WELLINGTON — Hillsdale’s girls figured they had to stifle Elyria Catholic’s Emily Taylor if they had a chance in their Division III district semifinal Thursday night.

By Taylor and EC standards, the Falcons enjoyed a modicum of success. With double teams and a box-and-one zone, they held the Panthers’ leading scorer to seven points.

But with so much attention focused on Taylor, they couldn’t handle everyone else. The inevitable result was the Panthers’ 49-28 runaway victory. EC (19-4) is just one win away from its first girls basketball district championship.

“This means everything,” said Sara Schneider, the Panthers’ 6-foot senior post, who was also celebrating her 18th birthday. “We’ve been preparing for this game for a week now and the way we executed everything was just amazing. They double-teamed Emily and this just shows that everyone on our team can play.”

In its quest for a regional bid, EC faces a significant obstacle in sixth-ranked, top-seeded Loudonville (22-1). The 1-2 seeds meet at 1 p.m. Saturday for a berth in the Cuyahoga Falls regional next week. The Redbirds held off Columbia in Thursday’s nightcap at Wellington High School.

Tory Rothgery, EC’s 5-4 junior guard, sent Hillsdale a strong message when she buried two of her first three 3-point shots and the Panthers took a 10-3 lead after eight minutes.

“I saw early that they were pretty concentrated on Emily,” Rothgery said. “So I knew I’d get some open shots and that I just had to take them.”

With Ashley Schuster, a 5-11 junior post, erupting for 11 of her game-high 21 points in the second quarter, the Panthers opened a 25-12 lead at the break. Schuster, with strong moves to the basket, scored six more in the third quarter and EC had put the game out of reach, 33-19, going into the fourth.

“I’m so happy we can move on to the district finals,” Schuster said. “Every game, we’ve been trying to get the ball down low. We know if we can get it low, that will give us a chance to take it up or get it back out to one of our 3-point shooters or give us an ‘and one,’ which I had a couple of.”

Schuster, in fact, had chances for three basket-and-foul-shot three-point chances and converted them all.

EC also turned in a strong defensive job, limiting the Falcons (16-6) to barely 18 percent field-goal shooting and winning the backboards 37-29. Hillsdale made just one of a dozen 3-point shots.

Speaking of defense, Taylor said that, with the exception of perhaps three possessions, she hasn’t faced a double team this season.

“Actually, that’s the first time all year anybody has even double-teamed me,” she said. “I think one other team played a box-and-one on me, but nothing to this extent. Our team really came through. I think the other team was thinking like this team’s only me, and we proved to them we’re not.”

Panthers coach Eric Rothgery said his team executed the game plan.

“The girls executed it well,” he said. “They listened. We not only have some good basketball players, we have some players who listen and that makes it fun. I felt like it was a good game overall. We moved the ball well and we played good defense.”

Schuster was the only Panther to score in double figures, but Myrasia Flowers added eight points to go with Taylor’s seven and Rothgery finished with six. Hillsdale’s Brittany Funk scored a team-high nine points.

“Elyria Catholic came out and played a great game,” said Hillsdale coach Doug Shonk. “They shut us down inside, which is our strength. We couldn’t get anything going inside and couldn’t hit any shots outside to loosen up their defense.”

Elyria Catholic 49, Hillsdale 28

Hillsdale (28): Courtney Gallagher 1-1-3, Ashlee Cutlip 0-0-0, Jenn Moore 2-1-6, Tiffany Willis 0-0-0, Kelsey Dropsey 0-2-2, Tara Moffet 1-0-2, Sarah Bookman 0-0-0, Brittany Funk 2-5-9, Kim Habegger 3-0-6. Totals 9-9-28.

Elyria Catholic (49): Marisa Ternes 0-0-0, Myrasia Flowers 4-0-8, Mimi Rothgery 0-0-0, Emily Taylor 3-1-7, Brittany McNamara 0-0-0, Danielle LoParo 0-0-0, Karissa McGrath 1-0-2, Tory Rothgery 2-0-6, Anna McNeeley 0-0-0, Juliana Tremont 0-1-1, Katie Shoemaker 1-2-4, Ashley Schuster 8-5-21, Brigid Griffin 0-0-0, Sara Schneider 0-0-0. Totals 19-9-49.

Hillsdale 3 9 7 9 — 28

Elyria Catholic 10 15 8 16 — 49

Three-point goals: Hillsdale 1-12 (Moore); Elyria Catholic 2-9 (T. Rothgery 2). Field goals: Hillsdale 9-49 (18.4 percent); Elyria Catholic 19-48 (39.6 percent). Free throws: Hillsdale 9-14; Elyria Catholic 9-12. Rebounds: Hillsdale 29; Elyria Catholic 37. Turnovers: Hillsdale 10; Elyria Catholic 10.

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

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