Girls basketball: Elyria Catholic getting help from younger players in quest for district title

When you enter the season with one senior, you'll obviously only go as far as your younger players can lead you. Luckily for Elyria Catholic, junior Claire Petrus and sophomore Ari Dimacchia have stepped up to lead the team in scoring, as the Panthers prepare to make what they hope is a run to their first district championship since 2020. Dimacchia is averaging a double-double with 11.4 points and 10.8 rebounds. Petrus is nearly equaling those numbers with 11.1 points and 8.9 rebounds for EC, which is 13-4 and a game out of the lead in the North Coast Conference. "All of us had to step up this year. It started with working hard and putting in extra work at practice, and also playing with confidence," Dimacchia said. "We've got a lot of wins under our belt. It's helped us that we communicate and work well with each other." Dimacchia was second on the team in rebounding last year, but she has emerged as a scorer. "She's a freak athlete. Her athleticism is off the charts," Elyria Catholic coach Eric Rothgery said. "Ari is very smart and very coachable. She's one of those kids who get better every time she steps on a basketball court." Dimacchia has gotten better as the season has progressed, scoring in double figures in eight of her last 11 games. "I've got more confidence in myself to play aggressive and put up shots, and that's really helped a lot," Dimacchia said. "It feels really good to be able to contribute to the team this much as a sophomore. I never thought I'd be here at this point, so it's very exciting." Petrus is the only member of the starting five who didn't see consistent playing time on the varsity level last year. However, she proved she could score at the JV level and carried it over to the varsity this year. "There are times kids are dissatisfied with being on the JV and I tell them, 'If you don't want to play JV, embarrass me by being so darn good I have no choice but to put you on varsity,'" Rothgery said. "Claire is one kid who embarrassed me a few times. She had a 37-point game last year and a number of games in the 20s." Petrus has also upped her scoring totals in the second half of the year. After only scoring in double figures in one of Elyria Catholic's first nine games, she has scored 11 or more points in six of her last eight games. "Knowing we had a senior dominant team last year and going to having almost all underclassmen on varsity, we knew we'd all really have to step it up," Petrus said. "I've been working hard in the offseason so I didn't fall behind and I wanted to keep my intensity level high." The Panthers knew that senior Gabby Rodriguez and juniors Juliana Cerny and Sophia Niederst would all play pivotal roles on the team, but in November the team was staring down the bench at a group of reserves who were devoid of varsity experience. Now that group is making important contributions. "Honestly, the younger girls have stepped up on their own. They know they need to be ready to go if something happens, and they've done really well," Petrus said. Petrus points to three players — Alena Bray, Riley Treadway and Trinity Metzinger — who have contributed to the team's success. She also said the team's expectations have changed over the course of the season, "The first practice, no way did I think we were going to have a good team," Petrus said. "But by the time we got to the first game against Bellevue, I was like, 'Woah, maybe this team has more potential than I thought.'" Throughout the season, the Panthers have brought their younger players into bigger roles in practice, and a number of one-sided games have allowed those girls to gain experience and confidence. "We knew we were solid in the starting five. We just had to work on building depth," Rothgery said. "Our girls are very welcoming to younger girls and girls with less experience, so that's allowed those girls to grow." Defense has always been a hallmark of good Elyria Catholic teams. This year has been no exception, with the Panthers holding opponents to an average of 37.6 points. "The girls have bought into being very good defenders," Rothgery said. "If you hold the other team to single digits every quarter, you're gonna win a lot of ballgames." On Sunday, Elyria Catholic will find out exactly what the path to postseason success will look like when the Division III-VII tournament brackets are revealed. "I really want to get a district championship. The whole team wants it, the coaches want it. It would mean a lot to everybody," Petrus said. Rothgery agrees that a district title is the goal for the Panthers. "We want to do it bad," Rothgery said. "You get used to doing it so many times and you think it's something easy, but and it's just not easy to do." Contact Todd Shapiro at (440) 329-7135 or ctsports@chroniclet.com.