Padua’s sharp shooting too much for Rockets

Bay finished its season with a tough 64-46 loss to Padua in a Division II district semifinal on Feb. 27 at Elyria.

The Rockets struggled to stop a sharp-shooting Padua team all night and never held the lead. The closest it got was a 13-12 Padua lead early in the second quarter before the Bruins closed the first half on an 11-2 run.

Padua was paced by senior guards Elena Rauhe and Ali Medaglia. Rauhe had 19 points while Medaglia had 18 points on six 3-pointers including four in the fourth quarter.

“At first I wasn’t knocking down shots, but I couldn’t let it get to my head,” Medaglia said. “I used to get really down when I make my shots, but when I start hitting them, I just want the ball in my hands at all times. It’s an unreal feeling.”

Bay coach Brian Hill said there’s not much you can do when your opponent is shooting the lights out.

But he is proud of the way his team left it all out on the court in its final game of the season.

“They battled through adversity, stepped up and played really hard, we just couldn’t find the bottom of the basket and (Padua) did,” Hill said. “(Padua) had a great shooting night and you can’t do much when they hit all those 3s against you.

“They fact that our girls are still busting their butts, trying to trap and take charges even in the third and fourth quarter when we’re down 20, that shows character right there,” Hill added. “They could very well just packed it in and been done, but I’m very proud of the way our girls battled. It’s a lot of the upperclassmen stepping up and playing as hard as they can and kind of modeling that on the court.”

Bay graduates four seniors from this team, and after an 11-win season two years ago, Hill said this group of upperclassmen has modeled on and off the court what it means to build a program. The Rockets had 21 wins last year, and finish the 2016-17 season 18-7.

“They’re really setting a good foundation for what we want to build for the future and we’re going to miss the heck out of those seniors,” Hill said. “They played their butts off and I’m very proud of them.”

Padua will face Elyria Catholic on March 2 at Elyria in the district final.