CUYAHOGA FALLS — Elyria Catholic’s dream basketball season is history. It’s over and it was historic.

The Panthers (20-5) stayed with defending state champion Regina for a quarter Wednesday night. But the second-ranked Royals had too much power. They opened a big lead early in the second quarter and rolled to a 68-45 victory in a Division III regional semifinal.

Regina (22-2) got a combined 40 points from its two marquee players, senior guard Tay’ler Mingo, a Florida State recruit, and senior forward Pa’Sonna Hope, who will play at Ole Miss next year.

Mingo scored 24 points, 17 in the first half, and Hope added 16, 10 in the second half.

They’ll lead Regina into another regional final at 1:30 p.m. Saturday on the floor at Cuyahoga Falls High School. A victory will put the Royals just two wins away from their seventh state championship since 2000.

The one-sided outcome couldn’t overshadow the Panthers’ two historic accomplishments. They became the first EC girls team to win 20 games in a season and the first to win a district championship.

“The girls were ready and I don’t think they were intimidated,” Panthers coach Eric Rothgery said. “We let down a little bit there in the second quarter and that kind of let things get away. You have to play the best possible game you can play against a team like that. It just wasn’t meant to be.”

It was a tough loss, especially on the heels of one of the most dramatic comebacks ever by an area team in Saturday’s district final.

Trailing sixth-ranked Loudonville by 13 points in the fourth quarter, the Panthers staged a gutsy rally to send the game into overtime, then won it, 61-59.

“It’s sad to see it end, but I think we made a good run for our seniors,” said junior scoring leader Emily Taylor, who finished with 15 points. “I look at our three seniors and think I’ll never play on the same court with them again, and I’ve been playing with them since fourth grade. I guess it’s more on a personal level than a basketball level for me.”

The seniors are 6-foot post Sara Schneider, 5-9 forward Katie Shoemaker and 5-5 guard Mimi Rothgery.

“They asked in the locker room if I had any last things to say and I just thanked the girls for all the hard work they’ve put in,” Schneider said. “I couldn’t ask for any more from my teammates. They bust their butts every day at practice. This has been just the most amazing season I’ve ever played in.”

EC led 2-0 on Taylor’s drive in the first 30 seconds. After Regina went up 4-2, the Panthers took a 6-4 lead on a shot from the right side by junior Myrasia Flowers and two foul shots by junior forward Ashley Schuster. In a remarkable foul-shooting exhibition, Schuster made 11-of-12 from the line to finish with 15 points, the same as Taylor.

At one point late in the first period, EC led 13-8. But Regina tied it by the end of the quarter.

The Royals put it out of reach, 29-16, with a 21-2 run that started late in the first quarter and continued through half of the second. Schuster ended the drought with two free throws.

Regina led 49-29 after three quarters.

Regina 68, Elyria Catholic 45

Elyria Catholic (45): Marisa Ternes 0-0-0, Myrasia Flowers 3-0-7, Mimi Rothgery 1-0-3, Emily Taylor 5-4-15, Brittany McNamara 0-0-0, Danielle LoParo 0-0-0, Karissa McGrath 0-0-0, Tory Rothgery 0-0-0, Anna McNeeley 0-2-2, Juliana Tremont 0-0-0, Katie Shoemaker 0-1-1, Ashley Schuster 2-11-15, Brigid Griffin 0-0-0, Marie Machovina 0-0-0. Totals: 12-18-45.

Regina (68): Tay’ler Mingo 6-7-24, Martha Thompson 1-0-2, Chardell Dunnigan 0-0-0, Courtney Hampton 0-2-2, Sydney Clark 3-0-9, Pa’Sonna Hope 8-0-16, Therany Dunnigan 1-7-8, Davonna Bradford 0-3-3, Kourtni Taylor 1-0-3. Totals: 22-10-68.

Elyria Catholic 13 7 9 16 – 45

Regina 13 23 13 19 – 68

3-point goals: Elyria Catholic 3-5 (Flowers, Taylor, M. Rothgery); Regina 5-12 (Clark 3, Mingo, Taylor). Field goals: Elyria Catholic 12-38 (31.6 percent); Regina 22-58 (38 percent). Free throws: Elyria Catholic 18-21; Regina 18-28. Rebounds: Elyria Catholic 24; Regina 31. Turnovers: Elyria Catholic 19; Regina 16. Fouled out: Shoemaker.

Contact Daniels at 329-7135 or basketball@bobdaniels.info.

CUYAHOGA FALLS — Elyria Catholic’s stay in the Division III regional tournament ended, for all intents and purposes, with 6:16 to go in the first half of Wednesday’s 68-45 loss to Regina.

