DUKE CENTER — Sure, they might meet again with more on the line.
But for now, Class A bragging rights belong to Otto-Eldred.
In a rematch of last year’s District 9 final, the O-E girls basketball team gutted out a win over Elk County Catholic. Nine months ago, it was the Lady Crusaders who hoisted a District trophy on Coach Cal Court.
Friday evening, however, Katie Sheeler’s 20 points, four rebounds, three assists and four steals led the Lady Terrors to a spirited, 36-32 victory.
“I can’t say enough about the all-out effort,” O-E head coach Shawn Gray said. “That was one of the best efforts of any team I’ve coached since I’ve been doing this. We didn’t know until tonight. We had an idea of what we had, but tonight really proved that we’re going to be one of the teams in the District that will be a contender.”
Sheeler scored eight points in the fourth quarter, knocking down a 3-pointer before sinking 5-of-6 free-throw attempts to close it out. Anna Merry hit two of her three 3-pointers in the fourth, finishing with nine points, three steals and two assists. Bri Heller had four points, three rebounds and two steals.
“I can’t say enough about the defensive effort that Brooke Close and Bri Heller gave,” Gray said. “And big free throws down the stretch. We want to get the ball in our guards’ hands if we can down the stretch and we got it to (Sheeler). Down the stretch, 5-of-6 will usually get it done.”
Tori Newton scored 12 points for ECC, while Lucy Klawhun added nine points.
“Our offense sputtered in the first half,” Gray said. “Neither team was shooting well, but that was becuase of how well both teams played defense. We found out tonight that we can play man-to-man defense, and that’s a good thing, especially when we get late in the year and are playing some really good teams. You need to be able to match up. All my kids did that tonight.”
ECC defeated O-E twice last season, the latter a 39-28 triumph in the D9 final.
“It’s a fun matchup and that team is coached by (Ken Pistner) one of the best coaches in District 9 no question, so you know they’re going to come in with a plan and have adjustments for what you do,” Gray said. “To win tonight was nice; it would have been better if we would have gotten the one in (Districts) but we’ll take this one tonight.”
Newton 6 0-0 12, Alexander 1 2-4 5, Mourer 2 0-0 4, Klawuhn 4 0-1 9, Emmert 1 0-0 2. Totals:
Otto-Eldred (36)Merry 3 0-0 9, Sheeler 4 8-12 20, Drummond 0 1-2 1, Rhinehart 1 0-0 2, Heller 2 0-0 4. Totals:
Three-point goals: ECC 2 (Alexander, Klawuhn), O-E 7 (Sheeler 4, Merry 3); Total fouls: ECC 15, O-E 12; fouled out:
Coudersport 45, Bradford 23
COUDERSPORT — Emma Chambers and Hallie Rigas combined to score 30 points, leading Coudersport to a comfortable home win over Bradford.
Chambers went for 16 points and Rigas poured in 14, as the Lady Falcons pulled away for good in the fourth quarter. Alanna Benson led Bradford with 13 points.
Benson 4 3-4 13, Perischini 0 1-2 1, Dixon 3 1-3 7, Taylor 1 0-0 2. Totals:
Coudersport (45)Rigas 7 0-2 14, Chambers 6 0-0 16, Fink 2 1-2 5, Ruter 3 0-0 8, Myers 1 0-0 2. Totals:
Three-point goals: Bradford 2 (Benson 2), Coudy 6 (Chambers 4, Myers 2); Total fouls: Bradford 4, Coudy 11; fouled out:
St. Marys 63, Ridgway 47
ST. MARYS — Jayssa Snelick and St. Marys overcame Jenna Kasmierski’s 27-point performance, besting Ridgway.
Snelick scored 23 points to lead the Lady Dutch, while Maura Casked added nine pionts and Olivia Eckels scored seven. Kasmierski connected on four 3-pointers on her way to 27 points, leading the Lady Elkers.
Ellenberger 2 0-0 5, Kasmierski 11 1-1 27, Amacher 2 0-0 6, Vargas 1 0-0 3, Copello 0 0-2 0, Tettis 3 0-0 6. Totals:
St. Marys (63)Schneider 2 0-0 4, Hanslovan 3 0-0 6, Catalone 3 0-0 7, Eckels 4 0-0 9, Snelick 9 2-2 23, Caskey 14. Totals:
Three-point goals: Ridgway 8 (Kasmierski 4, Ellenberger, Amacher 2, Vargas), St. Marys 5 (Snelick 3, Catalone, Eckels); Total fouls: Ridgway 4, St. Marys 8; fouled out:
Eisenhower 53, Kane 37
RUSSELL — Eisenhower ran away with a win over Kane in the second half.
