Early last week, a few of us in the sports department at the Era were remarking on how much the weather had cooperated this winter and that nearly all of our scheduled basketball games had gone off without a hitch over the first month and a half of the season.
What a jinx that was.
Since then, nearly three full days of basketball games have been postponed or canceled because of the heavy dose of winter weather that has hit the area.
So, although there were once again a lot of empty gymnasiums across District 9 and the North Tier League Wednesday night, it gave us a chance to sit back and assess where things stand around the court.
On the girls side of the NTL, the race amongst the top four teams has begun to widen. Coudersport currently sits in first place with an 11-1 league mark, having a game in hand over the second place 10-1 Otto-Eldred Lady Terrors. Coincidentally, those two teams are playing tonight at 6 o’clock in Duke Center in a game that will go a long way in deciding who wins the league.
The Lady Falcons got the best of Otto in this year’s previous meeting — 46-39 — back in mid-December. That game was win number four in Coudersport’s current 11-game streak that is second only to Punxsutawney for the longest such stretch in D-9 this year. After an 0-3 start, the Falcons have leaned on the one-two scoring punch of senior Shaelyn Black and sophomore Sarah Chambers to dominate teams over the six last weeks. Kudos to first-year head coach Bob Tingley for pushing the right buttons after that sluggish start.
Their opponents tonight, Otto-Eldred, have plowed through the NTL as well, suffering three of its four losses to non-league opponents Portville, Bradford and Kane. The schedule doesn’t get any easier for Otto after tonight, as they still have games against Cameron County, Northern Potter, Port Allegany and Johnsonburg. The Terrors have a talented core of seniors and will be a team that nobody wants to play come February. Still, give O-E credit for scheduling a challenging non-league slate.
Cameron County (10-2 league) and Port Allegany (7-4) are certainly still in the hunt, but both will need to win the remainder of their NTL games and get some help for a crack at the league title. The Lady Red Raiders have won four straight after dropping three of four and play their last game of the season on Feb. 6 against Coudersport, which could decide the top spot.
Port Allegany, meanwhile, has struggled against the top tier of the league, losing twice to Cameron Co. and once to Coudy and Otto.
Should be a fun couple of weeks.
Things are a bit different on the boys side.
Coudersport has rolled through the rest of the NTL, winning its league contests by an average of 40 (yes – 40!) points. Owen Chambers, averaging nearly 30 points per game, has been a handful for teams all season. The senior star is not only potent from the 3-point line, but he also has a tremendous knack for getting tough baskets in the paint and earning plenty of points at the free-throw line. The Falcons (12-1 overall, 10-0 NTL) have dominated defensively as well, allowing just four opponents to go over 50, with a season-high 65 given up to Northern Potter in the second game of the year. Not only is Coudersport the favorite to win the league, but they’re in the driver’s seat for a third straight trip to the D-9 Class AA championship.
Cameron County is a game back of the Falcons because they fell to Coudersport by 10 points in December. Other than that loss, as well as a season-opening double overtime defeat to Ridgway, the Red Raiders have rolled through the rest of their schedule and are 8-1 in the NTL. Cam County has a balanced scoring attack, with Jake Walters, Marcus Brown, Dino Brown and Caden Beldin all having the ability to go off and lead them in scoring on a given night.
The two teams will face off for the second time on Feb. 14.
There is still plenty up for grabs throughout the rest of the league with Smethport, Galeton and Austin all above .500 and within two games of each other. All three teams have pulled off some impressive wins this season, and the jockeying through the standings should continue down the stretch with plenty of head-to-head matchups remaining.
The NTL should be well-represented, in both the girls and boys’ brackets, come District playoffs in late February.