The defending state champion Royals (22-2) had just finished off a 13-0 run that turned a 13-8 deficit into a 21-13 advantage. That set the stage for a game-changing 23-7 second quarter, which sent Regina into the locker room with a 36-20 lead.

Prior to that, the Panthers, with a loud student body cheering their every move, stunned Regina and the crowd of approximately 1,500 at the Cuyahoga Falls High School gymnasium by controlling the early action and jumping out to that five-point lead.

“The girls were ready,” EC coach Eric Rothgery said. “I don’t think we were intimidated. However, we let down a little bit in that second quarter, and that kind of let things get away.”

Regina coach Pat Diulus said his team’s game plan was to come out running against the 20-5 Panthers. However, EC’s slow-down style, plus an inability to finish off turnovers, plagued the Royals in the early going.

“We knew (EC) was a well-coached team and we knew they had some outstanding players,” Diulus said. “We had a lot of respect for them coming in. Our goal at the beginning was to speed up the game, and we started off with a little softer press.

“We thought if we sped the game up, that would be to our advantage. That turned out to be true. And we were able to control the game from about the middle of the first quarter when we switched to a full-court press. From that point on, we pretty much had our way.”

However, the pressing Royals forced EC into seven second-quarter turnovers and held the Panthers to just 2-of-6 shooting from the floor in the quarter. The two buckets were a 3-pointer by junior Emily Taylor, who finished with 13 points, and a layup by junior reserve Myrasia Flowers with 48.3 seconds left.

“They switched to a man press instead of the zone press they were using, and I think that kind of threw us off,” Taylor said. “We didn’t really know how to break it with their long bodies and long players. It’s kind of hard to adjust to it.”

Added Rothgery: “You just can’t make mistakes, especially against a team like Regina. You’ve got to play the best possible game that you can play. I thought the girls played well. They played hard the whole way and they gave it everything they had. But it just wasn’t meant to be.”

In the meantime, Regina had runs of 8-0 and 7-0 to take that 16-point lead into the half.

“Our game is built around transition, and that’s going to fuel our offense,” Diulus said. “We missed too many shots, but I’ve seen pros miss those shots, too.”

Diulus, for the most part, called off the dogs in the second half. However, his team still outscored EC 32-25 in the second half.

Despite the lopsided loss, there was very little head-hanging going on from the EC players or coaches.

“It’s sad that our postseason run is all over, and that I’m never going to play on the same court with our three seniors (Mimi Rothgery, Katie Shoemaker and Sara Schneider) again,” Taylor said. “I’ve been playing with them since I was in fourth grade, so it hurts more on a personal level than on a basketball level.

“I knew we were a better team this year, and we were right there with (Regina) in the first quarter. But we kind of lost it in the second quarter, and we couldn’t really recover from it.”

Rothgery was proud of his Panthers for their postseason run.

“The Elyria Catholic girls have never been in a regional, and it was a fun and exciting ride,” he said. “That’s the tough thing about high school basketball. Every team ends their season with a loss except for the state champion, so you’ve got to go through that period where you feel bad about things.

“But I know when we look back on this season, I know we can honestly say that this was a successful year. The girls showed a lot of heart, put in a lot of hard work (and) they were very focused on getting here. It’s just a great bunch of girls to be around.”

Contact Dan Gilles at 329-7135 or dangilles73@gmail.com.

EATON TWP. — Not many people figured Avon Lake would match up well against tall, talented, physical Brunswick in their Division I district semifinal Wednesday night.

Not many other than Eric Smith and his Shoremen, who pulled off the near-perfect game plan in knocking off the second-seeded Blue Devils, 54-44, to advance to Saturday’s final against top seed Medina.

Avon Lake (16-7) will be after its first Sweet 16 invitation since 2000, when it knocked off Olmsted Falls in the Division II tournament at Admiral King. Brunswick finished at 17-5.

“That was four months of preparation,” Smith said. “What happened out there started on Nov. 6th. It’s a style of play. It’s an attitude. We saw Brunswick play four or five times. The one thing we never saw anybody do was to get up and get after them.

“No. 1, it’s the way we play best. No. 2, if we would allow them to bring the ball down the floor and run their offense, they would pick us apart. We couldn’t match up inside with them in the half court.”

Brunswick’s three big people inside — 6-foot-9 junior Pat Forsythe, 6-5 senior Kyle Payne and 6-6 senior and all-time leading scorer Tyler Ferrell had only nine points total going into the fourth quarter.

Ferrell took only one shot at the basket — the first two points of the game — through three quarters. He finished with just eight points.

“(Avon Lake) took our posts away,” Brunswick coach Joe Mackey said. “We had some things in there to help counter that but they weren’t real successful.”

