DISTRICT 9 SETS PLAYOFF FIELD

It is the 20^th year for the District 9 playoffs, which started in 1987 with just four teams in two divisions.

This year’s field has 14 teams competing in three divisions (Class A, Class AA and Class AAA) with the Class A field being the largest with eight teams and Class AAA being the smallest with two teams.

Top seeds in the tournaments are Coudersport (10-0) in Class A, Brookville (9-1) in Class AA and Bradford (7-2) in Class AAA.

The Class A tournament starts Friday and Saturday, while the Class AA tournament takes a week off before starting Nov. 17 and 18. In Class AAA, only a championship game is needed and it will be played at 7 p.m. Nov. 17 at Clarion University’s Memorial Stadium with Clearfield (7-3) providing Bradford with an opponent.

In Class A, five of the eight teams are from the AML while the KSAC is represented by three teams. Under new rules this year, the AML was guaranteed four spots while the KSAC was guaranteed two selections. The remaining two teams were wild cards that could have come from either conference.

The Class AA and Class AAA tournament were open tournaments meaning any of the District’s teams in those classifications could enter if they chose.

In Class A and Class AA seeding was determined first by winning percentage, while in Class AAA it was determined by winning percentage in District 9 League games followed by head-to-head competition.

While Coudersport gained the top seed in Class A, the Falcons had the second easiest road to the postseason playing teams that had a combined record of 36-49 (42.4 percent).

Second seeded Redbank Valley (7-3) had the third hardest schedule (52-46, 53.1 percent) with its three loses coming against teams that combined to go 26-4.

The toughest schedule of the Class A playoff teams belonged to Johnsonburg (7-2), whose opponents won 57.5 percent of their games this year (50-37). The Rams two loses came to Coudersport and Curwensville who are a combined 18-2.

Eighth seeded Clarion (5-5) had the second toughest schedule (53-45, 54.1 percent) and it was a top heavy schedule that saw three of the Bobcats loses come to teams – Karns City, Brookville and Southern Columbia – who are a combined 28-2. Two of those teams – Karns City and Brookville – are Class AA schools, while Southern Columbia is the 4-time defending PIAA Class A champion.

Third seeded Curwensville (8-2) had the fourth toughest schedule (44-41, 51.8 percent) and the Tides only two loses came to Coudersport. Curwensville is the No. 3 seed instead of Redbank Valley because the KSAC was guaranteed one of the top two spots.

Fifth seeded Cameron County (6-3) had the sixth hardest schedule among the playoff teams (43-43, 50.0 percent), while sixth seeded Ridgway (6-3) had the easiest schedule (36-50, 41.9).