The Elyria Pioneers will head out on the road to square off against the Steele Comets at 7:00 p.m. on Friday. Elyria has been dominant on offense recently, as they've racked up an incredible 617 points over their last nine matchups.
Even though Avon Lake scored an imposing 57 points on Tuesday, Elyria still came out on top. Elyria took their contest against Avon Lake 70-57. Given Elyria's advantage in MaxPreps' Ohio basketball rankings (they are ranked 115th, while Avon Lake is ranked 246th), the result wasn't entirely unexpected.
Elyria can attribute much of their success to Jayden Crutcher, who scored 22 points, and Taylor Blanton, who scored 18 points along with two steals. Crutcher has been hot recently, having posted 15 or more points the last seven times he's played. Another player making a difference was Brian Todd, who scored six points along with ten rebounds.
Meanwhile, Steele was within striking distance but couldn't close the gap on Tuesday as they fell 56-52 to Olmsted Falls. Steele has now taken an 'L' in back-to-back games.
Elyria is on a roll lately: they've won nine of their last ten contests, which provided a nice bump to their 12-5 record this season. As for Steele, they have been struggling recently as they've lost nine of their last ten matchups, which put a noticeable dent in their 6-11 record this season.
Elyria was able to grind out a solid victory over Steele in their previous meeting back in January, winning 58-48. The rematch might be a little tougher for Elyria since the squad won't have the home-court advantage this time around. We'll see if the change in venue makes a difference.