“We were stressing back-side help and in the post doubling down,” Avon Lake’s Ronnie Willoughby said. “(Brunswick) was kicking it out but they weren’t hitting the shots. Thank God. We got the big lead and sustained it.”

Brunswick was just 11-of-28 from the field for the game and only 4-of-14 from 3-point land. The Shoremen hit half of their 36 floor attempts and 4-of-7 3-pointers. Avon Lake was even better from the foul line, missing just three times in 17 attempts.

“We come to practice and prepare,” said sophomore Eric Stuczynski, the leading scorer with 15 points. “It doesn’t matter how physical they are, we’re going to come back just as physical.”

“At the end of the season, my free-throw percentage wasn’t where I wanted it to be,” said T.J. Thompson, who hit four in a row to close out the game. “I just focused as hard as I can. We stress free throws a lot. We knew there would be a game where we needed to knock down some big free throws.”

The game was tied at halftime, but Avon Lake began to take control as the third quarter wound down. Brandon Murway hit a shot from the lane to put the Shoremen in front, 33-31. Two steals — the first by Willoughby, the second by Stuczynski, who converted both into layups — pushed the lead to 37-31.

Brunswick would get no closer than four points the rest of the way as the Shoremen spread the floor and managed to get good dribble penetration to set up good looks at the basket or draw fouls.

“One of the hardest things to defend is dribble penetration,” Smith said. “We preach getting the ball into the paint. We don’t have a big man. We’re not 6-6, 6-7, 6-9, but if you get the ball into paint, you force teams to help and recover. You get open shots.”

“On a big stage, we didn’t show up,” Mackey said. “The same thing happened to us (earlier this year) against Medina. Very similar game. They have some athletes. They spread you out. We couldn’t keep guys in front (defensively). We only took 28 shots and we turned it over 20 times. It’s a recipe for disaster.”

“We hang our hats on our defense,” Smith said. “Offensively, we talked about forcing them to defend. No quick shots. We weren’t going to hold the ball. What we wanted to do was make them defend and get the shot that we wanted. When we get the shot we wanted, we’re good shooters. We have kids who can knock some shots down.”

Stucyynski was the only Shoreman in double figures but Brandon Muck and Thompson each scored nine with Dom Whitfield chipping in eight. Willoughby sacrificed his scoring for his defense, but still came away with six points. Payne and Jeremy Salmonski led the Devils with 10 each.

Avon Lake 54, Brunswick 44

AVON LAKE (54): T.J. Thompson 2-4-9, Ronnie Willoughby 3-0-6, Eric Stuczynski 5-3-15, Brandon Muck 3-3-9, Dom Whitfield 3-2-8, Trent Toy 0-2-2, Brandon Murway 2-0-5, Pat England 0-0-0, Andrew Bohan 0-0-0. Totals 18-14-54.

BRUNSWICK (44): Mike Fedj 2-0-6, Jeremy Salmonski 1-7-10, Tyler Ferrell 3-1-8, Kyle Payne 3-4-10, Pat Forsythe 1-1-3, Chase Laudato 0-2-2, Adam Bernard 1-3-5, Matt Dunning 0-0-0, Zach Gresch 0-0-0. Totals 11-18-44.

Avon Lake 12 12 13 17 — 54

Brunswick 11 13 7 13 — 44

Three-point goals: Avon Lake 4-7 (Stuczynski 2, Thompson, Murway), Brusnwick 4-14 (Fedj 2, Salmonski, Ferrell). Field goals: Avon Lake 18-36 (50 percent), Brunswick 11-28 (39 percent). Free throws: Avon Lake 14-17 (82 percent), Brunswick 18-26 (69 percent). Rebounds: Avon Lake 18 (Willoughby, Murway, Toy 2), Brusnwick 28 (Ferrell 6). Turnovers: Avon Lake 12, Brunswick 20. Fouls: Avon Lake 20, Brunswick 17. Fouled Out: Fedj.

Contact Tim Gebhardt at (440) 329-7136 or at ctsports@chroniclet.com.

WESTLAKE — Brookside was overdrawn, maxed out, in the red. The balance was zero.

The Cardinals couldn’t buy one in the first half.

Brookside finally received some stimulus in the fourth quarter with Hunter Skolnicki leading the bailout effort with 18 points, but it was a day late and a dollar short as the Cardinals lost to Bay, 67-56, in a Division II district semifinal Wednesday.

Brookside (11-12) scored only two points in the first quarter. The Cardinals struggled through 4-of-25 shooting in the first half and fell behind by 23 points early in the last period.

