ST. MARYS — Coming into Tuesday night’s District 9 Class AA semifinal against Clarion-Limestone, guard-oriented Coudersport knew it was going up against a taller team.
The undefeated Falcons (23-0), as they have all season, used speed and outside shooting to neutralize Clarion-Limestone’s 6-foot-7 Dan Callen (21 points) in a hard-fought 69-57 victory at St. Marys Area High School.
What Coudersport didn’t know was that the cost of victory is that one key player will miss Saturday’s final (against the winner of tonight’s Ridgway-Brockway contest). This game after the team’s top two scorers went to the locker room with injuries on separate occasions.
“A lot of toughness in that group,” Coudersport head coach Brian Furman said. “We had Jared (Green) go down with a bad ankle. He was maybe 50 percent out there in the second half. Owen (Chambers) had to come out after a hard hit on the floor to the head. Both of those guys and the whole team just really sucked it up and put the hard work in and got the win.”
And that didn’t account for the Falcons Aaron Wolfinger, who apparently was ejected after making inadvertent contact with an official on his way toward the bench early in the fourth quarter after registering his fourth foul. Wolfinger, who scored eight points on the night, left the floor and went to the locker room, only to return to the bench later in the quarter.
Green hurt his ankle in the second quarter and returned to start the third quarter, while Chambers smacked his head on the hardwood after a hard foul on a layup attempt in the third quarter. He left the game and Wolfinger coincidentally swished both free throws in his place.
All of that almost overshadowed the Falcons going 27-for-32 (84 percent) from the foul line in the game and making Callen work for all 21 of his points.
“Mixed emotions,” Furman said of the locker room vibe. “A hard-fought battle. We turned the ball over a lot. Mentally and physically drained right now. The bus ride home and we get to play for the championship Saturday, so we’ll be ready.”
Green (14) and Chambers (18) both scored in double figures to lead the offense as usual, but late in the game it was the slashing ability of Zach Layag that kept the Coudersport offense flowing. He went 8-for-8 in the fourth quarter from the foul line to finish with a game-high 22 points.
Coudersport took a slim 32-29 lead at halftime and played from ahead for the rest of the game. Immediately after Wolfinger’s ejection, Layag and Green answered with layups to put the Falcons up 10, 55-45. After Callen fouled out with 2:48 to go in the game, Clarion-Limestone had no offensive answer for Coudersport’s ball-hawking defense.
Coudersport is back a district final for the second straight year after losing to Elk Catholic in last year’s Class A final. The Falcons will be in Saturday night’s finale at Clarion University’s Tippin Gymnasium, following the Class AA girls final of the Lady Falcons and Kane.
“It will be a lot of fun,” Furman said. “Tonight, there was a nice crowd here for a nice game. I think we’re going to have back-to-back games down in Clarion, so I expect we’ll have a real good following there. It should be a lot of fun.”
AT ST. MARYS
Clarion-Limestone (57)
Deion Deas 3 1-4 10, Leadbetter 1 1-4, Ian Callen 5 2-2 12, Smith 3 0-0 8, Dan Callen 9 3-4 21, Deal 1 0-0 2. Totals: 22 7-12 57.
Coudersport (69)
Zach Layag 6 8-8 22, Wolfinger 1 6-6 8, Owen Chambers 3 7-10 18, Keglovits 2 0-0 4, Jared Green 4 5-6 14, Ricke 1 0-0 3. Totals: 17 27-32 69.
Clarion-Limestone 7 29 43 57
Coudersport 17 32 50 69
Three-point goals: Clarion-Limestone 5 (Deas 2, Leadbetter, Smith 2); Coudersport 6 (Layag 2, Chambers 2, Green, Ricke)
Total fouls: Clarion-Limestone 19, Coudersport 16. Fouled out: Callen (Clarion-Limestone). Technical foul: Wolfinger (Coudersport)
