SMETHPORT — The Cameron County boys basketball team came into Thursday night’s game riding one of District 9’s longest winning streaks.
The Red Raiders had won nine straight games and seemed destined to face-off against Coudersport in what would essentially be a winner-take-all game for the North Tier League crown next week.
But, as the old saying goes, that’s why you play the game.
Smethport — which is now riding a six-game winning streak of its own — got off to a quick start and withstood a second half Red Raider rally to stun Cameron Co. for a 47-36 victory.
It was a role reversal from earlier this month when Cameron County (13-3, 11-2) beat Smethport (12-7, 9-5) 53-39 in Emporium.
“I guess the biggest thing was coming out really strong in the first quarter and then we played really good defense in second quarter and going into halftime,” Smethport coach Jay Acker said. “Defense was focal point. Cameron County is really good and has a lot of different weapons and we held them in check.”
That defensive effort was especially evident on Caden Beldin. The Red Raider forward was held to fewer than 10 points for the first time this season, and finished the game with just one made field goal. He dropped 16 on the Hubbers in the first meeting.
“Richie McDowell (played great defense on Beldin) and played a great game,” Acker said. “He came out and hit two 3’s in the first quarter and that kind of set the tone.”
McDowell finished with 10 points to lead a balanced scoring attack that also saw Alex Ognen (11 points), Noah Lent (9) and Layne Shall (8) contribute offensively.
With Smethport leading by nine at halftime, Cameron County cut it to a two-possession game in the third quarter and going into the final eight minutes, but the Hubbers were able to do enough down the stretch to pull off a big league win.
“We just held strong and made our shots and free-throws,” Acker noted. “Alex hit four free-throws in the fourth quarter and typically we are a 50% shooting team but tonight we were 7-for-7.
“We didn’t shoot a lot of free-throws, but the ones we did were important and we made.”
Dino Brown had a game-high 12 points to pace the Cameron County offense.
Both teams will face Kane (12-6) next, with the Red Raiders traveling to Kane today and Smethport hosting the Wolves on Monday.
AT SMETHPORT
Cameron County (36)
Dino Brown 5 2-6 12, Guisto 2 1-3 6, Swartz 0 1-2 1, Beldin 1 3-4 5, Hayden Brown 5 0-0 12. Totals: 13 7-15 36
Smethport (47)
Shall 4 0-0 8, Alfieri 1 0-0 2, Helsley 3 1-1 7, Richie McDowell 3 2-2 10, Lent 4 0-0 9, Alex Ognen 3 4-4 11. Totals: 18 7-7 47
Cam. County 8 17 29 36
Smethport 17 28 35 47
Three-point goals: CC 3 (H. Brown 2, Guisto 1), Smethport 4 (McDowell 2, Lent, Ognen); Total fouls: CC 13, Smethport 14; fouled out: none
JV: CC won
Otto-Eldred 69, Austin 50
DUKE CENTER — Jake Merry poured in 13 of his game-high 22 points in the third quarter to boost the Terrors past visiting Austin.
Leading 30-21 at halftime, the Terrors (10-8, 8-5) outscored the Panthers 25-15 in a decisive third quarter to lead by 19 heading into the fourth.
“All year we’ve been playing just one half — and it’s usually the first half — so we said let’s play a good third quarter and put the second half together and play two halves,” Otto-Eldred coach Dan Dalton said.
Braden Maholic also had a big game for the Terrors with 21 points. Teammate T.J. VanScoter added seven points and 12 rebounds.
For Austin (10-9, 5-8), which suffered its third straight league loss, Jackson Glover had 19 points and fellow Glover kin Parker and Joseph Jr. added 12 each.
Jackson Glover added two 3-pointers, eight rebounds, six assists and two steals to his statline.
The Panthers also shot 33 free-throws in the game, making 19.
AT DUKE CENTER
Austin (50)
Jackson Glover 5 7-10 19, Parker Glover 3 6-11 12, Joseph Glover, Jr. 4 3-4 12, Crawford 0 0-2 0, Rees 1 1-2 3, Nicka 1 2-4 2. Totals: 14 19-33 50
Otto-Eldred (69)
Jimerson 1 0-0 2, Murphy 1 0-0 2, Jake Merry 8 3-4 22, VanScoter 3 0-0 7, Smith 2 0-0 5, Bell 2 1-2 5, Sebastian 1 1-2 3, Braden Maholic 7 6-8 21, Schoonmaker 1 0-0 2. Totals: 26 11-16 69
Austin 8 21 36 50
O-E 12 30 55 69
Three-point goals: Austin 3 (Jack. Glover 2, Jo. Glover 1), O-E 6 (Merry 3, VanScoter, Smith, Maholic); Total fouls: Austin 16, O-E 20; fouled out: none
JV: O-E won
Coudersport 67, Port Allegany 38
COUDERSPORT — In his first game of the season season, Travis Gleason scored a game-high 18 points as Coudersport maintained its unblemished North Tier League record in convincing fashion.
Gleason, who had missed the entirety of the season to this point with an injury, scored eight points in the first half, including Coudersport’s only six points of the second quarter as the Falcons (16-2, 13-0) took a 28-17 lead into the intermission.