The furious charge the Cards launched in the fourth quarter, which included six 3-pointers, cut the lead to seven points with a minute to go, but Bay (16-6) cashed in its free throws in the closing seconds to hold off Brookside and advance to Saturday’s district championship.

Brent Schremp, Brookside’s coach, had an explanation for why his team saw its assets frozen for so long.

“We were in waters we hadn’t been in for a long time,” Schremp said, referring to the fact Brookside had not played in a district semifinal since 1990. “You can’t do those things in a district tournament and expect to be successful.”

Bay jumped out to a 12-0 lead as the Cardinals only made one of their 12 shots in the first quarter. Brookside enjoyed a 9-1 advantage in turnovers in the second quarter, but with a 3-for-13 shooting performance the Cards could only break even in that period.

“Defensively, we weren’t moving,” Schremp said. “On offense we were passing up 4-foot shots and 6-foot shots. I took it to be because we were a young team in a new situation. At times we’d have three sophomores on the floor.”

Nick Jackman, Brookside’s leading scorer and the most accurate 3-point shooter in Lorain County, was held to nine points.

“Bay did a great job of identifying him,” Schremp said. “Nick has been our leading scorer for three years now. Teams are aware of that.”

The Cardinals made it interesting in the fourth. A 3-pointer by Will Irvine at 7:05 gave the Rockets their biggest lead at 49-26. Then Brookside scored 28 points in less than six minutes as the Cardinals found the range on their 3-point shooting, hitting six of them. Skolnicki, a sophomore, hit four of the 3-point baskets. His 3-pointer with one minute remaining made the score 61-54.

“At the beginning (of the game) we weren’t in a flow,” Jackman said. “I think we were thinking too much. In the third we started making the shots we’ve made all year and that got us some confidence.

“I think it was a chain reaction. I was off my shot and everyone else was off, too.”

Kyle Banal, who had an excellent game with 13 points, seven rebounds and five assists, hit two free throws with 52 seconds left. Noah Kashiani made one of two at the line with 42 seconds to play and again with 31 seconds to go. Cody Sanker iced the victory with a pair at the foul line with 16.7 left.

Bay will face the winner of tonight’s 7 o’clock game between Clearview and Vermilion on Saturday.

“At times we looked like the best team in the tournament,” Bay coach Jason Frolo said. “At times in the game we looked like the worst team in the tournament. The first quarter was the best. The fourth was the worst. Fortunately, we have two days of practice to get better.”

Bay 67, Brookside 56

BROOKSIDE (56): Hunter Skolnicki 8-3-24, Art Howell 0-2-2, Nick Jackman 3-0-9, Stefan Moody 3-1-8, Mike Harrison 4-0-8, Luke Ackerman 0-0-0, Chris Mathias 1-0-3, Keyonte Francis 1-0-2. Totals 20-6-56.

BAY (67): Noah Kashiani 3-2-8, Connor Outcalt 2-0-4, Cody Sanker 5-6-17, John Urwin 6-5-17, Kyle Banal 5-3-14, Will Irvine 1-1-4, Tyler Parker 0-0-0, Bryan Lowrie 0-0-0, Jake Johnston 1-1-3. Totals 23-18-67.

Brookside 2    11    13    30    —    56

Bay 16    11    19    21    —    67

Three-point goals: Brookside 10-of-24 (Skolnicki 5, Jackman 3, Mathias, Moody), Bay 3-of-13 (Sanker, Banal, Irvine). Field goal shooting: Brookside 20-of-55 (36.4 percent), Bay 23-of-45 (51.1 percent). Free throw shooting: Brookside 6-of-11 (54.5 percent), Bay 18-of-25 (72.0 percent). Rebounds: Brookside 20 (Jackman, Moody, Harrison 4), Bay 31 (Kashiani 8). Turnovers: Brookside 12, Bay 17. Total fouls: Brookside 19, Bay 11. Fouled out: None.

Contact Steve Byrne at 329-7135 or ctsports@chroniclet.com.

Elyria Catholic’s season is over, but Avon Lake’s is still going strong.

The Panthers, making the school’s first appearance in a girls regional basketball game, lost 68-45 to defending state champion and second-ranked Regina on Wednesday in a Division III semifinal at Cuyahoga Falls High School.

EC ends the season at 20-5, while Regina improves to 22-2.

The Shoremen pulled the upset in boys Division I district action at Midview, downing second-seeded Brunswick 54-44. Avon Lake, the No. 4 seed, plays top-seeded Medina on Saturday at 7 p.m. for the district championship and a berth in next week’s regional.

Medina ended Amherst’s string of upsets in the opener at Midview, handing the Comets a 37-32 defeat.

In the Division II boys tournament at Westlake High School, Bay was a 67-56 winner over Brookside.

