ST. MARYS — It was always going to be a battle, no matter what the records said.

In a District 9 Class A quarterfinals matchup at St. Marys Area High School that remained competitive from start to finish, No. 2 Coudersport was given all it could handle from No. 7 DuBois Central Catholic, but managed to outlast the Cardinals 50-41 to advance to the semifinal round once again.

It marks the second consecutive year the Lady Falcons (19-4) will move on to the Class A semis after winning Class AA in 2018. Coudy has reached the semifinals in each of its seasons, regardless of classification, since 2015-16.

“This first (playoff win) was tough,” Coudy coach Bob Tingley said. “I don’t think DuBois Catholic’s record (10-14 with the loss) reflects their ability. I think they’re scrappy and play hard, and they’re a better team than what their record showed. I was glad to win.”

Indeed, nine of those 14 DuBois Central losses came to teams in Class AA or higher, and the Cardinals had actually beaten a common opponent, Brockway, who defeated Coudersport earlier this year.

But behind a staunch defensive effort that saw the Lady Falcons force 18 turnovers, and double-figure scoring nights from Rosalyn Page and Mikayla Gunn, Coudersport managed to pull through.

The game started out as a defensive battle, as neither team could find much success from the floor. Coudy shot 5-for-19 from the field in the first half, while DCC struggled to an 8-for-22 mark in the first two periods.

In fact, the Cardinals didn’t manage to put up a field goal attempt until the 3:29 mark of the first quarter. Up to that point, the Lady Falcons had forced turnovers on each of DCC’s first six possessions.

“It was pretty much our normal defensive scheme. We play man-to-man and try to turn you over if we can,” Tingley said. “Our trapping pressure didn’t work; they had that scouted. So we just had to go with our man-to-man, and our girls did a good job.”

Despite the offensive struggles, Coudy managed to take a 19-17 lead into the intermission, thanks to a big first half from Page. The forward poured in 11 of her game-high 19 points in the first two quarters, while Gunn added seven in that span.

“Rosalyn enlisted in the National Guard, and she went to training two weekends ago and came back an absolute monster,” Tingley said of his forward. “She’s done a great job for us late in this season, and I’m really pleased.”

DCC, meanwhile, managed to keep pace with Coudy thanks to fast-break points that Tingley attributes to poor shot selection by the Lady Falcons. Frequently, Coudersport was limited to one-shot possessions, and DuBois Catholic turned those rebounds into quick layups at the other end.

“I think the root of the problem was we weren’t taking good shots. We were taking bad shots, and (DCC) was getting rebounds and running,” he said. “I impressed upon the girls that every game, we have to have so many people back (on defense), and that’s going to get more important as the playoffs go on, and I thought DuBois Catholic did a good job exploiting it.”

Out of halftime, Coudy managed to find its usual success on offense.

After sinking just 26% of their shots in the first half, the Lady Falcons went 11-for-24 (46%) in the second, and found much more offensive balance. Six different Coudy players found their way into the scorebook after the intermission.

That charge was once again led by the Gunn-Page duo, as each scored eight more points in the second half. Gunn hit two of her game-high three treys after the intermission, while Page went 9-for-12 from the charity stripe on the night.

“Defensively, Mikayla is really, really tough, and tonight she was making shots, and that was a big bonus for us,” Tingley said.

In addition to those two, Emma Chambers scored all five of her points in the fourth quarter while Sarah Chambers scored six of her seven points in the second half, including converting on Coudy’s final four free throws to put the game away.

But just as the Lady Falcon offense got going, so, too, did DCC’s scorers, and Shay Gulvas in particular.

Gulvas, who led DuBois Central in scoring with 11.2 points per game, scored 12 of her team-high 18 points in the second half, including DCC’s first eight points of the fourth quarter to draw the Cardinals to within 43-38.

The Cardinals never managed to completely close the gap, though. After drawing to within those five points, Emma Chambers hit a huge three to turn the tides back in Coudy’s favor, and then Sarah Chambers sealed the game with her four free throws.

Coudersport now moves on to face No. 3 Otto-Eldred in the semifinal round. The two teams met twice in the regular season, with Coudy winning both games by scores of 43-24 on Jan. 13 and 50-35 in the regular season finale on Feb. 11.

The teams met in last year’s Class A consolation game, as well. Coudersport won that game, 31-23.

“They have a good coach, and they’ll be ready for us,” Tingley said of the Lady Terrors. “But we’ll be ready for them.”

AT ST. MARYS

DuBois Catholic (41)

Shay Gulvas 8 2-3 18, Swalligan 3 3-4 9, Kosko 2 1-2 5, Cogley 1 1-2 3, Farley 3 0-0 6. Totals: 17 7-11 41

Coudersport (50)

Rosalyn Page 5 9-12 19, Mikayla Gunn 6 0-0 15, Stimaker 1 0-0 2, Frame 1 0-0 2, E. Chambers 2 0-0 5, S. Chambers 1 5-6 7. Totals: 16 14-18 50

DuBois Catholic 7 17 30 41

Coudersport 9 19 39 50

Three-point goals: DCC 0, Coudy 4 (Gunn 3, E. Chambers 1); Total fouls: DCC 15, Coudy 12; fouled out: none.