Girls basketball: Elyria Catholic takes control in third quarter to hand Lake Catholic its first loss

ELYRIA — There's no place like home for the holidays and on the night Elyria Catholic welcomed home dozens of former players for the dedication of Coach Bob Guinta Court, Panthers coach Eric Rothgery welcomed one of his best players back to the lineup. Elyria Catholic's stifling zone defense held Lake Catholic to two third-quarter points and senior Lexi Rodriguez came off the bench to make her first appearance of the season after missing the first seven games due to injury as the Panthers improved to 4-0 in the North Coast Conference with a 45-33 win over the Cougars. It was a back-and-forth affair in the first half. After four second-quarter lead changes, Rodriguez maDe her first basket of the season with a second to go before intermission to give the Panthers a 21-20 lead. Rodriguez came off the bench with 4:17 to play in the first quarter and finished the night with three points. "It felt great to be back," Rodriguez said. "I missed it so much sitting on the bench all of these games. It feels good to participate. I'm not 100 percent yet but this was a good first game to come back." After the win, which improved Elyria Catholic's overall record to 6-2, Rodriguez took part in the court dedication ceremony taking a ceremonial first shot along with Sean O'Donnell, won of two seniors on the Panthers boys team. Senior Mya Rivera led Elyria Catholic with 14 points and was happy to run the court again with Rodriguez for the first time this season. "She's my pick-and-roll queen," Rivera said of Rodriguez. "I don't how many layups she missed. I'm always going to pass it to her. That's how much I believe in her ability and her talent." The Cougars (6-1, 2-1) came in with an unblemished record but it was quickly apparent they have not faced the same level of competition as Elyria Catholic. Lake Catholic's Carmella Sowers, a 5-foot-11 forward, scored 13 first-half points but was held scoreless over the final 16 minutes. "They run a nice little pick-and-roll offense," Elyria Catholic coach Eric Rothgery said. "We had only given up 20 points in the first half so I didn't know if we needed to make any major adjustments but after talking it over with the coaches we went in a zone. They couldn't get off shots and we were able to make ours and put the game away in the third quarter." Senior Camara Ogletree scored 10 points for Elyria Catholic and freshman Ari Dimacchia had seven points and nine assists. "We work so hard every day in practice and we really emphasize playing as a team and it all came together tonight," Rivera said. "We've been working on our zone in practice, trying to perfect it, and I think it really threw them off their game." Elyria Catholic improved to 3-1 at home. "We have girls who like to play tough games, they've shown that toughness all year," Rothgery said. Contact Todd Shapiro at (440) 329-7135 or ctsports@chroniclet.com. Elyria Catholic 45, Lake Catholic 33 LAKE CATHOLIC (33): Ella Zampedro 3-2-9, Maddie Cox 0-0-0, Mary Thacker 1-0-2, Avery Budrys Rini 2-4-9, Carmella Sowers 5-3-13. Totals 11-9-33.ELYRIA CATHOLIC (45): Nadia Pagan 1-0-2, Mya Rivera 4-5-14, Gabby Rodriguez 2-0-5, Lexi Rodriguez 1-1-3, Sophia Niederst 1-2-4, Ari Dimacchia 2-3-7, Camara Ogletree 3-3-10. Totals 14-14-45. Lake Catholic&emsp; 7&emsp;12 &emsp;2&emsp;11&emsp;—&emsp;33Elyria Catholic&emsp;9&emsp;13&emsp;14&emsp;10&emsp;—&emsp;45 Three-point goals: Lake Catholic (Zampedro, Budrys Rini), Elyria Catholic (Rivera, G. Rodriguez, Ogletree). Field goals: Lake Catholic 11-33 (33 percent), Elyria Catholic 14-46 (30 percent). Free throws: Lake Catholic 9-12 (75 percent), Elyria Catholic 14-20 (70 percent). Rebounds: Lake Catholic 27, Elyria Catholic 29. Turnovers: Lake Catholic 21, Elyria Catholic 9. Team fouls: Lake Catholic 19, Elyria Catholic 10. Fouled out: Budrys Rini.