Elyria Catholic’s three seniors played varsity basketball when they were freshmen. But not very well.

The Panthers finished 3-18 that season and who knew what the future held?

Actually, they did, and so did present coach Eric Rothgery, who was junior varsity coach at the time. To them, the future looked pretty promising and, indeed, it has been. Their record has improved every year since then — 11-9 their sophomore season, 16-8 last year and look where they are today.

The Panthers are 20-4 and in a Division III regional semifinalist at 6:15 tonight in Cuyahoga Falls. It’s the first time an EC girls team has advanced beyond the district level. The opponent is second-ranked and defending state champion Regina (20-2), the team that demolished EC by 34 points in last year’s Wellington district final.

To the seniors — 6-foot Sara Schneider, 5-9 Katie Shoemaker and 5-5 Mimi Rothgery — their success is no surprise.

“It was a discouraging freshman year,” Shoemaker said. “We were losing constantly and it’s like there was no hope. There were some people who quit and some who stopped playing, but we worked hard every day. Our core team worked so hard to get here. It’s been hard work and heart.”

“Our freshman year was definitely the most discouraging experience,” Schneider said. “We came out for games thinking we’re going to be really good, we’re going to win, and we’d lose by 50 points. But we were like, ‘Wait till next year, wait till next year.’

Then the young Panthers went through a coaching change when Eric Rothgery replaced Pat Higley in 2008. The players had to learn to do some things differently.

“But we had each other,” Schneider said, “and we knew the people who were coming up and we knew that by our junior and senior year, we’d be an amazing team. We also knew we had to work hard and plan for the future.”

“We definitely knew we had something to look forward to,” said Mimi Rothgery, the coach’s daughter and sister of junior guard Tory Rothgery. “So we still had motivation, we knew we were going to be good.”

The Panthers were never better than they were Saturday afternoon in Wellington. They trailed sixth-ranked Loudonville by 13 points in the fourth quarter, but came back to win the district championship, 61-59, in overtime. It was one of the most remarkable comebacks ever staged by an area basketball team.

“To me, it’s not a big surprise or anything like that because when (the seniors) got here, we were just a really young team and we were a program in transition,” said Eric Rothgery, who has also coached EC’s freshman team. “I think we went three or four years in a row having just one senior.”

But after that 3-18 season, the Panthers welcomed another group of freshmen that included current juniors Emily Taylor, Ashley Schuster, Myrasia Flowers, Tory Rothgery, Anna McNeeley, Juliana Tremont and Marie Machovina.

At the start of district play, Taylor led the team in scoring with 13 points a game; Schuster was averaging a double-double, nearly 12 points and 10 rebounds; and Taylor, Flowers and Tory Rothgery were the biggest outside threats. Taylor had hit 17 3-point shots and Flowers and Rothgery had made 16 apiece.

Among the seniors, Schneider was close to a double-double average with eight points and 9.3 rebounds, Mimi Rothgery had drilled a dozen 3-pointers and Shoemaker, still recovering from a jammed thumb, was getting six-plus rebounds a game.

“A lot of the girls played CYO and AAU together, so it’s not like we didn’t know this was coming,” Eric Rothgery said. “We knew something special was down the road. It’s been a nice transition and, again, it hasn’t been a surprise.”

The coaching change two seasons ago went well, the seniors said. But it had an additional impact for the Rothgery sisters. How tough is it to play for your dad?

“Maybe it’s because I was younger, but I used to talk back to him a lot more,” Mimi said. “But I’ve gotten better. My junior year I got a lot better and this year I’m even better, because I know he’s just trying to do his best. If it was any other coach, I wouldn’t be talking back. I think having him as the coach motivates me even more, because I think he’s harder on my sister and me.”

Tonight

• Who: Elyria Catholic (20-4) vs. Regina (20-2)
• What: Division III regional semifinal
• Time: 6:15
• Where: Cuyahoga Falls High School
• Radio: WEOL 930-AM, WOBL 1320-AM
• At stake: A berth in Saturday’s final at 1:30 p.m. against either Smithville or Youngstown Ursuline.

Contact Bob Daniels at 329-7135 or basketball@bobdaniels.info.

NORWALK — For more than 10 minutes Tuesday night, Southview had a leg up on sixth-ranked Toledo Waite.

Then two things happened. The Indians slapped a full-court zone on the Saints and Natasha Howard, their 6-foot-3 post and Florida State recruit, went to work offensively. The combination produced bunches of Southview turnovers and bigger bunches of Indians points.

With a game-best 30 points from Howard and 21 more from 6-2 Shanice McNeal, Waite routed the Saints 73-34 in a Division I regional semifinal at Norwalk High School. Waite (22-2) advances to a regional final at 1 p.m. Saturday on the same court. It was the final game for Southview (16-9), which will close at the end of the school year.

