The District 9 postseason basketball tournament brackets have been unveiled and the action is set to begin next week. All tipoff times listed for pre-round and quarterfinal matchups are 7 p.m and the higher seeds are hosts.
Starting on the boys side in 1A, Elk County Catholic has secured the top seed with an 18-3 regular-season record.
The Crusaders will play the winner of a pre-round matchup between No. 8-seeded Otto-Eldred and No. 9 Sheffield. That game is scheduled for Monday, March 8 inside the Terror Dome. The winner of that game will play at ECC in the quarterfinals next Wednesday, March 10.
Cameron County is the No. 2 seed and will host No. 7 DuBois Central Catholic in the quarterfinals also scheduled for Wednesday.
Other matchups in the bracket include No. 3 Johnsonburg hosting No. 6 Union and No. 5 AC Valley facing No. 4 Clarion on the road. Both matchups will take place Wednesday.
The semifinals will take place on Friday, March 12 and the title game on Tuesday, March 16.
In the girls 1A bracket, No. 8 North Clarion will host No. 9 AC Valley on Tuesday, March 9 with the winner traveling to top-seeded Coudersport in the quarterfinals on Thursday, March 11.
This presents a possible rematch from last year’s D9 1A title game between the Lady Falcons and North Clarion, in which Coudy upset then-unbeaten North Clarion.
Another pre-round game will take place on Tuesday between No. 7 Union and No. 10 DCC, who’ll face off for a chance to play at No. 2 Otto-Eldred in the quarterfinals next Thursday.
The other two quarterfinal matchups next Thursday will feature No. 4 Port Allegany hosting No. 5 Clarion and No. 3 ECC facing Cameron County. The semifinals will be on Saturday, March 13 with the title game taking place on Tuesday, March 16.
In the 2A bracket, three boys teams from the IU9 Bubble are featured. No. 5-seeded Ridgway will face Redbank Valley next Tuesday with the winner earning a trip to play top-seeded Karns City in the semifinals next Thursday.
Also on Tuesday, No. 2 Coudersport will battle No. 7 Smethport again with the victor scheduled to play the winner of the No. 3 Keystone/No. 6 Clarion-Limestone matchup in next Thursday’s semifinals. The title game will be next Saturday, March 13.
On the girls side, No. 4 Kane will face No. 1 Keystone in the semifinals next Wednesday. The winner of that game will play either No. 2 Brockway or No. 3 Clarion-Limestone in the title game on Friday, March 12.
In 3A, the Kane boys have the No. 2 seed and will host No. 2 Moniteau next Tuesday. The winner faces Brookville in the championship next Saturday, March 13.
The Bradford boys have the No. 4 seed in the 4A bracket and will travel to Clearfield next Tuesday. The victor will play either No. 2 St. Marys or No. 3 Punxsutawney in the title game on Saturday, March 13.
In the girls bracket, No. 1 St. Marys will host No. 2 Clearfield for the district title on Thursday, March 11.
