The Morning Journal (Lorain, OH)
Elyria Catholic girls win in double OT
Panthers survive district semifinal to face Padua with regional berth on line
Elyria Catholic defeated Keystone, 45-40, in a doubleovertime thriller on Feb. 27 to advance to a Division II district final. Elyria Catholic advances to face Padua at Elyria High School on March 2.
It was a hard-fought battle from start to finish, as neither defense let anything through easily.
Elyria Catholic was in control early on, leading, 16-11, after one quarter. But the Wildcats answered in the second, outscoring the Panthers, 15-4.
Elyria Catholic held Keystone scoreless in the third, but the Panthers only scored
six points themselves in the quarter.
Seniors Sam Filiaggi and Nora Hopkins made clutch shots in the fourth quarter, but Keystone kept it close, thanks to timely baskets from McKe-nah Peters and Haley Sprouse.
Filiaggi hit two big free throws to make it a two-point game with 13 seconds to play, and the Wildcats had one last chance to keep their season alive.
As the clock ran down, Taylor Stefan went up for a contested shot under the rim and missed, but Sammie Stefan battled for the offensive rebound and finished off the putback at the buzzer, forcing the game to overtime.
Much like the first four quarters, the story of the first overtime period was defense and neither team scored for four minutes, sending the game to double OT.
Sprouse gave Keystone a brief lead to start out the second overtime, but the Pantheres’ Abby Winnen answered with a wide-open jumper from the free-throw line to tie.
Elyria Catholic’s defense continued to shut down Peters.
Sophomore Megan Scheibelhut was able to draw a foul on the Panthers’ next possession, scoring her first two points of the night at the charity stripe with 2:27 left.
Filiaggi struck again for Elyria Catholic, swiping her fifth steal of the night and racing down the court for a transition layup to make it a fourpoint game.
Peters was able to cut the deficit to two with 1:34 to play by hitting two free throws and Elyria Catholic began to run down the clock.
With 38 seconds remaining, Sammie Stefan came away with a huge steal, prompting Keystone coach Scott Terry to call a timeout.
Keystone had an opportunity to tie, but Peters’ shot was no good and Abby Winnen hauled in her 12th rebound of the night.
Winnen was intentionally fouled and split a pair of free throws to make it a three-point game.
Fittingly, Filiaggi forced another Keystone turnover and knocked down her free throws to seal the deal.
Filiaggi finished with 14 points and six steals, and praising her team’s defensive effort after the game.
“I’m kind of relieved it’s over,” Filiaggi said. “I’m glad we could survive and advance.
“We kind of got McKenah Peters out of her rhythm and I think that’s what helped us.”
Peters scored 18 points in the loss, but was held to only two after regulation and Filiaggi had the unenviable task of guarding her most of the night.
“She’s an incredible player,” Filiaggi said.
“She had a great game, but my teammates were a big help, too, and once we got her out of her rhythm I think we shut them down. Defense won that game.”
Elyria Catholic coach Eric Rothgery echoed those sentiments, knowing how challenging it was to keep Peters from taking over the game.
“We didn’t want to play a box-and-one because that actually inspires her and kind of gets her swag going,” Rothgery said.
“So we played her straight up and helped out a little, but Nora and Sam did a great job on her.”
Along with great defense, Hopkins made big shots throughout the night, hitting all four of her attempts from longrange.
“It was a little nerveracking to be honest, but we kept up our confidence and that was a great team we played,” Hopkins said.
Terry was proud of his team’s effort.
“We took them to double overtime,” Terry said. “We’ve got nothing to be ashamed of, and we didn’t lose for lack of effort.”