“We came out and battled and I think that surprised them a little bit in the beginning,” Saints coach Scott Plzak said.

“Actually, it was like a dream when (Waite) came out in a zone and didn’t pressure us. All of a sudden, the pressure came and I was worried, because we did not take good care of the basketball.”

There were three first-period lead changes that produced a 10-9 Southview lead after eight minutes. Six of the points belonged to Shanique Ogle, the Saints’ 6-0 junior post and a Bowling Green recruit. In fact, after Ogle opened the second-quarter scoring with a 3-point basket, the Saints held a 13-9 lead.

It was their high-water mark.

After making just four turnovers in the first quarter, Southview committed 14 in the second facing full-court pressure. And while the Saints held Howard to four points and McNeal to two the first eight minutes, this pair combined for 16 second-quarter points, 10 by Howard.

Waite led 30-16 at the break and 50-27 after three quarters.

“Playing against them helped us, even though we won’t have a next year,” said Ogle, who scored 20 of her team’s 34 points. “We experienced so much during the year and for us to finish playing them, it helped us as a team. In the first half, we thought we might make it a little closer than we did, but they pushed the lead and just like that, it happened.”

It was the final high-school game for the Saints’ four seniors — Tanitra Smith, Marisol Torres, Valencia Frymier and Maria Nazario.

“I thought we did well this season,” said Frymier, who scored two points. “We worked hard at every practice and every game. ‘Go hard or go home,’ that was basically our motto. We did a lot together.”

Torres, who hit Southview’s other 3-point basket, said: “We’ve all grown as people, as individuals and ball players. The season was memorable, to represent our city is special. It’s a privilege and an honor in Southview’s last year.”

Howard, McNeal and Miriah Haynes, who finished with 12 points, were Waite’s double-figures scorers. Ogle was the only Southview player with more than five points.

Toledo Waite 73, Southview 34

Southview (34): Melody Farris 2-1-5, Tanitra Smith 0-0-0, Marisol Torres 1-0-3, Valencia Frymier 1-0-2, Danielle Montanez 2-0-4, Alicia Arnold 0-0-0, Maria Nazario 0-0-0, Shanique Ogle 8-3-20, Sanita Quinn 0-0-0, Breanna Fortney 0-0-0. Totals 14-4-34.

Toledo Waite (73): Fantasia Combs 0-0-0, Brooke Hunt 1-0-3, Jasmine Hamden 0-0-0, Kre’ana Henry 1-2-4, Courtney Jackson 1-0-3, Miriah Haynes 5-0-12, Catherine Craig 0-0-0, Tara Myers 0-0-0, Natasha Howard 12-6-30, Shanice McNeal 10-1-21, Sinffiney Watts 0-0-0. Totals 30-9-73.

Southview 10 6 11 7 – 59

Toledo Waite 9 21 20 23 – 73

3-point goals: Southview 2-6 (Ogle, Torres), Waite 4-10 (Haynes 2, Hunt, Jackson). Field goals: Southview 14-45 (31.1 percent), Waite 30-76 (39.5 percent). Free throws: Southview 4-6, Waite 9-15. Rebounds: Southview 34, Waite 54. Turnovers: Southview 36, Waite 22.

Contact Daniels at 329-7135 or basketball@bobdaniels.info.

NORWALK — The list of disappointing things Scott Plzak saw Tuesday night was long.

Plazak’s Southview team had more turnovers (35) than points (34) in its Division I regional clash with sixth-ranked Toledo Waite. The Saints shot less than 30 percent from the field, and nobody but Shanique Ogle did much scoring. The rebounding difference was 46-26 in Waite’s favor.

So which was the worst of the worst, in the Southview coach’s opinion?

“Turnovers,” Plzak said. “We did not do a good job of protecting the ball. We turned it over in ridiculous amounts.”

There were 13 of them in the second quarter, when the Saints scored only six points. Another 10 were committed in the third as Southview fell behind by 30 points with 3:37 remaining.

“When your team doesn’t have to go through a defense to score, it’s going to score lots of points,” Plzak said.
Waite scored nine baskets directly off turnovers, without even needing to set up an offense.

Despite all that, Plzak didn’t talk about turnovers with his head hung low, or through clenched teeth, or in a raised voice. He knew the team his girls faced was of a different breed.

“They’re great,” Plzak said. “I’m sure they will be going on to state. They could win the state (championship).”
Southview hung with the favored Indians for 10 minutes, holding a 13-9 lead until the roof caved in and Waite outscored the Saints 29-3 over an eight-minute stretch.

