By Chris Rossetti
CLARION, Pa. – A sub-regional doubleheader involving District 9 and the Pittsburgh City League (District 8) will take place Thursday at Clarion High School.
In the first game, DuBois, D9’s lone AAAA girls’ team, will take on Obama Academy at 6 p.m. with District 9 boys’ Class AAA champion Clearfield following with a 7:30 p.m. game also against Obama Academy.
GIRLS: DUBOIS (10-12) vs. OBAMA ACADEMY (20-4)
When and where: 6 p.m. Thursday, Feb. 25, at Clarion High School
Game preview: This is DuBois’ first game in two weeks since the Lady Beavers dropped a 76-45 decision to Mifflin County. That loss was part of a stretch that saw DuBois go 4-7 in its final 11 games … Obama Academy enters the game fresh off winning the City League title with a 64-33 win over Alderdice. The Lady Eagles enter this game on a 10-game win streak while winning 17 of 18 after a 3-3 start … DuBois will need to find a way to counter Obama Academy’s 2-2-1 pressure defense and the Lady Eagles size – Obama starts two players at 6-foot or taller (6-1 Michaela Porter and 6-0 Dalaysia Askew). Porter, a junior, scored 23 points and grabbed 11 rebounds in the City League title game helping the Lady Eagles to their third straight City League title. She is the daughter of former Pitt star and Duquesne men’s coach Darelle Porter, and her brother D.J. plays at Polk State, a junior college in Florida … Askew added nine points in the championship game as did Taylor Stewart, who also had 12 rebounds while Kennedy Bowens chipped in 12 tallies … DuBois has been a balanced team this season with Dayna DeSalve and Courtney Chandler each scoring a team-high 9.6 ppg (DeSalve has scored one more point – 212 – than Chandler on the season). Taylore Uplinger adds 7.7 ppg and Ashley Hallowell 5.9 … The winner will move into the PIAA playoffs and face the second-place team out of the WPIAL, either Norwin or North Allegheny.
BOYS: CLEARFIELD (22-2) vs. OBAMA ACADEMY (14-7)
When and where: 7:30 p.m. Thursday, Feb. 25, at Clarion High School
Game Preview: This is a rematch of a sub-regional game last year won by Obama Academy, 66-52 … Clearfield is coming off its second straight D9 title having beaten St. Marys, 56-42, Friday. It was the fifth straight win for the Bison, who have won 17 of 18 … Obama Academy lost to Allerdice, 74-47, in the City League title game Saturday. The Eagles are 9-3 in their last 12 games … Obama has only one starter back from the team that beat Clearfield last year, junior guard Isaiah Prentice, who didn’t score in that game and had five points in the City League title game … In the City League title game, the Eagles got a team-high 17 points and eight rebounds from 6-foot junior guard Dana Strouthers, while 6-2 junior guard Trez Jones added nine points … Clearfield has four players averaging in double digits paced by Will Myers’ team-leading 17.4 ppg. Myers, a junior who had 24 in the title-game win over St. Marys, is just 30 points shy of 1,000 in his career. He would be the first Clearfield boys’ player to top the mark since Mike McCorkle in 1997 and just the eighth player in school history to do so … Myers isn’t alone in scoring for the Bison, though. Tommy Hazel adds 12.5 ppg, while 6-7 forward Cody Spaid chips in 11.3 ppg and Evan Brown 10.3 ppg … The winner will move into the PIAA playoffs and play the third-place team out of the WPIAL, which will be either New Castle or Mars.
Cover photo by Rick Evans