BROOKVILLE, Pa. – The North Clarion and A-C Valley girls and Elk County Catholic and Johnsonburg boys all advanced to the District 9 Class 1A championship games with wins in the semifinals Wednesday.
(Photo: Ben Freeburg of Johnsonburg (left) and Tori Obenrader of North Clarion)
North Clarion knocked off Elk County Catholic, 43-31, A-C Valley beat Otto-Eldred, 56-52, Johnsonburg topped North Clarion, 45-42, and Elk County Catholic downed Cameron County, 46-25.
The girls’ title game will be at 1 p.m. Saturday at Clarion University’s Tippin Gym, while the boys’ championship game will be at 3 p.m. at Tippin Gym.
The consolation games will be held at 6 p.m. and 7:30 p.m. Friday at a location to be announced.
GIRLS
NORTH CLARION 43, ELK COUNTY CATHOLIC 31
BROOKVILLE, Pa. – North Clarion scored five points in 14 seconds midway through the fourth quarter to take a one-point lead and expand it to six points on its way to a 43-31 win over Elk County Catholic.
Relisten to the game
The unbeaten and top-seeded She-Wolves (25-0) led by one, 30-29, following a basket by ECC’s Taylor Newton with 4:16 to play.
But Tori Obenrader, who had a game-high 19 points to go with a game-best 23 rebounds, took it strong to the hole and was fouled with 4:06 to play. She hit the first free throw but missed the second one. Abby Gatesman grabbed the rebound, put it back in and was fouled with 4:04 to go. Gatesman missed her free throw, and Obenrader got the rebound. Following an inbound play, Gabby Schmader was fouled and hit two free throws with 3:52 to go to push the lead 35-29.
Two free throws by Makenzie Cashmer got ECC (16-10) back within two, but Obenrader grabbed an offensive rebound and had a putback with 2:55 to go to start a game-ending 8-0 run that including the She-Wolves going 6 of 6 from the free-throw line.
Obenrader talked about the win.
Newton led ECC with eight points and seven rebounds.
Gatesman added nine points and seven rebounds for North Clarion with Mackenzie Bauer also adding nine tallies.
ECC’s season isn’t over. The Lady Crusaders will face Otto-Eldred in the consolation game and then head into the PIAA playoffs.
A-C VALLEY 56, OTTO-ELDRED 52
ST. MARYS, Pa. – Brooke Irwin broke a 52-all tie with a layup with 1:15 to play, and Ellie Thompson came up with a game-clinching blocked shot with 11 seconds left to lift A-C Valley to its first-ever District 9 title game appearance with a 56-52 win over Otto-Eldred at St. Marys High School.
Relisten to the game
Camryn Thomas had tied the game at 52 on an old-school 3-point play with 1:30 to go, but Irwin took a feed from Cami McNany 15 seconds later to put A-C Valley ahead by two, 54-52.
Jade Spinney then missed a 3-pointer for second-seeded Otto-Eldred (20-4) with just over a minute to go, and the Lady Terrors were forced to foul Annie Viertel with just over 40 seconds to play.
Viertel, however, missed the front end of the one-and-one, and Otto-Eldred got the basketball when Kylee Eaton was tied up by a Lady Terror on the rebound with 39.6 to play.
Following a timeout, Otto-Eldred worked the ball inside to Thomas, but Thompson blocked her shot with about 11 seconds left.
The ball came out to Viertel who pushed it up the floor and feed a wide open hustling Thompson for a layup just before the horn to seal the victory.
A-C Valley (20-5) led by five, 44-39, following a Thompson basket early in the fourth quarter. But Otto-Eldred answered with a 10-4 run to take a 49-48 lead with just over three minutes to play when Emily Smith scored off an offensive rebound of a Thomas shot that was blocked by Thompson. Thomas had collected an offensive rebound off a missed free throw by Brittney Greeley, who had hit one of two to close the gap to 48-47.
Thompson, though, gave the Lady Falcons the lead back, 50-49, on a six-foot turnaround shot on A-C Valley’s next possession.
Otto-Eldred then missed three shots that would have given it the lead, one off an offensive rebound and another off a steal before Thompson hit a bucket out of a timeout to put A-C alley up three, 52-49, before Thomas’ old-school three tied the contest one final time.
The game was tight throughout with Otto-Eldred holding a 16-14 lead after one quarter before A-C Valley went ahead 29-26 at halftime. The Lady Falcons, who had a pair of seven-point leads in the game, still led by three, 42-39, going to the fourth quarter.
Thompson then gave A-C Valley a 44-39 lead early in the fourth before Alyssa Shelander nailed a 3-pointer and Thomas hit a layup to tie the game at 44 with just under six minutes to play.