“We talked about being physical, and we were,” Plzak said about the game’s early moments. “Then their pressure just wore us down. I think fatigue set in.”

Toledo Waite coach Manny May agreed.

“There was plenty to make me unhappy,” he said. “We missed too many layups. We didn’t execute in the first quarter. We had too many turnovers. We did not start executing until the middle of the second quarter.”

Waite had its own issues with turnovers. Both teams had 18 by halftime. The Indians, however, lost possession only six times in the second half.

“Our pressure got turned up a little more,” May said. “That was what really got us going. Plus, Ogle got in foul trouble. That really hurt them.”

Plzak said Ogle’s foul problems — she picked up her second with 5:23 to go in the second period — were moot.
“She was going to be rested anyway,” Plzak said. “We needed her to be fresh.”

By the time Ogle picked up her fourth foul, with 2:36 to play, the game was out of hand.

In spite of all that went wrong, Plzak could still see the bright side.

“We’re district champs,” he said. “No one thought we’d be here. I want to thank everyone — the fans, the media, the other Lorain County coaches who were all here tonight, school board members who came here to see us. That’s important because of what happened.”

Southview is closing at the end of this school year and merging with Admiral King. Plzak, who’s ending a four-year stint as the Saints head coach, thanked the five seniors who started in the program the same year he did.

“I’ll miss them all,” he said. “They’re all going off to college next year, so that makes me proud. I grew up with them, so they’re special to me.”

Contact Steve Byrne at 329-7135 or ctsports@chroniclet.com.

When Scott Plzak learned that Tierra Whitfield, his sophomore point guard from last season, was moving to Georgia, he knew who would take her place.

Plzak just didn’t know how valuable Tanitra Smith was going to be.

“We were at a shootout in Cleveland this summer,” Plzak said. “I don’t know the team Tanitra was playing against, but she was up against a very good defensive guard. She played the whole game without any turnovers.

“I looked over at my assistant, Jamie Montague, and we both knew that things were going to be all right. We would be fine at point guard this year.

“I don’t know where we would have been without her,” Plzak said. “I don’t think we would be still playing if it weren’t for her.”

Southview (16-8) is still playing, and Smith, the only senior in the starting lineup, is a major reason.

The Saints are going to their first Division I regional tournament in seven years tonight to face No. 6 Toledo Waite at 6:15.

“I knew I was right behind (Whitfield),” said Smith, referring to her place on the team’s depth chart. “When I found out Tierra wouldn’t be back I figured coach would make me the point guard, I think because I was the best dribbler.”

Although Smith was informed she would have the job, she spent the offseason working like she was trying just to win a spot on the roster.

“Tanitra stepped up in the summer in a big way,” Plzak said. “She worked out in the weight room and she worked in the gym doing dribbling drills. She was always working. There has been a noticeable difference in her physically between this year and last year.”

“Every chance I got I went to the weight room or did dribbling with my dad,” Smith said. “I just felt I needed to get better.”

She got better. So did the team, although Smith said she didn’t expect to still be playing this far into March.
“If you would have said we were going to be district champions, I wouldn’t have believed it,” Smith said. “I am surprised, yes. It just shows you anything can happen.”

So while most eyes tonight will be on Shanique Ogle — Southview’s 6-foot All-Ohio candidate who averages 18.6 points and 12.6 rebounds a game — Waite will no doubt be working on ways to keep Tanitra Smith in check.

“Without Tanitra, Shanique doesn’t get the ball,” Plzak said. “Every team needs a good point guard. Tanitra has been a pleasant surprise. She’s an unsung hero.”

Oddly, Smith isn’t Southview’s top playmaker. All three starting guards (Smith, Danielle Montanez, Melody Farris) average more than three assists per game, with Montanez leading at 3.5 an outing. Smith is the top scorer in the backcourt at 8.8 points a game and Farris leads the Saints in steals at 4.1 per game to go with her 6.1 points.

Smith said she didn’t know a great deal about Waite. By now, of course, she and her teammates are certainly aware of Natasha Howard, the Indians’ 6-3 All-American center who averages 24 points and 11.2 rebounds a game. Waite also has double-figures scorers in 6-2 junior Shanice McNeal and senior guard Miriah Haynes.

“We need to slow them down,” Plzak said. “They will push it up the floor. They’re tall and lanky, not big and strong, so they like to run.”

Both coaches agree stopping Ogle is the key to beating Southview.

“We do like to run, so we have to stop (Ogle) from rebounding on us,” Waite coach Manny May said. “If we can keep her off the boards we will be all right.”

“Shanique needs to have a big game,” Plzak said. “It all starts with her.”

