For the second consecutive weekend Lake Erie Elite came away with a 1st place trophy, this time it was in Columbus, Ohio, in the Central Ohio Basketball Classic. Lake Erie Elite proved to be on top of their game over the weekend by outscoring their 6 opponents (320-199) and the closest came during the Championship game against City Wide which was 9 points. This was one of the first weekends that all 10 players for Lake Erie Elite played in every game during the course of the weekend.
Lake Erie Elite opened up pool play with a 61-18 win against Urbana AAU, Cody Thompson led the way with 11pts, follwed by Nic Williams with 10pts. All 10 players found the scoring column for Lake Erie. In the 2nd pool play game, Lake Erie faced Buckeye Nation-Black and won in blowout fashion 49-20. Nic Williams was the lone player in double figures with 11pts.
On Sunday, Lake Erie opened up the Championship Bracket with a 1st round win against Boys-to-Men 48-34, Nic Williams scored a team-high 11pts. In the quarterfinals, Lake Erie faced Central Ohio AAU, who won by 40 in their opening round game, Lake Erie came out strong and had a terrific first half on their way to a 59-46 win. Derek Gray contributed 13pts. The semi-final game was against Buckeye Nation-Red at Weaver Middle School. The first-half saw neither team get anything going on the offensive end but that was because of the solid defense by both squads, the score at halftime was 16-13 in favor of Buckeye Nation. Lake Erie Elite came out strong in the second-half led by Denarius Harris and clutch 3-pointers by Derek Gray down the stretch. Harris, who scored all of his team-high 14 points in the second-half, dominated on both ends of the floor and controlled the glass for Lake Erie who won the game going away 44-31.
In the Championship Game on Hilliard Davidson High School's Main Gym Floor, Lake Erie met up with City Wide. Lake Erie played City Wide in the semi-finals during the opening tournament of the year in Columbus; Lake Erie lost that game by 10. In the first half of the title game, Lake Erie was having trouble containing City Wide's PG allowing him to get to the middle of the key and create for him and his teammates. Nic Williams kept Lake Erie in the game with 10pts in the half but still Lake Erie was down 28-23 at intermission. Early in the second-half, Lake Erie again was having trouble containing City Wide's PG and kept it close until a quick 7-0 run by City Wide found City Wide winning 35-26 with around 9 minutes to play in the game. From that point on Denarius Harris looked for his offense and took the defensive task of guarding City Wide's PG. Lake Erie battled back and was down 2 before Harris converted on two straight 3-pointers and Lake Erie never looked back and came away with a 59-50 win becoming Central Ohio Classic Champs. Harris and Williams both scored 18pts in the finals.
Lake Erie will finish up their spring schedule with the Cedar Point Extravaganza held in Sandusky, Ohio, this coming weekend.
