Johnsonburg scored 20 points off of 13 first-half steals en route to a commanding 59-39 victory in the District 9 Class A semifinals over Otto-Eldred Friday night.
J’burg’s (20-5) crisp zone defense gave the Lady Terrors trouble from the start, as Otto struggled to break the press and get good shots off.
“(Johnsonburg’s) activity is amazing,” Otto-Eldred coach Shawn Gray said. “They are so well-coached defensively. It’s got to be so nice to not have to coach effort because those girls are everywhere. They never stop.”
Johnsonburg’s Cassidy King scored most of her game-high 20 points in transition. Using her blazing speed, King sank nine field goals (including six in the first half) to lead the Ramettes offense.
She had nine points just in the first quarter.
“My goodness she’s fast, isn’t she?” Gray said. “She’s faster with the basketball than my kids running a straight line. Once she has the basketball in her hands, we are not catching her.”
Lindsey Kocjancic (16 points) and Rylee Casilio (13) were also in double figures for the Rammettes, which used just five players until the end of the fourth quarter.
Otto-Eldred (15-9), meanwhile, was able to get its offense going a bit in the second half with 24 points, but the deficit was just too large to overcome.
“We are OK coming back from time to time, but not that big of a hole,” Gray said. “They didn’t quit on me, but it was just too big of a lead to come back from. Give Johnsonburg credit, they are a good team and I take my hat off to them.”
Johnsonburg beat Otto-Eldred in a regular season meeting 51-32 just last week.
Autumn Smith had 15 points to power the Lady Terrors’ offense, while Lauren Cousins sank three 3-pointers to finish with 11.
With the victory, Johnsonburg advances to the Class A title game for the first in 40 years next week against the winner of North Clarion and Coudersport. The top-seeded Ramettes have now won 13 of their last 16 games and are one of just three District 9 teams to have reached 20 wins so far this season.
Otto-Eldred will take on the loser of the other semifinal game in the consolation bracket.
Gray is hopeful his girls can quickly shake off Friday’s loss before that game and make a push towards states.
“My kids are resilient,” he said. “My seniors are stepping up and it means a lot to them. I think my younger kids are kind of following their lead and it’s starting to mean something to them as well. It’s going to be really good for my younger kids just to keep practicing.”
AT BRADFORD
Otto-Eldred (39)
Autumn Smith 7-0-1-15, Lauren Cousins 4-0-0-11, Heller 1-4-4-6, H. Cousins 1-0-2-2, Greeley 1-0-0-3, Frederick 1-0-0-2. Totals: 15-4-7-39
Johnsonburg (59)
Cassidy King 9-1-2-20, Lindsey Kocjancic 6-4-4-16, Rylee Casilio 5-0-0-13, Williams 3-0-0-6, Jones 2-0-0-4. Totals 25-5-6-59
Otto 7 15 28 39
J’burg 18 33 47 59
Three-point goals: O-E – 5 (L. Cousins 3, Smith 1, Greeley 1), J’burg 4 (Kasilio 3, King 1); total fouls: O-E 10, J’burg 10; fouled out: none
