ST. MARYS, Pa. – Coudersport outscored Ridgway by two in the second overtime to pull out a 60-58 double-overtime victory over the Elkers Wednesday night at St. Marys High School.
Ridgway, which led by double digits in the third quarter, got a Mitchell Stark 3-pointer at the buzzer at the end of the first overtime to force the second extra session tied at 53.
But in the second overtime, with the game tied at 56, three free throws by the Falcons helped push the lead to 59-56, an Ridgway was never able to get the contest tied again.
Coudersport,which is in the D9 title game for the first time since winning the 2008 championship, trailed the Elkers, who were looking for their fourth finals appearance in five years, 35-24 midway through the third quarter and were still down eight, 35-27, going to the fourth quarter.
But fourth-quarter 3-pointers by Aaron Wolfinger, who scored six points in the quarter, and Owen Chambers helped fuel a 19-7 run that gave the Falcons a 46-42 lead on a Darren Keglovits old-school 3-point play with 2:10 left in regulation.
But Coudersport scored five of the next six points to tie the game at 47, and the Elkers had the ball when they called timeout with 14.3 seconds left. A final shot, though, was off the mark sending the game to overtime.
In the first overtime Coudersport grabbed leads of 51-48 and 53-50 before Stark came up with the clutch three to force a second extra session.
But playing without its top two scores, Jeremy Breier and Andy Breier who both fouled out, in the second overtime was too much for Ridgway to overcome.
Darren Keglovits led Coudersport with a game-high 23 points. Wolfinger added 14 with Chambers and Jared Green each scoring 10.
Neil MacDonald led Ridgway with 16 points before fouling out late in the second overtime. Stark added 12 with Jeremy Breier chipping in 11.
Coudersport will face Elk County Catholic in the title game Saturday at Clarion University’s Tippin Gym. A game time has yet to be announced.
Meanwhile, Ridgway will take on Union in the consolation game, which will be played at 12:30 p.m. Saturday also at Tippin Gym.
COUDERSPORT 60, RIDGWAY 58, 2 OVERTIMES
Score by Quarters
Coudersport 14 6 7 20 6 7 – 60
Ridgway 15 13 7 12 6 5 – 58
COUDERSPORT – 60
Aaron Wolfinger 4 4-7 14, Owen Chambers 3 1-2 10, David Rigas 0 0-0 0, Derek Keglovits 1 1-2 3, Jared Green 3 4-8 10, Darren Keglovits 6 10-11 23. Totals 17 20-30 60.
RIDGWAY – 58
Jeremy Breier 4 3-3 11, Mitchell Stark 3 3-4 12, Corey Oknefski 0 0-0 0, Justin Kasmierski 3 0-0 6, Ben Ames 0 0-0 0, Aaron Shilk 2 0-0 5, Johnny Mitchell 0 1-2 1, Neil MacDonald 7 2-8 16, Andy Breier 2 3-4 7, Totals 21 12-21 58.
THREE-POINTERS – Coudersport 6 (Chambers 3, Wolfinger 2, Da. Keglovits). Ridgway 4 (Stark 3, Shilk).
