by The Elyria Catholic Panthers, who are the reigning Great Lakes Conference champions, continued their dominance over conference opponents with a 61-55 win over the Rocky River Pirates. This GLC Tournament semi-final game was dominated by two girls all night long, Carter McCray of Elyria Catholic, and Ava Patti of Rocky River. They traded buckets throughout and both ended up with 30 plus points.
McCray went to work right from the start of the game, scoring 7 points in the first quarter and going 5 for 5 from the free throw line. Her scoring helped the Panthers hold a 15-10 lead after the first quarter. In the second quarter the Panthers offense came out on fire, going on a 10-0 run to stretch their lead all the way to 15 points.
The Pirates then responded with a run of their own, as Ava Patti scored 7 straight points to cut the deficit to 8. Patti and Carter McCray then traded buckets throughout the rest of the quarter. At the half Elyria Catholic held a 32-23 lead, with McCray having 16 points and Patti having 11 for Rocky River.
Ava Patti then had a 3rd quarter for the ages. She started it off by scoring 6 straight and getting the Pirates within 4. A technical foul on Pirates head coach Jamey Phafl and a 3 pointer from Camara Ogletree quickly put the Panthers back up by 7. But Ava Patti was not done yet, as she would score 14 points in the quarter and continue to keep the Pirates in the game. She scored every single point that the Pirates scored in the 3rd quarter, meanwhile Carter McCray helped the Panthers stay in front with 9 points of her own.
It was a 40-37 game with about a minute left in the quarter, but then it looked disaster struck the Pirates, as Patti went down with what looked to be an ankle injury. The Panthers ended the 3rd with a 44-37 lead. Early in the 4th Ava Patti would check back in for the Pirates, however the Panthers lead was only growing. Patti continued to rack up points, scoring 8 in the 4th. It would not be enough however, as the Panthers would pull it out in the end by a score of 61-55.
Carter McCray finished with 31 points and Ava Patti finished with 33. The Panthers also had Isabelle Niederst finish with 13 points and Camara Ogletree with 11 points. Elyria Catholic coach Eric Rothgery said that the battle that happened between McCray and Patti is “what high school basketball is all about, that’s what is fun, that’s why people come to the games. It’s fun to watch that kind of stuff”
