Girls Basketball: Slow and steady gets it done for Elyria Catholic

ELYRIA — There is no such thing as an ugly win. Beaumont was content to play zone to slow the game with Elyria Catholic to a crawl, but the Panthers defense eventually took control, holding the Blue Streaks without a basket for 14 minutes while posting a 42-20 North Coast Conference win Wednesday night. The victory kept EC near the top of the conference as it improved to 5-1 in league play and 10-3 overall. "This is still a game where you have to make shots. We turned away a lot of shots, but we were solid defensively, especially in the second half," Panthers coach Eric Rothgery said. "We know we can play defense every day, we just have to keep working on the offensive stuff." Beaumont (7-6, 0-6) got off to a good start, mostly thanks to a pair of 3-pointers from senior guard Maria Goske, who scored a team-high 10 points. After the score was tied at 8 after a quarter, EC separated a bit from the Blue Streaks on a Gabby Rodriguez midrange jumper, a layin from Clair Petrus and a 3-pointer from Juliana Cerny to go up 15-10. A Goske basket in the paint cut the lead to 15-12 with 2:10 left in the half, but that was the last point for Beaumont until the 4:10 mark of the fourth quarter. EC finished the half up 20-12 on three more points from Petrus and an Ari Dimacchia layin. "It's quite annoying when the game is slowed down like that," said Petrus, who finished with a game-high 11 points, six rebounds and three blocks. "We do practice a lot moving the ball quick to get open shots, so when it's working right, we're able to get into good position to score." The third period was all Elyria Catholic as it kept the Blue Streaks out of scoring position for all eight minutes, shutting them out as Beaumont was only able to get five field goal attempts while turning the ball over five times. EC had its own issues, hitting just two of 14 (14 percent) shots in the third on buckets from Petrus and Dimacchia and a pair of late free throws from Sophia Niederst (eight points) to go up 26-12 going to the final eight minutes. Two Goske free throws ended an 11-0 run to start the fourth and the 14-minute field goal drought came to an end when Savannah Triggs scored in the paint. Elyria Catholic answered with 3-pointers from Niederst and Riley Treadway that sent the starters to the bench for the balance of the game. Contact James Brady at jbrady_ct@yahoo.com. ELYRIA CATHOLIC 42, BEAUMONT 20 BEAUMONT (20): Skylar Jones 1-2-4, Alaina Longmeier 0-0-0, Maria Goske 3-2-10, Emmy Herberth 0-0-0, Cassidy McDonald 0-0-0, Lucy Thomas 0-1-1, Claire Revis 1-0-2, Savannah Triggs 1-1-3. Totals 6-6-20. ELYRIA CATHOLIC (42): Riley Treadway 1-0-3, Trinity Metzinger 0-0-0, Alena Bray 0-0-0, Gabby Rodriguez 4-0-9, Claire Petrus 5-1-11, Nicole BeVier 0-0-0, Sophia Niederst 2-3-8, Lyla Smith 1-0-2, Ari Dimacchia 3-0-6, Capri Aviles-Laurenti 0-0-0, Juliana Cerny 1-0-3. Totals 17-4-42. Beaumont&emsp;8&emsp;4&emsp;0&emsp;8&emsp;—&emsp;20 Elyria Catholic&emsp;8&emsp;12&emsp;6&emsp;16&emsp;—&emsp;42 Three-point goals: Beaumont 2-5 (40 percent, Goske 2), Elyria Catholic 4-16 (25 percent, Treadway, Rodriguez, Niederst, Cerny). Field goals: Beaumont 6-24 (25 percent); Elyria Catholic 17-44 (39 percent). Free throws: Beaumont 6-10 (60 percent); Elyria Catholic 4-7 (57 percent). Rebounds: Beaumont 21, Elyria Catholic 32. Turnovers: Beaumont 26, Elyria Catholic 16. Junior varsity: Elyria Catholic, 33-16.