CLARION — Saturday’s Class AA girls championship pitted two teams against each other that had won a combined 27 straight games.
And it looked as though it would go down to the final buzzer to determine a winner after the first half, but Coudersport simply dominated the final 16 minutes, and defeated Kane 63-45 to claim the title over the Lady Wolves for the second consecutive season.
It was anything but easy for the Lady Falcons, who trailed 8-2 early, and led by just one after both the first and second quarters. However, Coudersport turned on another level after halftime and rolled to a 37-20 advantage in the second half to secure a victory.
For head coach Brian Green, who is in his first year in his second stint at Coudy, his third championship with the Falcons feels good, if not better, than his first two.
“They never get old,” he said. “Every group that I won it with had something different that they excelled in. This group is extremely hard working. They may not be as talented across the board as either of the first two groups that I won with, but they certainly put the work in that the other teams did.”
Kane took a 27-26 lead early in the third quarter, but it would prove to be the last time they were in front for the game. Coudy outscored Kane 19-4 for the remainder of that quarter, capped off by a three-pointer by EmmaRae Easton at the buzzer.
That three put an exclamation point on a career day for Easton, who set career-high in threes made (six) and points (a game-high 22). Green said after the game that he had challenged his senior prior to the start of district playoffs to step up and expand her game. He couldn’t have been more pleased with the result.
“We talked to her all year long about when she has had open threes and didn’t take them,” Green said. “She had a couple early in the game where she just continued to run the offense. So, I subbed her out and told her that the girl guarding her is too far out from you. You have to shoot, and she did. And she knocked them down. That is the best she has shot from behind the arc all year.”
In addition to Easton’s dominance on the offensive side of the ball, she also shut down Kane’s Ella Marconi for most of the night.
The six-foot-two junior is averaging nearly a double-double on the season, and had 13 points against Coudy, but really did not control the game inside as she usually does.
Marconi was a big reason why the Wolves beat Coudy in early-December, a loss that sent the Falcons to 1-2 on the season. Since then, however, Coudersport has gone 19-1 and are as hot as any team in D-9 heading into the state playoffs.
“We have clicked and have gotten better as the season went along,” Green said. “We played a lot better tonight than we did the first time back in December.”
Fellow senior and reigning North Tier League MVP Haley Keck again lit up the stat sheet with 18 points and helped to seal the victory for Coudy with her performance in the fourth quarter.
Keck was strong with the ball despite constant pressure from Kane, and it earned her 14 trips to the free-throw line.
The way that Coudersport played in that fourth quarter was exactly as Green drew it up pregame, hoping that his girls could spread the floor and control the clock and the scoreboard. The Falcons got 13 of their 18 fourth quarter points from the free-throw line, with seven coming from Keck.
Green, like everyone else at Tippin Gym on Saturday, knows that Coudy wouldn’t have been the powerhouse they’ve been over the last two years without Keck.
“Haley is just Haley,” he said. “You can rely on her to do a lot of things and that’s why she is the player that she is. She works hard and you know that she is going to leave everything she has on the floor. She can handle the ball and shoot. When we needed her all year, she was there for us.”
Green knew he was going to need a balanced offensive attack to avenge Coudy’s 45-42 loss to Kane earlier this season, and he got it. The Falcons bench outscored Kane’s 14-1, and helped to wear Kane out down the stretch. He noted the contributions of freshman Rosalyn Page, who finished with six points and helped to minimize Kane’s size advantage in the paint, as well as Chelsey Streich. Streich hit a crucial 3-pointer in the third quarter when it was still a one-possession game to really force Kane to start playing from behind.
“(She) is a girl who spends a lot of time in practice working on her shot and she had a big three for us,” Green said. “At one point during the season she was 1-for-28 from beyond the arc, and she continued to work so I’m happy that she was able to have a big basket for us.”
Both teams begin action in the PIAA playoffs on Friday. Coudersport will play California at 6 p.m. at St. Marys High School, while Kane will match up against Bellwood-Antis at 6 p.m. at Clarion High School.
AT CLARION
Coudersport (63)
Emma Rae Easton 7 2-3 22, Haley Keck 4 9-14 18, R. Page 2 2-2 6, Black 1 4-4 6, Stimaker 2 0-0 4, Chambers 0 3-5 3, Streich 1 0-0 3, Bowser 0 1-2 1. Totals: 16 20-31 63
Kane (45)
Trinity Clark 8 0-0 18, Marconi 5 3-7 13, Morgan 4 1-2 9, Buhl 1 0-0 3, Bucheit 1 0-0 2, O’Hara 0 0-2 0. Totals: 19 4-11 45
Coudy 14 26 45 63
Kane 13 25 33 45
Three-point goals: Coudy 7 (Easton 6, Keck 1) Kane 3 (Clark 2, Buhl 1),; Total fouls: Kane 18, Coudy 10; fouled out: none
