High school girls basketball tournament capsule

By Mark PerezKrywany MPerezkrywany@morningjournal.com

(5) ELYRIA CATHOLIC VS. (4) CUYAHOGA VALLEY CHRISTIAN ACADEMY

What: Division II Elyria District final

Where: Elyria High School, 601 Middle Ave.

When: Feb. 25 at 7 p.m.

Records: Elyria Catholic 21-4, CVCA 22-3

Elyria Catholic’s path: Defeated Garrett Morgan, 80-17, Brookside, 62-19 and Gilmour Academy, 46-39.

CVCA’s path: Defeated Bedford, 56-10, St. Martin de Porres, 52-10 and Woodridge, 67-22.

Up next: The winner advances to the Division II Barberton Regional semifinal to play the winner of Canal Fulton and Copley.

Outlook: This is a great matchup of teams with different playstyles. There is the inside-out game of Elyria Catholic and the dynamic 3-point shooting of CVCA. Against Woodridge, the Royals made 193-pointers, which tied their seasonhigh achieved two other times this season. When CVCA is hitting its 3s, it looks nearly unstoppable. The three losses were to Gilmour Academy (54-51), Walsh Jesuit (56-54) and Hathaway Brown (50-49). All of its losses were decided within one possession. They’re led by Gia Casalinova and Joi Williams. Casalinova is an Ashland University commit who scored 30 points against Woodridge and Williams had 21. Both are good shooters, and they are joined by Kylie Bettinger, who made five 3-pointers against Woodridge. Katelyn Harabedian provides a solid post presence with her height and can stretch the floor on offense. This is the first matchup between CVCA and Elyria Catholic, according to CVCA records. The biggest factor will be if the Royals can consistently shoot or if Elyria Catholic can defensively make them uncomfortable to play out of character. Carter McCray should wreak havoc in the middle, but they will need more made 3-pointers than the one against Gilmour Academy to make it to the regional tournament. Perez’s pick: