COLUMBUS - The tone was set immediately by Elida.
And St. Clairsville never recovered.
The Red Devils' first-ever appearance at the Ohio High School Athletic Association Boys Basketball State Tournament Friday afternoon didn't go anything like they had envisioned after they won their first regional title last Saturday.
Article Photos
St. Clairsville head coach Kim Clifford talks to team members, from left, Joel Giffin, Adam Jeffries and Riley Carlton during the waning moments of Friday’s loss in the Division II state tournament semifinals.
Elida's talented, athletic and lengthy Bulldogs began the game with a perfectly designed and executed alley-oop dunk to Akron-bound senior Reggie McAdams and never looked back en route to building a 15-0 lead after the first quarter and eventually posting a 61-27 victory against the Devils before a crowd of 12,266 people inside the Jerome Schottenstein Center on the campus of The Ohio State University.
"All of the credit goes to Elida because they came out and overwhelmed us early," said St. C. head coach Kim Clifford at his post-game press conference. "I think we were a little more overwhelmed by the (state tournament atmosphere) than I had thought. I hadn't seen that in our guys before."
The Red Devils, who had won 22 games in a row en route to the state tournament, simply couldn't buy a basket and the Bulldogs' defense had plenty to do with that stat. The few times the Red Devils did get open looks, they failed to cash in. All told, St. C. drained just 9-of-47 shots from the floor for 19 percent.
"We came in thinking we'd try to get it done with the three," Clifford said. "We've been in situations where teams came right out and got after us right from the start, but I think today had a little more affect on us and Elida deserves credit for that."
The Red Devils' first-quarter struggles weren't helped by several "unforced" turnovers.
"We got here by knocking down shots and we didn't do that," Clifford said. "They had a good game plan and executed it well. They did a really nice job."
The Red Devils never got into any sort of offensive flow. Their only extended run was a 5-0 spurt in the second quarter when junior Jerrid Marhefka got a driving bucket and then buried a triple.
However, Elida stretched its lead back to the 15-point cushion at halftime. Clifford and the Red Devils spent most of the halftime speech accentuating that eventually shots were going to fall and the Red Devils could still claw back into the game.
"I told the kids that even though we didn't play well in the first half, we're only down 15, but for us that's not that bad because we can get them three at a time," Clifford said. "But they got a couple of baskets and then we shot more off the break and that led to them getting out on the break and it steamrolled from there."
Unfortunately, for the Red Devils, those shots never did fall. St. C. meshed only 5-of-25 from the field in the second half.
McAdams erased any early thoughts about a possible Red Devil run to begin the half when he scored on the first two possessions of the half.
Talented Red Devils' junior Dan Monteroso, who was named first-team all-Ohio and one of five Division II state players of the year, faced constant double and triple teams from the Bulldogs. Monteroso was held scoreless in the first half and finished with a career low six points.
"I didn't get into a flow and my shot wasn't going down, and I take all of that blame myself," Monteroso said. "I didn't do what I had to do. I am going to get back in the gym and do my thing to get ready for next season. I'm going to work harder."
Elida committed lock-down defender Ebin Stratton to defending Monteroso and he made him work much harder than he's done all season.
After Monteroso scored his first points, Elida promptly erupted for a 16-0 run, stretching the margin to 48-16 in the latter stages of the third quarter.
The Red Devils didn't produce a double-figure scorer. Marhefka led the way with nine points. Junior Adam Jeffries finished with eight. Junior point guard Riley Carlton was also bottled up. He was limited to three points.
Elida, which held a commanding 44-25 edge on the glass, received yeoman's work from senior post Cory Royster, who, quite simply, the Red Devils just couldn't check on the blocks. He finished with 18 points and a like number of boards.
McAdams scored in a bevy of ways en route to 17 points. He also had nine rebounds.
Sparkplug Mike McDonald, who was probably the quickest guard St. C. had faced all season, added nine off the bench.
The Red Devils were guilty of 13 turnovers, which was three more than the winners.
Elida returns to the Schott this afternoon for a 4:30 p.m. tip against unbeaten Dayton Dunbar, which dispatched Mentor Lake Catholic in the first semifinal.
Staskey can be reached at sstaskey@timesleaderonline.com