Waite has lost to only one Ohio opponent — Regina, ranked No. 2 in Division III. The Indians’ other loss came against Michigan’s Detroit Country Day School.

Tonight

• Who: Southview (16-8) vs. Toledo Waite (21-2)
• What: Division I regional semifinal
• Time: 6:15
• Where: Norwalk High School
• Radio: WEOL 930-AM, WDLW 1380-AM
• At stake: A berth in Saturday’s 1 p.m. final against either Perrysburg or Brecksville.

Contact Steve Byrne at 329-7135 or ctsports@chroniclet.com.

WELLINGTON - How sweet was it?
Sweet enough to produce the biggest victory in the history of Elyria Catholic’s girls basketball program. Sweet enough to put the Panthers in a Division III Sweet 16 for the first time.
The Panthers produced an incredible comeback in front of a full house at Wellington High School on Saturday afternoon that started with them trailing Loudonville by 13 points in the fourth quarter.
It ended with a 61-59 buzzer-beating overtime win over the top-seeded, sixth-ranked Redbirds. And it touched off a wild celebration that saw EC fans swarm onto the court when it was over. It was a game they’ll talk about for years and it produced a long list of stars.
Start with Sara Schneider, the 6-foot senior post, who became a hero twice within five seconds. When the Redbirds collared a rebound off Mimi Rothgery’s missed free throw, Schneider jumped in and got a held ball with the possession arrow pointing in EC’s direction. There were 5.7 seconds left in overtime and the score tied at 59.
On the inbounds play that followed, junior Ashley Schuster - in a crowd of defenders - couldn’t get her shot to fall. But there was Schneider for the rebound and putback that won the game. The ball went through the hoop with 1.6 seconds left - just enough time for it to hit the floor and the buzzer to sound.
The Panthers celebrated in a teary, jubilant heap on the floor in front of their bench.
“I knew that once Ashley got the ball, they all were going to collapse on her,” Schneider said of the winning inbounds play. “We always talk about getting to the back side and I just stood there. It was amazing how no one even covered me. I was almost in shock when I got the ball and I was really far under the basket. All I thought about was getting into position and putting it up.”
Senior guard Rothgery saw it the same way.
“They all collapsed on Ashley because they probably figured she was going to get it,” she said. “But Sara was wide open on the back side. Seriously, Sara for the last two plays - we wouldn’t have won the game without her.”
“A thousand different emotions went through my head,” Schuster said of her reaction to Schneider’s winner. “It was an amazing feeling when I saw it go in.”
Scoring leader Emily Taylor was held to a field goal in the first half. But she came alive at the right time - in the fourth quarter, when she scored nine of her 12 points. Her outburst included a spin drive to the basket that cut Loudonville’s lead to 52-51 with 27 seconds to play in regulation.
“This is probably the biggest day of my basketball career,” Taylor said. “I’m happier today than when I scored my 1,000th point (earlier in the season). Hillsdale kind of slowed me down in the last game, so I was trying to get back into the rhythm of my game. I’m glad I saved it until they really needed me.”
There were other heroes.
Loudonville made a foul shot for a 53-51 lead with 13 seconds to go, but Schuster scored from close range with five seconds left to send the game into overtime. Talk about clutch play. Schuster scored 14 of her 22 points in the second half, 10 in the fourth quarter and overtime.
EC fell behind 9-0 and trailed 14-8 after a quarter. But after Schuster opened the second with two foul shots, junior guard Myrasia Flowers got a hot hand and hit three long-range baskets, including a 3-pointer, to cut the deficit to 19-17.
“I’ve been working on my shot all week and I felt pretty confident,” Flowers said. “I tried to take this like any other game so I wouldn’t make myself nervous.”
Junior guard Tory Rothgery, who hit a key 3-point shot in the third quarter, drilled back-to-back threes in the fourth with the Panthers down by 10 points. Even so, EC trailed 44-32 after three quarters and 45-32 after a Loudonville foul shot in the first minute of the fourth.
And in the category of unsung heroes, junior Anna McNeeley came off the bench in several key defensive situations and didn’t allow a point.
“I’m so happy for these girls,” Panthers coach Eric Rothgery said. “I say this all the time, but I have three seniors (Schneider, Katie Shoemaker and Mimi Rothgery) who played on a 3-18 team when they were freshmen. They know what it’s like to be on the wrong end and they’ve worked their butts off over the years.”
The Panthers’ reward is a date with second-ranked Regina in the Cuyahoga Falls regional at 6:15 p.m. Wednesday. Regina, which defeated EC in the Wellington district final last year, drilled Gilmour Academy 63-41 on Saturday to win the Ashtabula district crown.
Contact Daniels at 329-7135 or basketball@bobdaniels.info.