HYDE, Pa. – Elk County Catholic and Cameron County are headed to the District 9 Class 1A basketball semifinals.
ECC beat A-C Valley 46-16 and Cameron County beat Clarion-Limestone, 47-46, in the semifinal Wednesday night at C-L.
CAMERON COUNTY 47, CLARION-LIMESTONE 46
HYDE, Pa. – Caden Beldin’s 3-pointer with under six seconds to play gave third-seeded Cameron County a 47-46 victory over second-seeded Clarion-Limestone District 9 Class 1A boys’ semifinals at Clearfield High School Wednesday night.
“Honestly, we just wanted to tie the game up,” Beldin said. “We weren’t even looking for a three. But he passed it to me, and I was wide open and I had a big shot. You may as well go big or go home.”
Cameron County head coach Mark Guido said the Beldin three wasn’t by design.
Relisten to the game:
“It wasn’t an option,” Guido said of the play that set up the winning shot. “We went a 1-4 low, and we were looking for Dino to create something but Caiden just relocated on his own and it doesn’t get more fairytale than that.”
The Lions got one more chance with 5.6 seconds left.
However, Deon Deas couldn’t get past the pressure from Cameron County’s defense, which caused a loose ball tie up at halfcourt as time expired.
Smart coaching was the key to the tie-up as the Red Raiders had a foul to give before the 1-and-1.
“We were looking for a foul,” Guido said. “You never know. You could foul someone, and the official doesn’t have a good angle and next thing you know it could be a loose ball.”
Cameron County trailed the entire game and found itself down 46-41 with 1:57 left to play, but finished the game on a 6-0 run behind three points from Dino Brown and the 3-pointer by Beldin.
Following a Dino Brown free throw with 25 seconds left, a crucial turnover by the Lions after the inbounds gave the Red Raiders a chance with 23 seconds left.
Clarion-Limestone called a time out after the ball went out of bounds with 13 seconds left.
“(Coach) was saying stay focused,” Beldin said. “We can’t get our heads over ourselves. If we have an opportunity, we have to seize the moment.”
Watch Beldin’s full postgame interview
After the inbound from the sideline, Brown drove down the middle before finding Beldin on the wing who got a clean shot off for the eventual game-winning 3-pointer.
Clarion-Limestone led 39-38 with 3:55 left to play and looked like it was going to pull away behind a strong effort from Hayden Callen, who scored six of his 16 points in the fourth quarter.
Callen was a part of a 6-2 run late in the fourth to extend the Lions lead to 46-41 when he had four points and an assist on Jordan Hesdon’s field goal with under two minutes to play.
But the Red Raiders defense stepped up forcing the turnover that led to the game-winning play while also holding Deas, who had 15 points and three 3-pointers, pointless in the final eight minutes.
Clarion-Limestone kept a steady lead of five leading 14-9 at the end of one and 23-18 at halftime.
The Lions started the third quarter with a 7-2 run and extended their lead to 30-20 after a Deas 3-pointer with 6:21 left.
Cameron County kept chipping away at the lead and cut the deficit to 30-29 following a two minute, 9-0 run thanks to five points from Brown, a pair of free-throws from Beldin and a field goal from Hayden Brown.
“At first we were flustered,” Beldin said. “We couldn’t find anything to do. They were getting offensive rebounds. That was a majority of their points. (At halftime) that was our focal point. We talked about trying to box out and play hard defense like we have been all season.”
But turnovers saw another 6-0 run from the Lions fueled by five points from Deas and the Lions were up 37-29.
Hayden Brown scored six straight points (a field goal as time expired in the third, a field goal and a pair of free throws early in the fourth) to cut the deficit to 39-38.
The Lions did a nice job at responding again and went on a 5-2 run behind a Mitch Knepp free-throw and four points from Callen.
“It was frustrating,” Guido said. “But that’s the thing if I get frustrated with them and don’t show composure how can I expect them to show composure.”
From there, the Red Raiders closed the game out with a 9-4 run in the final three minutes.
Dino Brown finished with a game-high 20 points including four 3-pointers while Hayden Brown tallied 14.
Cameron County will face top-seeded Elk County Catholic (who defeated fifth-seeded A-C Valley, 46-16, in the Class 1A semifinals) in the District 9 Class 1A title game.
Cameron County postseason information is brought you by: Team Minard • Potter County Family Campground • Close’s Lumber Company
Clarion-Limestone postseason information is brought to you by: Delta Contracting & Design/Ace Concrete & Excavating • Burford & Henry Real Estate Services • Tin Town Metal Works • State Representative Donna Oberlander (Paid for by Friends of Donna Oberlander) • Hunter Station Golf Club and Restaurant
ELK COUNTY CATHOLIC 46, A-C VALLEY 16
HYDE, Pa. – Using a strong defensive effort, top-seeded and defending champion Elk County Catholic held fifth-seeded A-C Valley to six points in the second half and cruised to 46-16 victory in the District 9 Class 1A boys’ semifinals at Clearfield High School Wednesday night.
