PORT ALLEGANY — A tie at the 4-minute mark in the third quarter gave Coudersport an opportunity, but ultimately Port Allegany would claim the victory, 42-34, Wednesday. This in turn means the Gators will advance to the PIAA Class 2A semifinals on Feb 24 and take on the Clarion Bobcats.

“We didn’t shoot well against Cameron County over in Bradford; we were 2-for-20 from the three-point line. So tonight we wanted to take it inside a little bit and not shoot quite as many three’s,” Port Allegany Coach Kyle Babcock said. “I feel like we settled for too many threes instead of getting it inside and that let them right back in the game.”

Port Allegany held a slim two-point advantage at the half and saw Coudersport go on a short five-point run, broken by a basket by Liam Hawver to make the score 20-17. Coudersport’s Lucas Fowler sank his lone three of the evening to tie the score 20-20 with 3:54 on the clock.

The Gators sank three baskets before seeing an answer from Coudersport’s Drew VanWhy, a three-pointer to cut the lead to three (26-23).

“At halftime we stressed; we gotta get the ball inside. We gotta get the ball up the court, get some easy layups. And that’s kind of what we started to do,” Babcock explained. “Our guards started looking up the court, we hit Jarrod for a few easy ones. He had a rough first half. Isac Amell, our second leading scorer, didn’t score at all in the first half. We just wanted to push the tempo a little bit and get some easy ones inside.”

Port’s Nick Wilfong put up a shot that sank cleanly to extend the lead to five as the third quarter concluded, making the score Port Allegany 28, Coudy 23.

In the fourth quarter, Port outscored Coudy 14-9.

“We knew one of their main players is Lawson Wetzel. So we were keying on him a little bit. Wetzel did a great job in the first half. For a sophomore, he’s big, strong. We struggled with him. In the second half, we got out on him a little more, forced him to make some bad decisions and it worked out in our favor,” Babcock said.

Wetzel failed to capitalize on four scoring opportunities in the fourth quarter, including a stint at the line where both free throw attempts fell short.

Port Allegany will face Clarion Tuesday, with site and time to be announced. Clarion defeated Brockway 65-43 on Wednesday.

“We haven’t played Clarion yet. We’ll have to get some film, and we have five days to prepare,” Babcock noted when asked about Port’s next matchup.

AT PORT ALLEGANY

Coudersport (34)

VanWhy 3-1-2-9, Taylor 3-0-0-7, Lawson Wetzel 4-1-4-10, Fowler 2-0-2-5, Wahlers 1-1-1-3. Totals: 13 3-9 34

Port Allegany (42)

Kaple 1-0-0-2, Amell 2-0-0-4, Jarrod Funk 6-2-2-14, Hawver 2-4-4-8, Boyd 3-2-2-8, Wilfong 2-0-0-4, Babcock 1-0-0-2. Totals: 17 4-8 42

Coudersport  3  7 13  9

Port Allegany 8 4 16 14

Three-point goals: Coudy 5 (VanWhy 2, Taylor 1, Wetzel 1, Fowler 1), Port A none; Total fouls: Coudy 12, Port A. 10.

Other boys’ scores from around the District 9:

Class 1A Quarterfinals

Johnsonburg 54, Northern Potter26
North Clarion 51, Oswayo Valley 21
Cameron County 44, Otto-Eldred 30

Class 2A Quarterfinals

Clarion 65, Brockway 43
Redbank Valley 47, Keystone 39