DCC defeats O-E girls for first D9 1A Title since 1999
By JO WANKEL
Era Sports Writer
CLARION — DCC defeated Otto-Eldred 46-29 to become the District 9 Class 1A champions, a title they have not held since 1999, during Super Saturday playoff action at PennWest Clarion’s Tippin Gym.
Leading DCC offensively was Hope Jacob with 11 points, Ella Elensky with 11 and Julia Sebring with 10.
Leading the Lady Terrors were Carrie Drummond with 10 points and Rayel Hakes with six.
Otto-Eldred got off to a good start with a basket from Drummond putting the first points on the board. It was another minute of play before Sebring sank a shot to tie the score 2-2. DCC took a 5-4 lead on a foul shot from Emma Elensky with 2:22 left in the quarter. However, the Lady Terrors answered with another basket from Drummond. O-E led 6-5, a score that stood at the end of the first.
The Lady Cardinals took the lead on a basket from Ella Elensky 38 seconds into the second quarter. However, Jayden Smith sank a three at the seven-minute mark to put O-E ahead again, with the score 9-7. DCC’s Marina Hanes sank two free throws to tie the score at nine, and another basket from DCC with 4:52 to go in the half gave them the 11-9 lead.
The Lady Cardinals proceeded to go on a seven-point run, putting them up 16-9 before Francis sank a three to cut the lead to four. DCC added four points while O-E put up an additional point on a free throw from Francis to give DCC a 20-13 lead at the half.
“I don’t know if we had nerves or what it was, but we didn’t shoot the ball well. If a couple of those threes went in, I think it’s a different ball game,” O-E coach Shawn Gray said. “Defensively, I didn’t think we were super bad. We got beat in transition once or twice and gave up a few second shots. But other than that, I thought we played ok. Second half kind of saw it go the other way real quick and we just couldn’t make it back up.”
During the second half, DCC outscored O-E 13-6 in the third and 13-10 in the fourth to claim the Class 1A title.
DCC used a basket from Jacob, successful free throws from Sebring and two more baskets back-toback from Jacob to gain a 31-17 advantage in the third. With 47 seconds left, Ella Elensky sank a basket, which was quickly answered by O-E’s Lexie Prince, cutting the DCC lead to 14, which held at the end of the third.
Both teams will be moving forward in the PIAA playoffs however, with games on Saturday: Otto-Eldred hosts Geibel Catholic at 2 p.m. and DCC hosts Bishop Canevin at 1 p.m.
