Is it really almost March?
Not so long ago, The Era’s sports staff was scrambling to find scores from tip-off tournaments. Now, almost three months later, high school basketball’s version of championship week — a diet March Madness, if you will — is upon us with a handful of area teams still on track to continue chasing goals set back in November practices.
A majority of the District 9 basketball brackets are down to the semi-finalists, and two undefeated area teams — Elk Catholic in Class A and Coudersport in Class AA — are finally back in action after a significant time off.
The Crusaders (24-0) head south from St. Marys to the familiar confines of Clarion University’s Tippin Gymnasium on Tuesday against fourth-seeded North Clarion. North Clarion topped fifth-seeded Port Allegany 65-48 on Thursday.
Meanwhile, Elk Catholic has been idle since winning the Allegheny Mountain League title Feb. 18 over Ridgway.
In an exciting doubleheader Tuesday at St. Marys Area High School, seventh-seeded Johnsonburg takes on third-seeded Otto-Eldred for a 6 p.m. tip in the other Class A semifinal, while Coudersport takes on Clarion-Limestone in Class AA in the nightcap.
The Rams upset second-seeded Cameron County on Thursday to advance to this game, which assured head coach Bill Shuey’s first state playoff appearance since the 2013-14 season. Otto-Eldred, meanwhile, needed two overtimes to top North Tier League rival Oswayo Valley, 59-58, and take its first playoff win in 19 years.
All four Class A teams are assured of a state tournament berth, with the winners advancing to the title game and the losers playing in a consolation tilt.
Coudersport, which has been off since Feb. 10, finally gets back to the court against the fourth-seeded Clarion-Limestone, which topped Clarion 64-45 in the quarterfinals. The winner of this game meets the winner of Wednesday night’s Ridgway-Brockway game this weekend.
Three of the four semi-finalists make the state tournament, meaning a consolation game will be played.
In the girls Class A tournament, it’s a pair of league rivalry games in the final four. On one half of the bracket, top-seeded North Clarion takes on Keystone Shortway Athletic Conference foe Allegheny-Clarion Valley Tuesday at Clarion University. On the bottom, second-seeded Northern Potter takes on third-seeded Otto-Eldred on Wednesday at a neutral site still to be determined. Northern Potter and Otto-Eldred split the season series, with the each home team winning in their gym.
All four semifinalists advance to states.
In Class AA, Coudersport takes on Kane for the district championship at a site, time and location still to be determined, yet the game will likely be this weekend. Both teams qualify for the state tournament.
Coudersport is looking for its first district championship since winning Class A in 2011, while Kane is 0-5 all-time in title games.
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Pitt-Bradford’s women’s basketball team lost to Medaille, 91-87, in the Allegheny Mountain Collegiate Conference semifinals on Saturday. The loss ended the Lady Panthers’ season, as well as the college careers of Bradford High graduate and 2015-16 all-conference selection Kaserra Owens and Johnsonburg graduate Brittany Watts.
Ali Rinfrette, Owens’ backcourt mate at Bradford High as well as UPB, scored 30 points in Saturday’s loss, giving her 584 total for the season and a 21.6 average per game. She came into Saturday’s playoff game as the 16th leading scorer in Division III.
Rinfrette will enter her senior year sitting on 1,514 career points, which is second-most in school history behind 1996 graduate Diane Eggleton’s school-record 1,610.
This article was updated to reflect the correct number of points Diane Eggleton scored at Pitt-Bradford.
