CLARION — For the third straight year the District 9 Class A boys’ basketball final will be an exclusive invitational for Allegheny Mountain League teams only after Ridgway outlasted Clarion-Limestone 49-46 in overtime and Elk County Catholic rolled over Johnsonburg 66-47 before a packed house at Clarion University’s Tippin Gymnasium on Wednesday.
“The AML was extremely strong this year from top to bottom,” said Aaron Straub, ECC’s 32nd-year (711-222) head coach. “A lot of those AML games prepared us for tonight and will prepare us for Saturday night.”
After splitting the last two title games with neighboring Johnsonburg, sixth-seeded Ridgway (19-6) is looking for its second crown in three years while the No. 1 Crusaders (23-3) are seeking their first championship since 2011 when the two rivals face off in Clarion this weekend (TBA).
“We had a very good stretch when we were in the (title) game,” said Straub, referring to ECC’s eight appearances and six Class A championships from 2004-11. “It’s easy to take it for granted when you’re in those games, but it’s a big deal to get there because District 9 is so tough.”
In the doubleheader opener the Elkers couldn’t take the KSAC champion Lions (22-3) for granted as there were 11 lead changes and five ties in the hotly-contested affair.
“Both teams should be proud and at least the loser gets to play another game,” said Tony Allegretto, Ridgway head coach. “Both teams had each other all screwed up for what they wanted to do.”
Sophomore Jeremy Breier scored half of his team’s points as the Elkers led 16-11 end of the first quarter.
Ridgway owned a 25-17 advantage when R.J. Laugand scored five points and Kolton Siglitz registered a putback to cut the C-L deficit to 25-24 at the intermission.
The second period was tighter than dad’s wallet as there were three ties and an equal number of lead changes before a traditional 3-point play from Ben MacDonald sent Ridgway in front 36-34 after three.
The Elkers were clinging to a precarious 41-39 margin with 13 seconds left in regulation when Laugand calmly drilled both ends of a one-and-one to send the contest into the extra session.
The overtime commenced with a layup by Lion freshman Daniel Callen, but the Elkers answered with two free throws each by MacDonald and Josh Roselli, and one from Joe Horning to open a 46-43 lead.
After C-L misfired on a pair of 3-point attempts, Laugand was fouled on the third try and sank all three from the charity stripe to knot it at 46-all with 15 seconds showing.
Roselli then drove the right side of the lane and was hacked. He made the first and missed the second with six ticks remaining, but Breier guided the ball out to Roselli and the junior guard was fouled again.
“In the scouting report we knew we could get some rebounds,” Allegretto declared. “Jeremy (Breier) tipped it out and Josh (Roselli) got it.”
Roselli converted both foul shots for a 49-46 advantage with three seconds left and then Laugand launched a half-court prayer that grazed the left side of the rim and gave Allegretto a flashback as the horn sounded.
“We had the Cameron County moment and hoped it didn’t go in,” Allegretto said, referencing Dylan Clingan’s 70-footer that beat Ridgway in December. “I’m thinking if it does go in at least it’s just another overtime.”
Breier led all scorers with 19 points and had eight rebounds, while Laugand registered 13 points, nine rebounds and eight assists for second-seeded C-L.
In the nightcap J-Burg led 11-10 after one period, but that would prove to be its last advantage when Mitchell Struble nailed a 3 from the top of the key, Cory Huff registered five straight points and Brandon Schlimm converted two layups including a spinner at the end of the half for a 26-18 ECC lead.
Christian Cherry knocked down three consecutive buckets for the fourth-seeded Rams (22-4) at the outset of the third stanza to shave the disadvantage to 30-24, but ECC responded with triples by Struble and Ivan Wortman as the lead mushroomed to 38-24 at the 2:58 mark.
J-Burg had pared the disparity to 38-28, but Struble drained a trifecta from the right corner at the buzzer for a 41-28 count after three.
“We got some easy shots inside and made some threes,” Straub recalled. “The biggest thing about tonight’s game we controlled the end of the quarters.”
With their two stars Cameron Grumley and Cole Peterson combining for a rare 8-for-33 from the field, the situation transformed from bad to worse for the Rams in the final quarter as ECC went on a 8-0 run to put it away at 49-28 with six minutes left.
“We were able to get a big separation and they (Rams) took some quick shots,” Straub noted.
Johnsonburg shot just 27 percent (15-for-56) from the floor including 3-for-28 (11 percent) from 3-point land.
“You don’t win games when you don’t shoot well and that’s uncharacteristic for us,” said Bill Shuey, J-Burg head coach. “They (Crusaders) shot it well (50 percent) and we couldn’t stay with them. Not taking anything away from ECC, but that was our worst outing of the year.
“The boys didn’t quit and they were out there believing they could win,” Shuey continued. “We just dug too big of a hole.”
Grumley had 20 points and 15 boards for the Rams. Huff had 16 points and 13 rebounds, Wortman contributed 15 points, Struble added 13 points and Dan Singer had 12 in a committee effort for ECC.
“That balance was important especially with our team,” Straub concluded. “We needed to spread it around with the way they (Rams) pressure you with their defense.”
