D9Sports.com Presents the AML Highlight Game of the Week
(Photo of Johnsonburg’s Austin Green (left) and Kane’s Chad Greville (right))
Who: Kane at Johnsonburg Boys
When: Monday, Feb. 10, 2020 (7:30 p.m. approximate tip-off)
Listen Live: On the WDDH, The Hound, 97.5 FM (Click here to Listen – Airtime approximately 7:15 p.m.)
About the Game
An AML playoff spot is on the line in this contest. If Johnsonburg wins, the Rams will finish second in the AML North and secure one of the two playoff spots awarded to the AML North – Elk County Catholic has the other one as the league champion. But if Kane beats Johnsonburg, the AML tiebreaker would need to be used with both teams at 7-3 in league play having split their regular-season meetings (Johnsonburg won 57-48 in Kane Dec. 17). According to research done by Bob Parana of the Ridgway Record, the next tiebreaker is the divisional record, and both teams would have the same 3-3 mark sending it to the third tiebreaker, which is the overall record of each team. That wouldn’t be determined until next week, as both squads have a game left to play. A Kane win Monday would give the Wolves a 14-7 mark while a Johnsonburg loss would leave the Rams also at 14-7. If Kane wins at Cranberry Tuesday and Johnsonburg loses to Brookville Tuesday, then Kane would finish in second place in the AML North and gain the playoff spot. But if Johnsonburg beats Brookville and Kane loses to Cranberry, then Johnsonburg would finish in second place and gain the playoff spot. If both teams would win next week or both would lose, then the next tiebreaker will be needed, which is the winning percentage of all teams played. According to Parana, both teams will have played ECC, Sheffield, Ridgway, Brockway, DuBois Central Catholic and Curwensville in league play. They’ve also both played Bradford, Port Allegany and Smethport, so all those records are a wash. The Rams and Wolves have played six different opponents which will impact the overall winning percentages. Here’s a breakdown of those opponents with their current records and game(s) left that would count towards the tiebreaker (Note some teams will have more games left than what will count for the tiebreaker because the AML needs to determine its playoff participants by Wednesday at the latest). Johnsonburg: DuBois (17-2; at West Shamokin Monday), Coudersport (17-3), Brookville (11-7; hosts Johnsonburg Tuesday), Marion Center (8-14; None), Punxsutawney (6-12; hosts Clearfield Monday, at Homer-Center Tuesday), St. Marys (5-15; hosts Tyrone Monday). Currently, those teams have Overall 64-53 .547. Kane: Cameron County (15-4; hosts DCC Monday), Youngsville (16-5; hosts Eisenhower Tuesday), Clarion (12-8; hosts Brockway Monday), Otto-Eldred (11-8; A makeup game with Smethport is TBA), Cranberry (7-13; hosts Kane Tuesday), Eisenhower (6-13; at Youngsville Tuesday). Overall 67-51 .568. So, plenty of results could still affect the tiebreaker. If, after all that, the teams are still tied then a coin flip would be used.
About Johnsonburg
The Rams enter the game 14-6 overall and 7-2 in the AML North currently holding that one-game lead on Kane. They have won four in a row and 10 of their last 12 with the only losses coming to St. Marys, 40-38, and Elk County Catholic, 50-32, in a game they led at halftime. Johnsonburg is coming off a 44-30 win at Brockway Wednesday.
Austin Green (15.5 ppg) is the leading scorer for Johnsonburg and is a 1,000-point career scorer with 1,156 career tallies. Gabe Watts adds 11.8 ppg for the Rams, who average 50.8 ppg. In the December meeting with Kane, Green scored 22 points, Watts added 13 points and Cameron Steele (6.8 ppg) had 10. Green is coming off a 16-point performance at Brockway while Watts scored 10 points in the win.
After playing the Wolves Monday, Johnsonburg, which is headed to the District 9 Class 1A playoffs, is at Brookville Tuesday to close out the regular season in a game that was set for Monday but got moved when the Kane game was postponed Friday to Monday.
About Kane
The Wolves enter the contest at 13-7 overall and 6-3 in the AML North in third place a game back of Johnsonburg. They have won nine of their last 12 games with the only losses being to Bradford, 78-67, ECC, 60-52, and Cameron County, 47-39. Kane is coming off a 45-41 win at Smethport Monday.
Chad Greville leads the way for Kane averaging 17.7 ppg. Greville is also a 1,000-point career scorer at 1,272 career points. Mason Zuzek adds 8.7 ppg, Zuke Smith 8.3 ppg and Carson Whiteman 7.5 ppg. Greville scored 26 in the December loss to Johnsonburg with Zuzek adding 11. Whiteman had a career-high 19 points in the win over Smethport Monday. It was his first double-digit contest since scoring 11 vs. DCC Jan. 10 and exceeded his combined total from his previous three games. Greville added 12 in the win but has been held to just 23 points in his last two contests.
Kane, which is in the hunt for the top seed in what should be a three-team Class 3A playoff field, closes out the regular season at Cranberry Tuesday.
