Leading from the front.
That’s what Coudersport girls basketball team has done for the better part of the last two seasons, amassing back-to-back 21-1 regular seasons. Last year, the Lady Falcons ran through their schedule to earn a top seed in districts.
Coudersport made the semifinals of the district playoffs before losing to eventual champion Keystone. The Lady Falcons then lost two more in a row, dropping one in the consolation playoff and in a 47-15 rout in the first round of states to District 6 champion Bishop Carroll.
This year, the team returns much of the same roster, albeit with more big-game experience.
While last year’s team went to work in the Class A bracket, this year’s edition of the Lady Falcons is placed at the top of a slim, but tough, Class AA field.
Head coach Chris Fink’s team, looking for its first district championship since 2011, gets the winner of No. 4 Port Allegany (13-9) and No. 5 Curwensville (10-12), which will be played at Elk Catholic. In the other semifinal of the five-team field is No. 2 Kane (19-5) and No. 3 Cranberry (17-5).
The two semifinal games still do not have released dates, times or locations based on bracket information available Saturday.
In Class A, North Clarion (20-2) is the top seed, but one of Coudersport’s North Tier League rivals might just be primed to pull off a feat that four years ago would have been unthinkable. In 2014, Northern Potter struggled through a 2-20 season and finished eighth in the nine-team NTL.
The next season, Cindy Cowburn took over the program and promptly guided the Lady Panthers to a six-win improvement. Last year, things came together for Northern Potter, again led by Gracie Hamilton and Kalie Cowburn, and went 17-5 in the regular season and earned the third seed before being defeated by Elk Catholic in the district quarterfinals.
The Hamilton-Cowburn duo are a strong reason why the Lady Panthers, entering the playoffs at 18-4, could make a run to the district championship. The program has only ever made one championship appearance, losing in the 1988 title game.
Standing in their way will be seventh-seeded Johnsonburg (13-9) on Friday at a time and place to be determined. No. 3 seed Otto-Eldred (15-7) gets the pleasure of playing No. 6 Elk Catholic (16-8) Friday at Bradford High. Despite some late-season struggles that resulted in the Lady Crusaders falling in seeding, being a lower seed is no big deal for the Lady Crusaders — a year ago they made the run to the district title game from the 11th seed position.
On Thursday or Friday, North Clarion takes on the winner of Tuesday’s game between No. 9 Brockway (9-13) at No. 8 Smethport (10-12) — which went .500 against Pennsylvania schools, but dropped two games against Portville (N.Y.). DuBois Central Catholic (14-8), the fourth seed, takes on Allegheny-Clarion Valley (13-7) in the other quarterfinal matchup Friday at Clarion High School.
All quarterfinal games are set for Friday at times and locations to be determined. North Clarion’s game is set for either Thursday or Friday.
