CLARION, Pa. – North Clarion makes the trek down Route 66 to take on Clarion in a KSAC crossover girls’ basketball game Friday night, and EYT Media/D9Sports.com has all the action covered on Laurel Eye Clinic High School Basketball.
(Photo: A pair of 1,000-point scorers lead their teams into action Friday. Clarion’s Kait Constantino (left) guarding North Clarion’s Abby Gatesman Dec. 27 in Kane. Photo by Kim Constantino)
Tip-off is set for approximately 6 p.m. with no junior varsity game being contested. The Kerle Tire Pregame Show from Clarion High School will start at 5:35 p.m.
Mike Kalinowski and Bob “The Governor” Dunkle will have the call of the game with Chris Rossetti also handling the pre- and post-game interviews.
Rossetti will then be joined by Jess Quinn for another edition of The Coach and The Scribe powered by the Rehab Centre with six locations serving you including in Clarion, Brookville and Kittanning. The Rehab Centre, chiropractors caring for health.
North Clarion enters the game as the lone unbeaten girls’ team in District 9 at a perfect 12-0. The She-Wolves are coming off a 57-41 win over Moniteau Wednesday in a game that saw senior Abby Gatesman score her 1,000th career point.
Clarion is 8-5 on the season. The Lady Cats had five-game win streak snapped Wednesday night at Union in a 51-46 loss.
This is the second meeting of the season between these teams as they met in the opening round of the Kane Christmas Tournament with North Clarion coming away with a 49-36 win Dec. 27. That was Clarion’s last loss before Wednesday.
North Clarion, which has won three District 9 Class 1A titles in a row, is a well-balanced team led by three players scoring in double digits.
Gatesman leads the way averaging 14.4 ppg followed by Mackenzie Bauer at 10.4 ppg and Haley Sherman had 10.3 ppg. Gabby Schmader (7.2 ppg) and Trinity Thompson (4.5 ppg) round out the starting five for the She-Wolves.
Clarion is paced by the KSAC’s second-leading scorer in Kait Constantino.
Constantino, who reached 1,000 career points herself last week, is averaging 20.9 ppg. She is joined in double digits by sophomore Jordan Best (10.4 ppg) while another sophomore, Payton Simko, is adding 6.1 ppg. KK Girvin chips in 5.6 ppg.
In the first meeting between these teams, Gatesman scored 11 points, Schmader 10 and Bauer and Sherman nine each to lead a balanced North Clarion offensive effort, while Constantino had 20 and Simko seven for Clarion in that game. The Lady Cats were without KK Girvin the December game at Kane.
The following local sponsors have signed on to make this year’s Laurel Eye Clinic Games of the Week possible all season long:
