There may have been some young men at the post-game dance who needed some consoling after Elk County Catholic captured the District 9 League title with a shocking 64-26 rout over Bradford on Senior Night at the Owls’ Nest on Wednesday.

The Winter Carnival punch wasn’t as sweet and the cookies probably tasted like cardboard as the Owls (10-10, 7-2) saw their chances of a league crown popped like a balloon.

“I thought we played very well tonight and we disrupted what Bradford wanted to do,” said Aaron Straub, ECC’s 31st-year (686-207) head coach. “From personal experience, I know how difficult these games are to play with things like Senior Night and Winter Carnival. It’s really tough to focus.”

Bradford head mentor Brian Hobbs hinted the pre-game ceremony could’ve been a mild distraction, but the Owls soon encountered more serious on-the-court issues.

“They (Crusaders) set the tempo and slowed the game down,” said  Hobbs. “We struggled to find the open spaces and it definitely hurt us. They pressured us and played real good half court defense. They are a polished team.”

After the Crusaders’ Alex Herzing christened the basketball festivities with a 3-pointer from the right wing just 16 seconds into the contest, twice the Owls cut their deficit to one point on buckets by Anthony Zimbardi and Tyler Wilber, but that was as close as the hosts could get all evening.

Clayton Housler answered with a driving layup, Herzing drilled another triple from the opposite wing and Ivan Wortman finalized the quarter with a left corner trey for a 15-6 ECC advantage after one.

“We hit some shots early and set the tone,” Straub recalled. “We’ve shot the ball better the last couple of games.”

Second period buckets by Housler and Cory Huff had extended the visitors’ margin to 20-8 before Bradford’s Mike Wilber took advantage of a rare open look to knock down a trifecta from the top of the key with 3:33 left.

The aforementioned would prove to be the Owls’ last tally of the half as ECC used five points by Housler, four by Brock McCullough and a 3-ball from the left corner by Huff just before the buzzer for a 34-11 cushion at the break.

“Housler got three or four offensive rebounds and scored on all of them,” Hobbs admitted. “One of our keys coming in was to keep him off the boards”

Despite a pair of layins by Bradford’s David Ackerman, the Crusders’ second-half lead continued to grow like summer weeds in your lawn as Herzing swished a left-side 3 and Huff contributed four more points for a 47-19 differential after 24 minutes of action.

Both coaches pulled their key players midway through the fourth at 55-19 as the Crusaders (17-5, 9-1) cruised to their sixth consecutive victory, Following a shared D-9 League title with Brookville in 2010-11, this is ECC’s first outright championship since 2007.

“We joined the league in 74-75 and won the title, but then league titles were difficult to come by,” Straub declared. “We had a lot of success from 1999 to 2007. Our league is very good, and night-in and night-out you are tested. I’m proud of the kids for winning this league championship.”

Meanwhile Bradford will regroup for the upcoming District 9 Class AAA playoffs with a visit to Punxsutawney on Friday (7:30 p.m.).

“It’s back to the basics of handling the ball, getting open and screening,” Hobbs said. “Our screening was awful tonight. They (Crusaders) also hit 60 percent (21-for-35) from the field tonight. I hate to say we played bad defense, but there’s no other way to justify it. We’ve only been giving up 43 points a game and we gave up 34 in a half.”

ELK CATHOLIC (64)

Housler 4-4-6-12, Kraus 1-0-0-2, Schlimm 1-2-2-4, McCullough 3-0-1-6, Herzing 3-0-0-9, Wortman 1-1-2-4, Huff 4-4-5-13, Cappiello 1-5-6-7, Gahr 1-0-0-3, Meyer 2-0-2-4, Totals 21-16-24-64

BRADFORD (26)

Webster 0-0-1-0, M. Wilber 1-0-0-3, Ackerman 2-0-0-4, Zimbardi 1-2-2-4, Boyer 1-2-3-4, Drehmer 1-0-0-2, McCammon 0-1-2-1, T. Wilber 3-2-2-8, Totals 9-7-10-21

By Quarters

ECC 15 19 13 17 – 64

BHS  6   5    8  7 – 26

Three-point FGs: ECC – Herzing 3, Wortman 1, Huff 1, Gahr 1; Bradford – M. Wilber 1

JV Score: ECC 49-30 (Brandon Charnisky 10)