St. John's slips by Elida

ELIDA - With a late start to the season, because of the success of the football team, the Delphos St. John's boys basketball team is still trying to define its players' roles.

After Tuesday's thrilling 49-46 non-league victory over Elida at the Elida Fieldhouse, the Blue Jays are already starting to sort out a few things.

One thing for certain is Cameron Hermiller is the man St. John's wants at the free throw line. The 5-foot-8 senior guard made 11-of-13 from the stripe, 9-of-11 in the fourth quarter, to help stave off Elida down the stretch.

The other thing evident for St. John's (3-0) is they can bounce back from a dismal quarter.

After shooting 50 percent from the field and recording a 15-12 lead by the end of the first quarter, St. John's struggled in the second quarter, hitting just 2-of-11 from the floor. As a result of their poor shooting, the Blue Jays found themselves down 24-19 at the half.

But, in the second half, St. John's coach Aaron Elwer made a few adjustments and his team came out and regained its composure, en route to its third win in a row.

"I think we left our concentration there at the defensive end (second quarter)," Elwer said. "They (Elida) mixed up its defense a little bit and that caught us standing there looking."

Hermiller led all scorers will 21 points. He also dished out four assists. Teammate Scott Recker added 11 points.

Freshman Reggie McAdams led Elida (3-4) with 18 points and four rebounds. Desmond Ragin scored 15 points, pulled down five boards and made four steals at the defensive end.

As a team, Elida made eight steals at the defensive end and committed just eight turnovers.

Elida coach Dennis Thompson said his team did nearly everything right, except for making the shot.

"I felt like we executed well, but we didn't reward ourselves for it," Thompson said. "We must have missed six easy lay-ups and four or five four-footers. You cannot afford to do that."

The outcome of the game came down to the free throw line, as the Blue Jays made 9-of-11 from the stripe, while Elida made 2-of-3 in the fourth quarter.

Elwer said Hermiller's performance down the stretch exemplified how the senior guard can play under pressure.

"He's the leader of the team," Elwer said. "You expect that out of your senior captain."

For the game, St. John's shot 39 percent from the field, while Elida shot 38 percent. Both teams struggled in shooting the 3-pointer as Elida made just 3-of-14 (21 percent) and St. John's made 4-of-17 (24 percent).

"In our first two games, we have not shot that well," Elwer said. "I think it will start to come as we keep playing."

Elwer said it was nice to get out with the hard-fought win.

"To come to Elida, play in a very tough environment, against a well-coached team and to win, is big," Elwer said.