The Morning Journal (Lorain, OH)
Panthers fall, 63-47, in state semifinal
Versailles controls the boards, turns back Elyria Catholic
Elyria Catholic’s magical postseason run ended at the hands of No. 1-ranked Versailles, 63-47, in a Division III state semifinal at the Jerome Schottenstein Center on March 15.
The story of the night was the Tigers’ physicality, outrebounding the Panthers, 39-24, and Elyria Catholic turned it over 10 times. Versailles outscored the Panthers, 34-24, in the paint and had an answer every time the Panthers made a push.
Junior guard Faith Williams led Elyria Catholic with 18 points and two assists, and teammate Ally Winnen posted a doubledouble with 13 points and 10 rebounds.
Versailles (28-1) had four players score in double digits, with Kami McEldowney leading with 17 points and four assists.
“We knew we were in for a tough ride,” Elyria Catholic coach Eric Rothgery said. “Versailles is obviously a very good and wellseasoned team. Their experience probably carried them to a good extent.”
Elyria Catholic (22-6) rarely
gets outrebounded, but on this night, Danielle Winner, who had 10 boards, along with her teammates were too much to handle for the Panthers.
“They’re big, too,” Rothgery added. “Aggressive, crafty and you have to stay out on their shooters. So there’s a lot of space created in there, too.”
Elyria Catholic entered the fourth quarter trailing, 40-30, before senior Megan Scheibelhut drained a bucket to pull within eight. One minute later, Williams nailed a 3-pointer to cut the lead to 42-35. Ally Winnen scored a lay-up with five minutes remaining to pull within seven again. But Versailles responded with a 15-7 run to put the nail in the coffin.
“This definitely isn’t what we wanted,” Williams said. “But we’ve got to learn from our mistakes and see how they prevented us from doing what we do and have to get better at that.”
The Panthers struggled from the floor shooting 17 of 42, and the Tigers shot 21 of 47. The first half looked promising when Elyria Catholic led, 8-7, after the first quarter.
The Panthers’ defense was stingy and held the Tigers to just 24 first half points. Versailles entered the contest averaging 68 points a game. But Versailles began the second half on a 6-1 spurt, and then closed the third quarter on a 10-5 run to build up a 10-point lead.
“You have to play perfect in order to beat this team,” Ally Winnen said. “They have a lot of experience and them being here all four years, it does give them that factor that we don’t have. But I was surprised they outrebounded us and second-chance shots did hurt us in the end.”
Versailles didn’t allow a Panthers’ 3-pointer until the end of the third quarter, and Elyria Catholic shot just 2 of 14 for the game.
“Down the stretch, we got it done,” Versailles coach Jacki Stonebraker said. “They stuck together, kept communicating and it was a different team than we’re used to playing. We’re not used to playing against such bigs inside and they took us out of our game a little bit. But we adjusted and got the ‘W.’”
Elyria Catholic graduates only three seniors and returns a team that could potentially return to the state tournament.
“We wish it could have ended a little bit differently, but we were happy we got this far,” Williams added.