A long two by Thompson put the Lady Falcons back ahead at 46-44 with just under 4 ½ minutes left.
Allison Cousins and McNany then exchanged baskets to make it 48-46 with four minutes left before Greeley was fouled and the sequence happened to give Otto-Eldred it’s final lead.
Thompson led all scorers with 24 points for A-C Valley with McNany adding 10 and Eaton eight.
Thomas had a team-best 18 points for Otto-Eldred and added eight rebounds and five steals. Cousins chipped in 10 points, five assists and four rebounds with Haylee Frederick adding seven points and Greeley six rebounds and a point.
Otto-Eldred’s season isn’t over. The Lady Terrors will take on ECC in the consolation game and then head into the PIAA playoffs for the second straight year.
BOYS
JOHNSONSBURG 45, NORTH CLARION 42
BROOKVILLE, Pa. – Austin Green hit two free throws with 1:35 to play to give Johnsonburg a one-point lead, and the Rams survived a couple of great opportunities by North Clarion to knock off the top-seeded Wolves, 45-42, at Brookville High School.
Relisten to the game
In a tight contest throughout, North Clarion (20-4) grabbed a 42-41 lead on a Kyle Mills basket with 2:17 to play.
The Wolves then had a chance to expand the lead but turned the ball over with 1:35 to play, and on the turnover, North Clarion also fouled Green, who hit both ends of a one-and-one.
Then, with about 15 seconds to play, North Clarion again feed the 6-foot-7 Mills, but his shot off the backboard was just a bit strong. The rebound came to Johnsonburg (18-7), and Ben Freeburg was fouled with 12.9 to go.
Freeburg, who had a team-best 11 points, calmly sunk both charity shots in a one-and-one situation to make it 45-42 with 12.9 seconds left.
Freeburg talked about the win.
North Clarion had three 3-pointers to try to tie the game in the final 10 seconds. The first set shot by Jesse Schmader was long, then Nathan Banner got the rebound and missed his attempt. Tyler McCord-Wolbert then collected the rebound and raced to the near corner. But his final, desperation shot, was too long.
Banner scored a game-high 18 points and netted his 1,000th career point midway through the first quarter. He needed three points entering the night to hit 1,000 and finished the game with 1,1015.
Austin Green added nine points for Johnsonburg, including seven in a 58-second stretch in the first quarter that took an 11-9 Rams deficit and turned it into a 16-11 lead.
Kacey Raubenstrauch chipped in eight points for Johnsonburg.
Kyle Mills added eight points and six rebounds for North Clarion.
Despite the loss, North Clarion’s season isn’t over. The Wolves will take on Cameron County in the D9 consolation game before heading into the PIAA playoffs.
ELK COUNTY CATHOLIC 46, CAMERON COUNTY 25
ST. MARYS, Pa. – Elk County Catholic held Cameron County without a point for a stretch of 10:21 in the second half allowing the Crusaders to turn a close game into a 21-point, 46-25, win.
The Red Raiders scored with 3:33 to play in the third quarter to close within four of ECC, 26-22, but didn’t score again Matt Swartz hit a free throw with 1:12 left to play and the game out of reach.
The Cameron County basket midway through the third quarter was the last field goal allowed by the Crusaders defense.
ECC (21-5), the second seed, led 21-15 at halftime before third-seeded Cameron County (17-6) closed the gap in the third quarter to four, 26-22.
But in the fourth quarter, the Crusaders got six points from Ryan Newton and four each from Logan Hoffman and Alex Breindel to outscored Cameron County 20-3 in the period.
Newton led ECC with 18 points with Breindel adding nine and Hoffman and Carter Lindemuth six each.
Ty Bauer paced Cameron County with eight points and Marcus Brown added six. ECC held the Red Raiders’ leading scorer, Adam Shaffer, scoreless.
Cameron County’s season isn’t over. The Red Raiders will face North Clarion in the consolation game and then head into the PIAA playoffs.
BOX SCORES
GIRLS
NORTH CLARION 43, ELK COUNTY CATHOLIC 31
Score by Quarters
Elk Co. Cath. 6 2 17 6 – 31
North Clarion 10 8 11 14 – 43
ELK COUNTY CATHOLIC – 31
Sady VanAlstine 1 0-0 3, Makenzie Cashmer 1 2-2 5, Josie Smith 3 4-4 10, Taylor Newton 4 0-1 8, McKayla Wilson 1 0-0 2, Brandi Clyde 0 0-0 0, Ellie Fledderman 0 0-0 , Sammi Fedus 0 0-0 0, Gabbi Rohr 1 1-2 3, Maggie Dinsmore 0 0-0 0. Totals 11 7-9 31.
