ELYRIA – Calm and focused, Elyria Catholic’s Spencer Roule hit both ends of a one-and-one free-throw situation with 19 seconds left in the game Friday to clinch an exciting 48-45 North Coast League win over Padua on Parents/Senior Night at the Coliseum.

You would never have guessed as the ball swished through the nets that just minutes before Roule was rolling around the court in pain after a scramble for a loose ball with 6:51 left. His injury caused a delay of four minutes in the game and seemed, at the time, to cut short his final home game as a Panther.

In the scramble, Roule, a 6-foot-5 senior, reinjured his hip, which he first hurt during practice a few weeks ago.

Minutes later, Roule re-entered the game. He showed no signs of pain when he sank a layup with 44 seconds to go to put the Panthers ahead 46-41.

The Bruins then made two free throws – they were 11-of-11 for the game – with 30 seconds left before Roule put in the clinching free throws.

He felt determination and focus as he told himself, “Just make ‘em.”

“It’s fantastic for our seniors to win this game,” he said. “We played well tonight, both on offense and defense. We made good shots.”

Elyria Catholic was 5-7 in 3-pointers, which Roule said was “beyond a doubt” the team’s best night from long range.

The Panthers (4-15, 3-9 NCL) hit 47 percent (19-40) from the field and also had only 11 turnovers.

Seniors Joe Januzzi, Nick Ksenich, Connor Voreis, Adam Kirsch and Roule all contributed.

“I was so proud of them,” EC coach Alan Januzzi said. “Our senior kids really came through. Connor really stepped up in the third quarter.”

Voreis scored all 10 of his points in the quarter.

“Hopefully these two recent wins (EC beat Trinity 43-31 on Feb. 2) will give us some confidence going into the tournaments,” Januzzi said.

After a fast start, the Bruins (3-15, 1-10)  finished just 6-of-18 in 3-pointers.

Clay Jerge’s corner jumper put the Panthers up 11-9 and they led most of the rest of the game by a narrow margin.

The only negatives for the Panthers were being outrebounded 33-31 and sinking just five of 11 free throws.

Of course, two of those free throws happened to seal the win.

Contact Jerry Rombach at 329-7135 or ctsports@chroniclet.com.

EC 48, Padua 45

PADUA (45): Kyle Tomko 2-6-11, Jeff Suchan 4-0-10, Matt Milliken 2-2-8, Nico Sidari 3-0-7, Wes Williams 3-1-7, Tyler Ptacek 0-2-2, Ryan Trapp 0-0-0. Totals 14-11-45.

ELYRIA CATHOLIC (48): Spencer Roule 2- 2-6, Nick Ksenich 4-2-12, Connor Voreis 5-0-10, Joe Januzzi 3-0-9, Sergio Montanez 3-1-7, Clay Jerge 1-0-2, Adam Kirsch 1-0-2. Totals 19-5-48.

Padua                9 14 14   8 – 45
EC                     11 13 13 11 – 48

Three-point goals: Padua 6-18 (Milliken 2, Suchan 2, Tomko, Sidari), EC 5-7 (Januzzi 3, Ksenich 2); Field goals: Padua 14-49 (28 percent), EC 19-40 (47 percent); Free throws: Padua 11-11, EC 5-11; Rebounds: Padua 33 (Williams 13), EC 31 (Roule, Ksenich, Voreis 5); Turnovers: Padua 9, EC 11.
Junior varsity: Elyria Catholic, 43-42.

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