Mia Anderson led Kane with 13 points and Haley Hillman added 10 points.
Jekielek 1 1-5 3, Anderson 6 1-4 13, Hillman 4 2-4 10, Smith 2 1-4 5, Tigani 1 0-0 2, Haight 1 0-0 2, Iak 1 0-0 2. Totals:
Smith 1 0-0 2, Font 3 1-4 7, Belcher 2 2-3 7, Steinberg 6 6-7 20, Marino 4 2-2 10, Dunn 3 1-2 7. Totals:
Three-point goals: Kane 0, Eisenhower 3 (Steinberg 2, Belcher); Total fouls: Kane 16, Eisenhower 18; fouled out:
Cowanesque Valley 39, Northern Potter 31
WESTFIELD — A poor night at the free throw line hurt Northern Potter in its loss to Cowanesque Valley in the first round of the CV tournament.
“We struggled to find our own footing in the first half and were unable to recover during the second half,” NoPo head coach Casey Cady said.
Recebba Martin led the Lady Panthers with 12 points, 11 rebounds and two assists. Kayden Brown added three steals and two assists to go with two points, while Reagan Slawson tallied eight points and six rebounds.
Daley 4 2-4 10, Woodring 3 0-4 7, Churchill 6 3-4 9, Surine 1 0-0 2, Vargeson 0 2-4 2, Nudd 3 1-2 9. Totals:
Northern Potter (31)Chapman 1 1-2 3, Cady 1 0-0 2, Brown 1 0-0 2, Thompson 1 2-6 4, Slawson 3 2-6 8, Martin 5 2-6 12. Totals:
Three-point goals: CV (), NoPo 0; Total fouls: CV , NoPo 16; fouled out:
BOYS
Elk County Catholic 61, Kane 28
ST. MARYS — Elk County Catholic picked up their second win of the season, blowing out Kane 61-28.
From the beginning, ECC controlled the lead with the help of their defense, allowing Kane to score only one point in the first quarter. At the same time, ECC scored 13, then doubling down in the second quarter, finishing the half on a 21-12 run.
In the second half it was more of the same. ECC dominated Kane on both sides of the floor, scoring by committee to enter the fourth and final quarter up 52-18. With the game sealed before the last eight minutes, ECC scored nine points and allowed 10, resulting in a 61-28 victory.
The Crusaiders were led by Colby Naussbaum who was one of three scorers to end in double digits with 13. Jordan Wasko and Lance O’Neill both ended with 10 points.
For the Wolves, Ricky Zampogna led his team with 10 points.
Zampogna 3 1-2 10, Wensel 2 0-0 6, Lundeen 2 0-0 4, Darr 1 0-0 3, Anderson 1 0-0 3, Smith 1 0-0 2. Totals:
Elk County Catholic (61)Nussbaum 6 1-2 13, Wasko 4 0-0 10, O’Neill 5 0-0 10, Anderson 4 0-0 9, Wortman 4 0-0 8, Straub 3 1-2 8, Jacobs 1 0-0 2, Brannock 0 1-2 1. Totals:
Three-point goals: Kane 8 (Zampogna 3, Wensel 3, Darr, Anderson), ECC 4 (Wasko 2, Anderson, Straub); Total fouls: Kane 8, ECC 12; fouled out:
JV:
Ridgway 41, St. Marys 39
RIDGWAY — Friday evening belonged to Aaron Sorg, whose 28 points powered Ridgway over St. Marys in an Elk County thriller.
Sorg sank five 3-pointers. Tanner Fox led St. Marys with 18 points.
Fox 7 1-2 18, Nedinski 0 7-7 7, Bauer 1 0-0 3, Garazzi 2 3-4 7, Coudriet 2 0-0 4. Totals:
Benninger 3 1-2 7, Panebianco 1 0-0 2, Sorg 11 1-2 28, Merritt 1 0-0 2, Kelpick 1 0-2 2. Totals:
Three-point goals: St. Marys 4 (Fox 3, Bauer 1), Ridgway 5 (Sorg 5); Total fouls: St. Marys 19, Ridgway 18; fouled out:
JV: Ridgway won.
