With the PIAA girls basketball tournament getting underway across the state today, the North Tier League will be sending a pair of teams who are making the trip for the second year in a row.
Coudersport (9-1) vs. California (7-5), Today at St. Marys High School, 6 p.m.
There aren’t many teams entering states with more confidence than the Coudy girls.
The Lady Falcons (21-3) are riding a seven game winning streak and have won 20 of their last 21. The last victory — a 63-45 triumph over Kane — clinched Coudersport’s second straight D-9 Class AA Championship, both of which came against the Lady Wolves.
In last year’s state tournament, Coudersport fell in the opening round to Leechburg 55-51.
But given how well they’re playing right now, there’s good reason to believe the Falcons can go further this year.
Head coach Brian Green’s squad has been clicking on both ends of the floor: Coudy averages 64.4 points per game on offense while yielding just 35.5 points per game.
Coudy is led by do-it-all senior Haley Keck. The reigning NTL MVP is averaging 20.3 points per game, but can affect the game in many different ways.
“Haley is just Haley,” Green said after the D-9 title game. “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.”
Coudy also has a strong supporting class that includes Shaelyn Black, EmmaRae Easton, and Sarah Chambers, all of whom average at least eight notches per game. Easton played a huge role in the title game victory, scoring a game-high 22 points.
Coudersport will face California (15-8), the fifth seed from District 7 located south of Pittsburgh.
The Trojans fell to eventual D-7 Champion Vincentian in the WPIAL Quarterfinals 64-31.
California hasn’t been been playing its best basketball of late, having lost three of its last five and four of its last eight.
The Trojans will likely hope for a low-scoring contest, as they average a modest 45.9 points per game on offense while allowing 41.3 points per game.
California is led by senior Bailey Vig, who averages 17.9 points per game.
Today’s winner will face the winner of Reynolds/Serra Catholic in the second round.
Otto-Eldred (9-3) vs. Juniata Valley (6-1), Saturday at Hollidaysburg High School, 5:30 p.m.
The Otto-Eldred girls (21-4) are an interesting proposition: the Lady Terrors were one of the dominant teams in District 9 for most of the season, opening the year on a 14-0 run.
But O-E has cooled off a bit since, going 7-4 over its past 11 games including a 56-52 loss to A-C Valley in the district semifinals (the Terrors would defeat Elk Catholic 54-48 in the Class A Consolation Game).
What the Terrors have in abundance is big-game experience: O-E returns most of last year’s team that defeated West Greene 61-57 for the first PIAA victory in program history before eventually falling to Class A power Kennedy Catholic 72-34 in the second round.
Senior Camryn Thomas paces Otto’s offense with 17 points per game, while fellow senior Ali Cousins provides a steady hand at the point. Alyssa Shelander and Emily Smith make up the rest of a strong senior class, while junior Britney Greeley and sophomore Jade Spinney provide good depth.
The Terrors will need any and every contribution they can get against District 6 Champion Juniata Valley (22-3).
The Lady Hornets were the state runner-up in 2017, falling to Lebanon Catholic in the Class A Championship Game 55-43. What’s scary is that JV might be even better this year.
Juniata Valley — which comes into Saturday’s contest ranked number two in the state by MaxPreps — started the season 1-2 but has gone 21-1 since, with the sole loss coming against Class AA powerhouse Bellwood-Antis. The Hornets have outscored their opponents by almost 34 points per game, averaging 65.1 on offense and allowing 31.4 on defense.
Sophomore Halee Smith leads JV in both scoring (16.1 ppg) and rebounding (7.0 per game), while seniors Sydney Reed (13.7 ppg) and Taylor Leidy (8.5 ppg, 6.8 rpg, 5.6 apg) are also big-time players.
The winner of this game will face the victor of the Berlin/Quigley Catholic game.
