Feb. 19 District 9 Class 2A boys’ quarterfinals recaps.
(Photo: Matt Dush goes in for a layup during Ridgway’s win over Clarion Tuesday with Clarion’s Archer Mills following. Dush had 12 points in the victory. Photo by Jared Bakaysa of JB Graphics. See more of Bakaysa’s work here)
RIDGWAY 48, CLARION 32
BROOKVILLE, Pa. – Zach Zameroski and Matt Dush led a balanced offensive attack as second-seeded Ridgway knocked off seventh-seeded Clarion, 48-32, in the D9 Class 2A quarterfinals at Brookville High School.
Relisten to the game:
The Bobcats stayed within reach of the Elkers at the end of the first, only down 13-9. But the Elkers stretched the lead to 26-18 going into halftime, thanks to 10 points from Dush and a couple 3-pointers from Jake Reynolds and Daunte Allegretto.
Will Thompson, who didn’t have any points in the first half, scored all 11 of his points in the second-half to help Ridgway pull away from Clarion for good.
Zameroski and Dush finished the game with 12 points apiece for the Elkers
Zameroski talked about the win.
Nick Frederick paced the Bobcats with a team-high 10 points with Cal German netting seven.
Ridgway will take on third-seeded Keystone in the semifinals.
KEYSTONE 48, SMETHPORT 45
KANE, Pa. (D9Sports) – Keystone built a 12-point lead early in the fourth quarter and then somehow held off a furious late rally by Smethport to advance to the District 9 Class 2A boys’ basketball semifinals with a 48-45 win in the quarterfinals at Kane High School Tuesday night.
Relisten to the game:
Keystone (17-6), the third seed, led 35-23, following two Isaak Jones free throws with 7:08 left in the game, and still led by 11, 38-27, following two more free throws, this time from Troy Johnson, with just over five minutes to play.
But Smethport (11-12), the sixth seed, wouldn’t go away answering time and again until the Hubbers cut the lead to two, 46-44, on a 3-pointer by Caleb Lutz, Smethport’s fourth triple of the fourth quarter, with 33 seconds left.
Then, after Max Thompson missed two free throws, Smethport had a chance to tie the game when Conner Alfieri was fouled with 15 seconds to play.
Alfieri hit the first shot to make it a one-point game, but missed the second. The Hubbers, however, got the offensive rebound and kicked the ball out to Lutz for a 3-pointer for the lead. But the shot was too strong, and the rebound went out of bounds to Keystone with eight seconds left.
Keystone got the ball to Johnson, and the junior, who tied with teammate Dawson Steel for a game-high 14 points, was fouled with 3.5 seconds to play. He calmly went to the line, blocked out the noise being made by the very full Smethport student section and hit both charity shots to make it a three-point lead, 48-45.
Johnson talked about the win.
Isaak Jones added eight points in the win for Keystone.
Lutz paced Smethport with 13 points while hitting three 3-pointers. Alfieri chipped in eight points, including six in the fourth quarter, while Lent had six points on the two fourth-quarter 3-pointers.
Keystone will take on second-seeded Ridgway in the semifinals.
KARNS CITY 69, REDBANK VALLEY 57
RIMERSBURG, Pa. – Karns City used a 30-point fourth quarter to erase a 41-39 deficit going into the quarter on its way to a 69-57 triumph over Redbank Valley in the District 9 Class 2A boys’ quarterfinals Tuesday night at Union High School.
The Gremlins big man Nathan Waltman sat out most of the second quarter with two fouls. However, he came up huge in the fourth quarter as his put-back layup with 6:15 remaining in the game gave Karns City (16-7) the lead for good at 45-43.
Waltman scored 14 of his 16 points in the fourth quarter and added eight rebounds in the victory.
The game went back and forth through the first half.
Both teams played tentative basketball after a quarter as Redbank Valley held an 8-6 lead, but the pace of the game picked and both sides went into the locker room tied at 23.
The Bulldogs (13-10) got off to a great start in the second-half opening up the third quarter on a 14-5 run and led by as many as 10.
Following the deficit, Karns City switched it’s defense to a 1-2-2 zone.
After starting the third quarter on fire, the Bulldogs cooled off the rest of the way as they shot just 14-of-35 in the second half and 25-of-76 for the game.
After not scoring in the first quarter, Austin Fahlor scored 24 points in the final three quarters including 15 in the second half to lead Karns City. Erik Pfeifer added seven points and 18 rebounds for the Gremlins with Chase Beighley chipping in 15 points and six assists.
Freshman Chris Marshall scored a game-high 27 points for the Bulldogs with fellow freshman Bryson Bain adding 14 points.
Karns City, which won back-back District 9 3A Titles, keeps its hopes alive for a 3-peat after moving down to 2A this season. The Gremlins will take on top-seeded Coudersport, the two-time defending 2A champion, in the semifinals.
COUDERSPORT 79, BROCKWAY 44
ST. MARYS, Pa. – For a half, eighth-seeded Brockway had upset on its mind against top-seed Coudersport.
But after leading by just three, 28-25, at halftime, the high-flying Falcons rode the hot shooting of Owen Chambers to a 79-44 win over the Rovers in the District 9 Class 2A quarterfinals at St. Marys High School.
Chambers, who came into the game averaging just over 31 points per game, was limited to seven first-half points by Brockway (8-15). But the senior 2,000-point career scored exploded for 13 third-quarter tallies while helping the Falcons outscore the Rovers 22-7 in the third quarter.
Chambers then added eight more fourth-quarter points to finish with a game-high of 28 points.
Kolby VanWhy (seven points) and Hayden Keck (six points) also had a strong third quarter for Coudersport (22-1). Keck finished with 18 points and VanWhy 12.
Alec Freemer paced Brockway with 17 points but scored only five points after halftime. Jon Wood added seven tallies and Zane Puhala six.
The two-time defending Class 2A champion Falcons will take on Karns City, who won the last two Class 3A titles before moving down to 2A this year, in the semifinals.
