Regional Girls Basketball: Sophia Niederst emerges as scoring threat, and Elyria Catholic isn't ready to go home

Big-time players have their best performances on the grandest stages. This postseason Elyria Catholic junior guard Sophia Niederst have proved to be a big-time player. Niederst will be in an even brighter spotlight Wednesday night when the Panthers (18-6) face Laurel (18-4) in a Division IV regional semifinal at the Canton Memorial Fieldhouse. Niederst scored in double figures in all three of the Panthers' tournaments wins. It was just the second time Niederst scored 10 or more points in three straight games. "She's a great player," coach Eric Rothgery said. "You watch her every day in practice and you think to yourself she is so close to turning that corner to greatness. She does so many things well." Dating to the final two games of the regular season, Niederst, who averaged 8.1 points this season, scored 17 against NDCL, 15 in a sectional final win over Akron Springfield, a game-high 13 in a district semifinal win over Niles McKinley and 10 in the district final win over Canal Fulton Northwest. "I work hard every day then on gameday I just go out and try my hardest to do whatever I can do to contribute to the team," Niederst said. "Now it's win or go home and I don't think any of us are ready to go home, so that's the motivation." Even when she's not scoring, Niederst has been a key to the Panthers' success, as they won their first district title since 2020. Niederst leads the team with 3.8 assists and is one of its top defenders. "We put a lot of pressure on her," Rothgery said. "She has the ball in her hands a lot, she doesn't come off the floor much. She'll usually defend against one of the best kids on the other team." Sophomore Ari Dimacchia and junior Claire Petrus have averaged over 10 points a game while senior Gabby Rodriguez flirted with that mark most of the season. Niederst's play of late gives Elyria Catholic four players who can stuff the stat sheet and create matchup nightmares for opposing defenses. "We really feel like we can have each of our top five kids scoring 10 points a game," Rothgery said. Niederst is excited to have another chance to face the Gators, who defeated Elyria Catholic last year in the district final. "it feels great," Niederst said of winning a district title. "We've been working hard in practice every day all season so I feel we're deserving of this. "We're really excited. We're working hard in practice so hopefully we can knock them out this year. Last year I think our defense was focused on Tristan (Laurel senior Tristan Williams, a UNLV commit) a lot, and the other girls we just left them open. I think the one girl hit like five threes and that really got to us. This year we'll be ready and focused on Tristan but also focused on everybody else." Although the stakes get higher with every game, Niederst is ready to rise to the occasion. "We have to give all we have on the court because you don't know if it's going to be the last game or not," she said. "Winning a district title means a lot. We're all really happy about this but we're not stopping." Contact Todd Shapiro at (440) 329-7135 or ctsports@chroniclet.com.