No. 2 Lorain, Pierre-Louis get defensive to pull away from No. 13 Lutheran East, 74-56

CLEVELAND HEIGHTS, Ohio — Taevon Pierre-Louis and his Lorain teammates looked over to Lutheran East during warmups.

Leading scorer E.J. Farmer stood in a walking boot. Fellow sophomore starter Jay Billingsley did not participate in the layup line, either.

Pierre-Louis admitted afterward Friday night his Titans, ranked No. 2 in the cleveland.com boys basketball Top 25, didn't take their Lake Erie League matchup as seriously because of it. That changed by the third quarter, as Lorain's defense tightened up and Pierre-Louis feasted on the offensive end.

Already with the Lake Erie League title clinched, Lorain left with a 74-56 victory against No. 13 Lutheran East.

"We were taking them for granted," Pierre-Louis said, "but I feel like in the second half we played solid defense and we caused turnovers from that."

A 6-foot-6 senior, Pierre-Louis finished with 24 points with 10 rebounds. He added a mammoth block that sent the basketball into Lutheran East's student section during a pivotal 14-point run.

The host Falcons, led by Nehemiah Benson's 32 points and nine rebounds, took a 41-38 lead before Pierre-Louis became a one-man wrecking crew.

"He always turns us up," said senior point guard Devon Grant, who added 22 points and four 3-pointers.

Grant had a heat-check stretch in the second quarter where he made three 3s. So first, Grant turned up Pierre-Louis' intensity.

"It'll just be like a show," Pierre-Louis said.

Except early on, it was not the show Lorain coach John Rositano wanted to see. Benson and the Falcons (12-8, 6-4), who lost by just eight points in December at Lorain, kept the score close throughout the first half.

"We just weren't as focused as we needed to be in the first half," said Rositano, whose Titans (19-1, 11-0) close the regular season next week with road games Tuesday vs. Avon and Friday vs. Warrensville Heights.

For both Lorain and Lutheran East, this matchup was more about state tournament preparation. Both reached Columbus last year, Lorain in Division I and Lutheran East in D-III. But this also was a battle of attrition.

"Being down two of our starters and two of our best players, the team had to handle some adversity in preparing for the tournament," Lutheran East coach Sam Liggins said. "It could be that way. You never know when an injury could happen or a foul out could happen."

Only four players scored for Lutheran East, which also got 12 points from sophomore guard Sirr Hughes.

The Falcons finish the regular season next week against Bedford on Tuesday and at Maple Heights on Friday, when Liggins said he is hopeful Farmer will return. Liggins added both would have played Friday, if it was a tournament game.

They will save that for at least another week as the top seed in the D-III Garfield Heights District tournament.

Lorain, which is the No. 1 seed at Elyria Catholic's district tournament, showed the spark Rositano wanted to see Friday in the third quarter. Pierre-Louis gave Lorain the lead for good after Grant poked the basketball from behind Hughes, leading to a two-handed slam by Lorain's standout forward. It started that 14-0 run, which included another slam dunk off a turnover.

"That was state championship-level defense you saw from five minutes left in the third to the fourth quarter," Rositano said. "That was the key to the game because we're always going to score points."

Pierre-Louis kept going, adding a buzzer-beater inside to close the third quarter. He also found junior guard Deonte Benejan on three of his four assists, which allowed Benejan to score 11 points.

To make another run at Columbus, Pierre-Louis said it will require more communication and effort. They showed it in the second half Friday, but neither him nor his coach thought it was enough.

"It's going to take more leadership on my part, Grant's part and the seniors' part," Pierre-Louis said. "It's going to be the little things again."

The reward can be big.

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