Relisten to the game:
Will Uberti played a huge part in the Crusaders defense, as he was tasked with covering A-C Valley’s leading scorer Levi Orton (23.1 PPG). Orton managed three points in the game with only one field goal and a free-throw.
“We planned our whole game plan around him defensively,” Uberti said on covering Orton. “I was told to front him and we’d had help behind so my teammates did a great job of helping behind on him.”
Watch Uberti’s postgame interview (in two parts)
“Levi is an outstanding player,” ECC head coach Aaron Straub said. “We did a really nice job defensively on him. I thought Will Uberti and Isaac Wortman both did a really great job on covering him.”
Offensively, Regis Wortman led the way for the Crusaders with 15 points including a 3-pointer.
“Regis is a really important player for us,” Straub said. “He’s one of the best players in the district. He does so many things that go unnoticed. He runs the floor well and really an unsung type of guy.”
ECC and A-C Valley exchanged scoring chances early in the first quarter before the Crusaders ended the first on a 9-0 run to break the 4-4 tie.
Eddie Stravenus scored four of his six points in the first half for the Falcons, but it wasn’t enough as the Crusaders outscored them, 12-6, thanks to five points from Wortman and two apiece from Leo Gregory, Carter Lindemuth and Mark Kraus.
A 25-10 halftime lead turned into a 35-12 lead at the end of three as the Crusaders defense allowed only one field goal from Broc Weigle.
Orton was able to salvage a free-throw in the fourth quarter for the Falcons but the Crusaders responded with an 11-0 run behind five points from Charlie Breindel.
Weigle hit a three-pointer with a minute left to close out the scoring for the Falcons.
Kraus finished the game seven points, including a 3-pointer for the Crusaders while Gregory, Isaac Wortman and Linemuth each netted four apiece.
“We’ve preached team all year,” Uberti said. “All of our players can come in and play and that’s really how we wear down each team.”
ECC will face sixth-seeded Cameron County (who defeated third-seeded Clarion-Limestone, 47-46 in the Class 1A semifinals) in the District 9 Class 1A Championship game.
“It feels great,” Uberti said. “We’ll have a great opportunity to get the job done.”
A-C Valley postseason information is brought to you by: Levi’s Lawncare (814-758-0878) • The A-C Valley Booster Club • Delta Contracting & Design/Ace Concrete & Excavating • Burford & Henry Real Estate Services • Tin Town Metal Works • State Representative Donna Oberlander (Paid for by Friends of Donna Oberlander) • Hunter Station Golf Club and Restaurant
Full coverage of District 9 teams in the basketball postseason can be found here.
D9Sports.com’s District 9/PIAA basketball playoff coverage Powered by Lezzer Lumber is brought to you by:
Lezzer Lumber • Delta Contracting & Design/Ace Concrete & Excavating • Team Minard • Fran Morelli Sales & Service • Burford & Henry Real Estate Services • Potter County Family Campground • Close’s Lumber Company • Tin Town Metal Works • State Representative Donna Oberlander (Paid for by Friends of Donna Oberlander) • 120 Pub and Grub in Clearfield • Campbell Bus Lines • Hunter Station Golf Club and Restaurant
CAMERON COUNTY 47, CLARION-LIMESTONE 46
Score by Quarter
Cameron County 9 9 16 13 – 47
Clarion-Limestone 14 9 14 9 – 46
Cameron County – 47
D. Brown 2 4-6 20, Guisto 0 0-0 0, Swartz 0 0-0 3, Beldin 2 3-6 10, Good 0 0-0 0, H. Brown 6 2-2 14. Totals 10 9-14 47.
Clarion-Limestone – 46
Deas 3 0-0 15, Knepp 1 1-2 3, Hesdon 3 0-0 6, Goheen 1 0-0 2, Callen 6 4-4 16, Park 0 0-0 0, Rankin 1 0-0 2, Huwar 1 0-0 2. Totals 10 5-6 46.
Three-pointers:Cameron County 6 (D. Brown 4, Swartz 1, Beldin 1), Clarion-Limestone 3 (Deas 3).
ELK COUNTY CATHOLIC 46, A-C VALLEY 16
Score by Quarters
ECC 13 12 10 11 – 46
A-C Valley 4 6 2 4 – 16
ECC – 46
I. Wortman 2 0-0 4, Wolfe 0 0-0 0, Lindemuth 2 0-0 4, DePrator 0 0-0 0, Jansen 1 0-0 2, Hoffman 0 2-2 2, Uberti 0 0-0 0 R. Wortman 6 0-0 15, McAllister 1 1-2 3, Gregory 1 2-2 4, Kraus 2 0-0 7, Incrominias 0 0-0 0, Breindel 1 0-0 5. Totals 16 5-6 46.
A-C Valley – 16
Orton 1 1-2 3, Stevanus 3 0-2 6, Penny 0 0-0 0, Weigle 1 0-0 5, Dehart 0 0-0 0, Merwin 0 0-0 0, Carr 1 0-0 2. Totals 6 1-4 16.
Three-pointers: ECC 3 (R. Wortman 1, Kraus 1, Breindel 1), A-C Valley 1 (Weigle 1)
