D-IV Regional Girls Basketball: Elyria Catholic can't get offense going, knocked out by Laurel

CANTON — Elyria Catholic faced a lot of good teams this season but none quite like Laurel. Despite Laurel star guard Tristan Williams going off for a game-high 25 points, the Panthers did an admirable job of trying to contain the Gators' potent offense. It was on the opposite end of the court where Elyria Catholic struggled, falling behind by 15 in the first quarter in a 52-30 Division IV regional semifinal loss at Canton Memorial Fieldhouse. A year ago when these teams met in the district final, Laurel hurt the Panthers with outside shooting. This year Elyria Catholic held Laurel (19-4) to two 3-pointers but struggled to contain Williams driving the lane and getting to the rim. "Last year we did a good job of stopping Tristan and not their 3-point shooters. This year we stopped their 3-point shooters and not Tristan. Maybe we need one more shot at them," Elyria Catholic coach Eric Rothgery said. The Panthers (18-7) were held to four first-quarter points, a basket by senior Gabby Rodriguez with 4:14 left and another from Ari Dimacchia with 34 seconds left. Meanwhile, Elyria Catholic turned the ball over nine times, allowing Laurel to take a 19-4 lead. Laurel coach David Meyer said the Gators' game plan was to get off to a quick start the same way they did when the teams met last year. "We knew they average about 46 (points) a game so we thought if we could come out and punch them in the face we might see their heads drop a little bit," Meyer said. Elyria Catholic withstood that opening punch and rebounded to hold Laurel to 33 points over the final three quarters, but it was never able to generate enough offense to mount a comeback. Junior Sophia Niederst led the Panthers with eight points while Rodriguez, Dimacchia and Claire Petrus scored six each. "They took us out of the game right from the start," Rothgery said. "We played pretty even after that. I didn't feel like the girls were nervous, but they certainly appeared to be." After going into the locker room at halftime trailing 31-16, Elyria Catholic came out twice in the third quarter and cut the lead to 11, the second time coming on a basket from Dimacchia that made the score 33-22. Laurel, which has three seniors in its starting lineup, leaned on its veteran poise to mount a 6-0 run and stretch the lead back out to 16. Sydnee Robinson scored 12 for the Gators and Liv Schneider, who burned the Panthers with five 3-pointers last year, was held to six points. Laurel will play in the regional final Saturday, looking to make its third consecutive trip to the state tournament. Elyria Catholic finds itself in almost the same position Laurel was a year ago, as it only loses one senior, Rodriguez. With a district title and regional experience under their belt, the Panthers think the game Wednesday could lead to a big 2026-27 season. "This was good experience because we're planning on taking this group to the Final Four next year," Rothgery said. "We lose one player, Gabby, who was a great player and a great leader. We're going to miss her but we have a lot of talent returning and we're going to put a great effort into next year. Being able to play in a regional game was a great steppingstone for them." Contact Todd Shapiro at (440) 329-7135 or ctsports@chroniclet.com. Laurel 52, Elyria Catholic 30 LAUREL (52): Reese Grammes 3-0-7, Cia Ferrante 1-0-2, Liv Schneider 3-0-6, Tristan Williams 12-0-25, Sydnee Robinson 5-2-12. Totals 24-2-52. ELYRIA CATHOLIC (30): Gabby Rodriguez 3-0-6, Claire Petrus 1-4-6, Nicole BeVier 1-0-2, Sophia Niederst 3-2-8, Ari Dimacchia 3-0-6, Jules Cerney 0-2-2. Totals 11-8-30. Laurel&emsp;19&emsp;12&emsp;12&emsp;9&emsp;—&emsp;52 Elyria Catholic&emsp;4&emsp;12&emsp;9&emsp;5&emsp;—&emsp;30 Three-point goals: Laurel (Grammes, Williams). Field goals: Laurel 24-56 (43 percent), Elyria Catholic 11-30 (37 percent). Free throws: Laurel 2-4 (50 percent), Elyria Catholic 8-10 (80 percent). Rebounds: Laurel 29, Elyria Catholic 25. Turnovers: Laurel 9, Elyria Catholic 21. Team fouls: Laurel 10, Elyria Catholic 4.