From there, the forward added 10 more points and finished just one rebound shy of a double-double. Teammates Dillon Keglovits (17 points, 8 rebounds) and Hayden Keck (11 points, 6 steals) were also in double figures for the Falcons. Derek Easton added six assists.
Port Allegany (7-11, 6-7) was paced by Ty Guilds’ nine points. The oft-prolific duo of Jordan Card and Howie Stuckey was held to just 15 combined points, and it was the first time Card (8 points) and Stuckey (7 points) were both held to single digits in a game.
AT COUDERSPORT
Port Allegany (38)
Ty Guilds 3 3-3 9, Card 3 0-2 8, Archer 2 0-0 5, Stuckey 3 0-0 7, B. Moses 1 0-0 3, C. Moses 3 0-1 6. Totals: 15 3-6 38
Coudersport (67)
Travis Gleason 8 2-2 18, Dillon Keglovits 6 3-5 17, Hayden Keck 4 2-2 11, VanWhy 3 1-3 8, Da. Keglovits 2 0-0 5, Daniels 1 0-0 3, Furman 0 1-2 1, Dickens 0 2-2 2, Kellert 1 0-0 2. Totals: 25 11-16 67
Port A 9 17 25 38
Coudy 22 28 44 67
Three-point goals: Port A 5 (Card 2, Archer 1, Stuckey 1, B. Moses 1), Coudy 6 (Di. Keglovits 2, Keck 1, VanWhy 1, Da. Keglovits 1, Daniels 1); Total fouls: Port A 18, Coudy 13; fouled out: B. Moses (PA)
Northern Potter 74, Oswayo Valley 65
SHINGLEHOUSE — Carter Anderson exploded for 36 points for the second time this season as Northern Potter took a North Tier victory on the road.
Anderson, who had previously scored a season-high 36 points against Cowanesque Valley on Dec. 7, hit four 3-pointers on the night. NoPo’s (7-12, 4-10) Tre Slawson also hit four triples en route to 21 points, while Anthony Benway scored 10. As a team, the Panthers connected on 10 shots from downtown.
NoPo led 18-10 after the first quarter before taking a 33-25 lead into halftime. Oswayo Valley (3-15, 3-10) had clipped the Panther lead to 52-46 in the third quarter, before Northern Potter pulled away again in the fourth.
“We couldn’t stop their three-ball,” said OV head coach Nick Goss. “They hit 10 threes on us, which made it tough for us to come back, and then they hit all their free throws late. They played a really good game tonight. It felt like we were always trying to scratch back little by little, but (NoPo) played a great game.”
The Green Wave was paced by 16 points and five assists from Cayden Black. Gunner Bean (12 points) and Noah Wichert (13 points, 8 rebounds, 4 blocks) were also in double figures for Oswayo Valley. Alex Phillips pulled down eight boards.
AT SHINGLEHOUSE
Northern Potter (74)
Carter Anderson 11 10-12 36, Tre Slawson 5 7-8 21, Anthony Benway 3 2-5 10, Langworthy 1 2-2 4, Brown 0 3-4 3, Wills 0 0-1 0. Totals: 20 24-32 74
Oswayo Valley (65)
Caden Black 5 4-5 16, Carter Stedman 4 0-0 8, Gross 3 0-2 7, Gunner Bean 3 5-6 12, Noah Wichert 5 3-6 13, Phillips 4 1-3 9. Totals: 24 13-22 65
NP 18 33 52 74
OV 10 25 46 65
Three-point goals: NP 10 (Benway 2, Anderson 4, Slawson 4), OV 4 (Black 2, Gross 1, Bean 1); Total fouls: NP 19, OV 22; fouled out: Wichert (OV), Phillips (OV)
JV: Oswayo Valley won, 40-23
AML
Johnsonburg 53, DuBois Catholic 29
JOHNSONBURG — Johnsonburg’s Gabe Watts and Austin Green combined for more points than DuBois Catholic scored as a team as the Rams rolled in Allegheny Mountain League crossover action.
Watts scored 21 points, while Green poured in 16 for the Rams (11-6, 5-2), who only hit a pair of 3-pointers as a team.
Jburg, which has won five of its last six games, trailed DuBois Catholic 12-9 after the first quarter before taking a 21-15 lead into halftime. From there, the Rams exploded for 38-23 lead going into the fourth.
DuBois Catholic (2-16, 2-7) was led by seven points apiece from Damon Fister and Jalen Kosko.
AT JOHNSONBURG
DuBois Catholic (29)
Damon Fister 3 0-0 7, Jalen Kosko 3 1-1 7, Kness 2 1-2 5, Starr 2 0-0 6, Way 0 2-2 2, Parsley 1 0-0 2, Maurer 0 0-3 0. Totals: 11 4-8 29
Johnsonburg (53)
Gabe Watts 8 5-7 21, Austin Green 7 1-2 16, Ga. Gregori 2 0-0 4, Zilkofski 0 0-2 0, Christoff 1 0-0 3, Stelene 2 0-0 4, Douglas 0 1-2 1, Freeburg 0 2-2 2, Elmquist 1 0-0 2. Totals: 21 9-15 53
DCC 12 15 23 29
Jburg 9 21 38 53
Three-point goals: DCC 3 (Fister 1, Starr 2), Jburg 2 (Green 1, Christoff 1); Total fouls: DCC 13, Jburg 15; fouled out: none.
