Girls basketball: Elyria Catholic rolls to 30th straight win

ELYRIA — Playing a Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Day matinee, just 48 hours after a record-breaking win which gave it a sole possession of first place in the Great Lakes Conference on Monday would have seemed like the perfect spot for a let down for Elyria Catholic. Instead, the Panthers did what they do best shooting out the lights and running the opposition out of the gym. Elyria Catholic (9-0, 6-0) had four players make a 3-pointer in the opening quarter as it built an 18-4 lead on its way to an easy 71-29 victory over Buckeye. Junior Annika Bredel had two first-quarter threes in scoring a game-high 16 points. "Our goal is not to play down to our competition," Bredel said. "At halftime we said, 'Have no mercy.' No matter who we're playing we do our thing and we play hard." The win was the 30th straight for the defending Division III regional champion Panthers, who have not lost since December of 2019. The Bucks are 2-7 and 2-4 in the GLC. "We try not to think about that streak too much, but we do think about it," said senior Lexi Hall, who finished with 10 points. "We actually have it on the whiteboard downstairs. We have the number 30 and we have a list of all of the teams we beat. It's not everything but it's still kinda cool to recognize that it's still there." The streak was never in doubt Monday as EC led 36-8 at the half. "The girls got focused in pretty quick and knocked down some shots today," Elyria Catholic coach Eric Rothgery said. "I think our percentage making threes was better than our percentage making layups for a while. When we have a lot of people hitting threes, it makes it kinda hard to for anybody to guard us." Bredel, Hall, Natalie Palese and Lexi Szalai each had two 3-pointers for the Panthers who had nine. "We put in a lot of time in practice on shooting. Nobody on this team is afraid to shoot," Rothgery said. Junior Emily Rapacz was also in double figures for the Panthers with 12 points. Elyria Catholic came into Monday's game averaging seven 3-pointers. "As a team we love to drive and kick it out to open shooters," Bredel said. "We work on that a lot in practice because when we're hitting those shots it really helps open up the game. We always get pumped up when we make threes. It's fun seeing your teammates knock down shots." Monday's 42-point win was the Panthers' biggest win since a 68-point victory in last year Division III sectional final. "As we get close to tournament, our focus has to stay on taking care of the ball," Rothgery said. "In 13 days we're going to find out who we play in the tournament, it's sneaking up on us fast. It makes every game important because you're trying to put yourself in position for a good seed." Contact Todd Shapiro at 329-7135 or ctsports@chroniclet.com. Elyria Catholic 71, Buckeye 29 BUCKEYE (29): Sydney Bell 2-0-4, Reagan McCourt 3-0-7, Courtney Keeler 0-1-1, Allison Salazar 1-0-3, Teagan Widenmeyer 1-0-2, Alyssa Beckett 1-2-4, Casey Cash 4-0-8. Totals 12-3-29 ELYRIA CATHOLIC (71): Natalie Palese 2-1-7, Kenya Simpson 1-1-3, Lexi Szalai 2-0-6, Lexi Pluta 4-0-8, Lexi Hall 4-0-10, Emily Vogel 2-0-4, Isabelle Niederst 1-0-2, Emily Rapacz 4-3-12, Annika Bredel 6-2-16, Sarah Griffin 1-1-3. Totals 27-8-71. Buckeye &emsp; &emsp;4 &emsp;&emsp; 4 &emsp;&emsp; 12 9 &emsp;&emsp; — 29 Elyria Catholic 18 18 16 19 — 71 Three-point goals: Buckeye (Salazar, McCourt), Elyria Catholic (Palese 2, Szalai 2, Bredel 2, Hall 2, Rapacz). Field goals: Buckeye 12-35 (34 percent), Elyria Catholic 27-58 (47 percent). Free throws: Buckeye 3-13 (23 percent), Elyria Catholic 8-11 (73 percent). Rebounds: Buckeye 27, Elyria Catholic 43. Turnovers: Buckeye 20, Elyria Catholic 9. Total fouls: Buckeye 9, Elyria Catholic 12. Junior varsity: Buckeye, 33-31