BEREA, Ohio — Nick Reece remembers what it felt like two years ago when Elyria cut down the nets on his home floor to celebrate a Southwestern Conference boys basketball championship.
He rewatched the game Friday before Berea-Midpark got another shot at the Pioneers with an SWC title share at stake.
The Titans’ leading scorer and junior guard made sure they didn’t experience heartache again, scoring 27 points and leading them to a 75-64 win with one more SWC game to go.
“It means a lot,” Reece said. “We came in this morning, locked in, got shots up and felt great coming into it all. It’s just winning with our brothers.”
Berea-Midpark (13-7, 10-3 SWC), which is ranked 14th in the cleveland.com Top 25, remains in a first-place tie atop the conference with No. 13 Olmsted Falls (13-7, 10-3). The Bulldogs beat Midview on Friday, while No. 15 Elyria (15-6, 9-4) falls out of that first-place share. All four of the Pioneers’ conference losses came against the Titans, who play Avon Lake on Tuesday, and Falls, which has North Ridgeville on the road next Friday.
This barrier was a big one.
Not only did the Titans lose to Elyria two years ago on their home court at the end of the regular season, they lost to them again last season with the conference title on the line.
Junior wing Reid Braaten watched those games, too.
“It was rough,” he said, “but it kind of needed to be done to get me in the right mindset.”
Braaten scored seven of his 15 points in the first quarter, as the Titans raced out to a 20-9 lead. They trailed only briefly in the opening minutes, and their advantage ballooned to 16 points in the second quarter as Vince Weaver came off the bench to hit his lone 3-pointer.
Reece connected on two of them, as did senior guard Andre Alexander, who finished with 14 points. Braaten hit three 3s, while junior point guard Tyson Clay added 12 points and eight rebounds.
Kendyll Compton led Elyria with 19 points, while Jermiah Daniels had 14.
The Pioneers cut their deficit on the road down to 10 in the third quarter, but Braaten hit his third 3-pointer and Clay came up with a steal and score off a foul that sent him into his own school’s student section.
That student section stormed the court a quarter later to celebrate with their classmates.
“Coming off those losses the two past years, it was bad,” Clay said. “It was sad in the locker room. We didn’t want that feeling again, so we took it to heart and got into the gym every single day. This year is different because we’re upperclassmen now.”
Here is what happened Friday night around Northeast Ohio in boys basketball, starting with teams ranked in the Top 25:
Top 25 scoreboard
No. 3 St. Ignatius 76, No. 10 Warrensville Heights 47: Alex Mack hit three 3s and scored 15 points to lead the Wildcats (13-7) at home.
No. 4 Brunswick 99, No. 10 Mentor 85: Trey Drexler poured in 38 points as Brunswick (17-3) defended its Greater Cleveland Conference championship, clinching the title at home against the Cardinals (13-6).
Sean Barnett added 31 points, while Adin Evert had 10. Tony Katava and Nathan Sabin each scored 20 points to lead Mentor, which also got 18 points from freshman guard Mason Sauric.
No. 7 St. Vincent-St. Mary 54, Louisville 45: DeCarlo Prince had 15 points and Caleb Hill added 13 to lead the Fighting Irish (11-9).
No. 8 Akron Garfield 86, Alliance Marlington 34
No. 12 Archbishop Hoban 44, No. 20 Gilmour Academy 40: John Johnson’s 17 points led Hoban (13-5) on the road against alum Dan DeCrane’s Lancers.
The Knights closed the game on a 19-8 run in the fourth quarter, overcoming Brayden Titas’ 14 points to pace Gilmour (13-6).
No. 13 Olmsted Falls 64, Midview 52: Mason Cerovac reached 1,000 career points as a junior in the Bulldogs’ home win.
No. 16 Cuyahoga Valley Christian Academy 62, Boardman 33: Connor Gray scored 12 points, Harris had 10 and Anthony Collins had 10 to lead the Royals (16-4).
No. 19 Cleveland Central Catholic 74, Collinwood 11
No. 22 Hawken 64, Max Hayes 39
No. 23 Medina 65, Lorain 42
No. 24 North Royalton 63, Stow-Munroe Falls 56
No. 25 Norton 65, Coventry 30
Around Northeast Ohio
Amherst 68, North Ridgeville 59
Avon 74, Avon Lake 47
Benedictine 61, Elyria Catholic 51
Black River 69, Columbia 52: Zane Kristophel scored 14 points, Hunter Varney had 13 and Parker Broadsword scored 12 to pace Black River, which also got 11 points from Zane Bungard.
Dylan Fisher led Columbia with 17, while Logan Menge had 15.
Brush 72, Orange 36: Sophomore Braylon Davis’ 25 points, a career high, led the Arcs (13-7) at home.
Buchtel 44, Kent Roosevelt 40
Chagrin Falls 55, Ashtabula Lakeside 46
Cuyahoga Heights 69, Lincoln-West 40
Fairport Harding 83, Harvey 63
Green 73, Akron East 53
Keystone 67, Brookside 62: The Wildcats (17-5, 13-1) earned a share of the Lorain County League title with four-time champ Brookside (15-4, 13-1). They also avenged a 59-56 overtime loss Jan. 9 on the road.
Lakewood 43, Bay 40
Nordonia 80, Shaw 50
Oberlin 57, Wellington 41
Open Door Christian 62, Lake Ridge Academy 47
Padua 73, Holy Name 31: Freshman guard Geo Smith and junior Antione Wooten each had 14 to pace Padua in its rivalry game against the Namers.
Smith caught fire early with 12 of his points in the first quarter. Sophomore forward Braylon Benson finished with 12 points, while Jack Boswell had 10.
Sophomore Patrick Kelley led Holy Name with 13.
Revere 68, Ellet 59
Rocky River 69, Normandy 50
Streetsboro 59, Cloverleaf 50
Strongsville 50, Shaker Heights 48: Matthew Heffke beat the buzzer with a shot just inside the corner 3-point line to lift the Mustangs at home.
University School 81, Lutheran West 70: The Preppers pulled away in the fourth quarter with a 22-13 run on the road, as Carter Webb scored 19 points with five 3s and Aditya Nalla had 18.
University School connected on 14 total 3s. Kingston Oliver scored six of his 13 points in the fourth quarter, all at the free-throw line, while Mario Gaspar scored 11 points and Tylar Robinson had 10.
Dom Burns led Lutheran West with 22 points, while Chase Kuszmaul had 14.
Valley Forge 58, Buckeye 55
Walsh Jesuit 64, Aurora 57
Westlake 70, North Olmsted 43
Willoughby South 62, Eastlake North 50: The Rebels rode an 18-7 run in the third quarter for their rivalry win.