NORTH CLARION – 43
Mackenzie Bauer 3 3-4 9, Addison Shaftic 0 0-0 0, Kiara Stitt 0 0-0 0, Cierah Manross 0 0-0 0, Gabby Schmader 1 2-2 4, Gabby Carll 0 2-2 2, Abby Gatesman 3 2-3 9, Faythlynn Vanek 0 0-0 0, Tori Obenrader 6 7-11 19, Haley Sherman 0 0-0 0. Totals 14 16-22 43.
Three-pointer: ECC 2 (VanAlstine, Cashmer). North Clarion 1 (Gatesman).
Rebounding: ECC 7 offensive, 15 defensive, 22 total (Newton 7, Cashmer 5). North Clarion 14 offensive, 25 defensive, 39 total (Obenrader 23, Gatesman 7).
A-C VALLEY 56, OTTO-ELDRED 52
Score by Quarters
A-C Valley 14 15 13 14 – 56
Otto-Eldred 16 10 13 13 – 52
A-C VALLEY – 56
Cami McNany 4 0-0 10, Ellie Thompson 9 5-6 24, Annie Viertel 2 0-1 4, Brooke Irwin 3 0-0 6, Kylee Eaton 4 0-0 8, Emma Fox 0 0-0 0, Allison Sherman 1 2-2 4. Totals 23 7-9 56.
OTTO-ELDRED – 52
Allison Cousins 4 2-3 10, Alyssa Shelander 2 0-0 6, Camryn Thomas 6 6-7 18, Reilly Raught 0 0-0 0, Autumn Smith 0 0-0 0, Brittney Greeley 0 1-2 1, Jade Spinney 2 0-0 5, Emily Smith 2 0-0 5, Haylee Frederick 3 0-0 7. Totals 19 9-12 52.
Three-pointers: A-C Valley 3 (McNany 2, Thompson). Otto-Eldred 5 (Shelander 2, Spinney, Emily Smith, Frederick).
BOYS
JOHNSONSBURG 45, NORTH CLARION 42
Score by Quarters
Johnsonburg 16 7 14 8 – 45
North Clarion 13 9 13 7 – 42
JOHNSONBURG – 45
Isaac Scholder 0 0-0 0, Kacey Raubenstrauch 3 2-2 8, Austin Green 3 2-2 9, Trevor Lobaugh 4 0-0 9, Tyler Singer 2 0-0 4, Ben Freeburg 3 5-7 11, Nick Bliss 2 0-0 4. Totals 17 9-11 45.
NORTH CLARION – 42
Jesse Schmader 1 2-2 4, Sam Minich 0 0-0 0, Zander Hargenrader 0 0-0 0, Keeven Weaver 0 0-0 0, Logan Minich 2 1-1 5, Matson Higgins 0 0-0 0, Korey Mills 2 0-0 5, Tyler McCord-Wolbert 1 0-0 2, Nathan Banner 7 0-0 18, Noah Meyers 0 0-0 0, Kyle Mills 3 2-2 8. Totals 16 5-5 42.
Three-pointers: Johnsonburg 2 (Green, Lobaugh). North Clarion 5 (Banner 4, Korey Mills).
Rebounding: Johnsonburg 8 offensive, 15 defensive, 23 total (Bliss 5). North Clarion 17 offensive, 14 defensive, 31 total (Weaver 8, Kyle Mills 6, Korey Mills 5).
ELK COUNTY CATHOLIC 46, CAMERON COUNTY 25
Score by Quarters
Cameron County 8 7 7 3 – 25
Elk County Catholic 12 9 5 20 – 46
CAMERON COUNTY – 25
Dino Brown 2 0-0 5, Marcus Brown 2 2-2 6, Alex Umble 0 0-0 0, Adam Shaffer 0 0-2 0, Caden Beldin 1 0-0 3, Ty Bauer 4 0-0 8, Bryce Bauer 0 0-0 0, Matt Swartz 0 3-4 3, Jon Good 0 0-0 0. Totals 9 5-8 25.
ELK COUNTY CATHOLIC – 46
Bryce O’Leary 0 0-0 0, Carter Lindemuth 3 0-1 6, Alec Wehler 0 0-0 0, Erick Mader 0 0-0 0, Logan Hoffman 2 2-2 6, Will Uberti 1 0-0 2, Brennen Klawuhn 0 1-2 1, Regis Wortman 0 0-0 0, Joe Aiello 1 0-0 2, Leo Gregory 0 0-0 0, Ryan Newton 7 3-4 18, Brady Schneider 0 2-2 2, Alex Breindel 4 1-2 9. Totals 18 9-13 46.
Three-pointers: Cameron County 2 (Dino Brown, Beldin). ECC 1 (Newton).
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