CLARION – It was raining Hershey Kisses at Clarion University’s
Tippin Gymnasium as unbeaten Elk County Catholic advanced to the
PIAA Class A boys basketball championship in Hershey with a 77-62
victory over top-ranked Blairsville on Tuesday.

The foil-covered chocolate storm was certainly in the forecast
as the second-ranked Crusaders improved to a school-record 32-0 and
will meet eastern champ Bishop Hannan (27-5) at the 12,000-seat
Giant Center at 2 p.m. Friday.

“I feel very blessed and very fortunate to work with such
outstanding young men,” said Aaron Straub, who is in his 24th year
(531-161) as head coach of the Crusaders. “I have a great coaching
staff, and our school has supported us every step of the way and so
has the community. I feel very humbled with this opportunity and
we’ve worked at this a long time.”

It was also raining Jesse Bosnik points and assists in the
sold-out field house as the 6-1 junior guard put on an all-state
performance with 39 points on 15-for-25 from the field. Bosnik also
dished out nine assists, grabbed eight rebounds and had four
steals.

“There is an adage – Be at your best when you’re needed the
most,” Straub stated. “Good players need to do that and he (Bosnik)
is certainly a good player. He really plays within the team
concept, and is always willing to give it up and make the extra
pass.”

The Crusaders jumped out to a 9-5 lead on buckets by Bosnik,
Tony Lecker and Kyle Mahoney, and a three-pointer from Dan
Scutella.

Blairsville took its first advantage at 12-11 on a free throw by
Zack Sabella with 2:30 left in the first quarter, but a three-point
play by Jim Higgins, a trifecta from Bosnik and a tip-in by Mahoney
gave ECC a 19-17 lead after one.

A layup by Lecker and a triple from the right wing from Bosnik
then opened a 24-17 margin just 39 seconds into the second period.
The Bobcats from District 6 then went on a 13-3 run to regain the
lead at 30-27 with 3:06 remaining in the half.

A 6-foot runner by Bosnik, a layin from Kevin Genevro and
another Bosnik trifecta sent ECC in front 34-30 before a bomb from
the left corner by Mark DeMarines cut the Bobcats’ deficit to 36-35
at the intermission.

“We took their (Bobcats’) best shot in the first half and I
thought that’s when we won the game even though we didn’t pull away
until the second half,” Straub declared. “I thought it was really
key that we kept the lead as well as Blairsville was shooting the
ball (64 percent) in the first half.”

After the break, Blairsville enjoyed its final lead of the
evening at 44-43 on a layup by Andy Ostach midway through the third
quarter.

Bosnik then tallied nine straight ECC points, Lecker registered
a traditional three-point play and then Lecker assisted on Bosnik’s
layup just before the buzzer to give the District 9 champs a 57-51
margin after three.

Two free throws by Genevro, a 17-footer from Bosnik, a reverse
layup by Lecker and a breakaway dunk from Josh Salter then opened a
65-53 bulge with 5:28 left.

Following a Bobcat free throw, baskets by Bosnik, Salter and
Genevro presented the Crusaders with their biggest advantage of the
night at 71-55 at the 1:47 juncture.

“They (Bobcats) missed a couple shots, and we made some shots
and switched up our defense,” Straub recalled.

“Early on we weren’t finishing, but later on we were able to
finish and got some easy baskets.”

After Blairsville pulled within 13 points at the 36-second mark,
Bosnik canned four straight foul shots and left the court to a
standing ovation with 16 ticks remaining.

Genevro had 11 points and five assists, and Lecker contributed
11 points for the Crusaders, who shot 62 percent from the field in
the second half. DeMarines and Adam Highberger had 18 points each
for the Bobcats (28-3).

“We put it together tonight and beat an outstanding team,”
Straub said.

“It always bothered me that there were teams still playing and
we weren’t. It’s a really nice feeling to know we’re playing in the
last Single A game of the year. I asked the kids in the locker room
if their goal was to get to the championship game or win the
championship game, and I got my answer loud and clear. When you set
your destination, you want to enjoy the moments along the way, but
you also want to keep the big picture in mind.”