system. Watching this team, you just have the sense that the guys truly care about each other and have adopted a refuse to lose mentality.
In back to back games at the districts, the Sailors found themselves down by double digits in the second half, plus they had a key player foul out. But yet Vermilion found a way to get past both Holy Name and Bay in overtime to advance to the regionals for the first time in school history.
Can one, or maybe even both teams advance to the Elite Eight?
I'd make a prediction, but I'm still patting myself on the back. You'll have to tune in and find out.
One other note: Just a quick reminder about Cavaliers Night Out on Wednesday Night as we'll be broadcasting live from Bootlegger's Grille in Columbia Station from 7-9:30. WOBL will carry the show in its entirety, while the Kool Kat will join up in progress after the Elyria-St. Edward game. Scheduled to join us for the show:
- Cavaliers President Len Komoroski
- Members of the Cavalier Girls Dance Team
- Moondog the Mascot
- Cavaliers Vice President Tracy Marek
- Brent Kelly and Wes O'Neill from the Lake Erie Monsters
- Lake Erie Monsters Play by Play Voice John Michael
- The Monsters "Mon Squad"
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