Clutch Collin: Schmader’s Turnaround Jumper in Closing Seconds Sends North Clarion to KSAC Title Game

CLARION, Pa. (EYT/D9) — Collin Schmader likes his space.

He’s certainly good at creating it for himself.

With an uncanny ability to shoot turnaround jumpers and fade-aways, the North Clarion guard is a nightmare for opponents to contend with.

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He proved that Friday night against Karns City in the Keystone Shortway Athletic Conference semifinals at Clarion University.

Schmader’s turnaround jumper with a little more than 10 seconds was the game-winner as the advanced to the KSAC final with a 48-47 win over the Gremlins.

Karns City had two chances to win in the final eight seconds, but a wild shot by Taite Beighley banked hard off the backboard and out of bounds with 1.3 seconds remaining.

North Clarion’s inbound pass, though, went awry, giving the Gremlins the ball back with 1.3 seconds remaining.

Beighley had a good look at the buzzer, but his shot hit the rim short as the Wolves launched in celebration.

“We need to be better in end-of-game situations,” said Karns City coach Zach Kepple. “The possession we had with about eight seconds left was not executed how we drew it up in the timeout.”

It’ll be a North Clarion vs. Redbank Valley doubleheader on championship Saturday — the Wolves play the Bulldogs in the girls final at 6 p.m. followed by the two schools playing for a boys crown at 8 p.m. at Tippin Gymnasium.

Schmader said he longed for the ball in his hands at the end of the game.

“I love playing basketball,” Schmader said. “I’ve played from a young age. I played YMCA ball and then I joined Rising Stars (AAU team), and it just all came together for me.”

(Collin Schmader was named Hager Paving Incorporated Player of the Game)

Schmader is one in a long line of kin who have starred on the court at North Clarion. A basketball is the family crest.

He seemingly always has a basketball in his hands or tucked under his arm. It shows with his ability to drive around foes or shoot over them.

“The stuff he shows on the court is probably the least impressive thing about him,” said North Clarion coach Ewing Moussa. “He’s the last one to leave the gym after practice. He works out with all the JV guys. He works with their shot. He’s like a coach on the floor. He’s a true leader and the other guys feed off of him.

“When Collin’s going, we follow.”

Schmader was going all game. He poured in 28 against Karns City to help send North Clarion to its first KSAC championship game in more than a decade.

“It means so much to us,” Schmader said. “I knew we weren’t going home at the end.”

North Clarion led 28-22 at the half and maintained its advantage until Karns City got hot at the start of the fourth quarter.

A thunderous dunk by Micah Rupp gave the Gremlins a 38-37 lead and North Clarion trailed until Schmader’s game-winner.

Karns City led by as many as four late in the game and by three with as little as 1:09 on the clock.

Moussa called a couple of strategic timeouts to calm his team.

“All coach. All the way,” Schmader said. “He does that every game. He tells us to stay calm and stay in control. He said, ’This is your game, boys. Just stay calm and relaxed and you win.’”

Moussa said the whole team can be an emotional group — even the coaches.

“We wear our emotions on our sleeve,” Moussa said. “Sometimes we need to call those timeouts, not just for them, but for everyone. For me, too, to collect our collective breath and then go back to work.”

Beighley finished with a team-high 20 points for Karns City (18-5).

Cole Sherwin also hit two big 3-pointers in the fourth quarter and finished with 11 for the Gremlins.

“Taite made it a priority to attack the zone in the second half and facilitated the offense really well,” Kepple said. “He does a good job of creating shots for himself and others around the hoop. Sherwin knocked down a couple and Taite knocked down a couple of big sots around the perimeter.”

Karns City, though, struggled to get the ball inside.

North Clarion’s grittiness had a lot to do with that.
“Eyes don’t lie — we are one of the most undersized teams you’re going to find,” Moussa said, smiling. “It’s hard to find a team smaller than us. That’s a testament to our guys.”

North Clarion (15-8) has had to overcome a great deal to get to the title game, including the loss of starter Tristian Sliker to a neck injury several weeks ago.

“Our word is resilience,” Moussa said. “We talk about it every day with our guys. We’ve had so many obstacles. We have a starter on the bench with a neck brace. I know it sounds cliche, but they play for each other.”