ST. MARYS — Perfect.
That’s what the Elk County Catholic boys basketball team is this season against county rival Johnsonburg after beating the Rams for the third time Saturday night.
The Crusaders’ latest victory, 49-42 inside St. Marys’ Dutch Oven, gave ECC the Allegheny Mountain League (AML) title and ran its record to a near-perfect 23-1 on the season. That lone loss was a 52-43 setback at Class 5A DuBois.
Elk County had previously beaten Johnsonburg (16-8) 64-53 in the Paper City on Dec. 10 and 50-32 on its home court on Jan. 25. The Crusaders led wire-to-wire to capture win No. 3 vs. the Rams, although Johnsonburg made things exciting late.
Elk County took a nine-point lead (36-27) into the fourth quarter and still led by eight (44-36) after a hoop by Carter Lindemuth with 2:32 to play. Johnsonburg responded with a quick 6-0 spurt in just over a minute to get within two (44-42) on a pair of Gabe Watts free throws with 47 seconds remaining. Watts also jump-started the mini-run with a basket.
That proved to be the Rams’ final points though, as ECC hit 5 of 6 free throws in the last 43 seconds to seal the championship-clinching victory.
Mark Kraus and Regis Wortman, who came off the bench in his return to the ECC lineup after missing a couple games, both went 2 of 2 at the line while Leo Gregory was 1 of 2. Kraus and Wortman led ECC with 12 points a piece, while Gregory added eight.
While he helped the win, Kraus also played a huge part in a fast start for the Crusaders to open the game — one that saw them jump out to a 10-2 lead just past the midway point of the opening quarter.
Both Kraus and Wortman finished the night with 12 points.
Ben Hoffman drained a 3-pointer to open the scoring before Kraus netted seven straight ECC points in the run. Johnsonburg countered with a 6-2 spurt to get back within four at 12-8 before Isaac Wortman closed out the first-quarter scoring to put ECC up 14-8.
The teams traded scores to start the second quarter, with Kraus and Ram Eric Christoff each hitting 3-pointers to make it 19-15. The Wortmans then teamed up to score six straight points (4 by Regis) to give ECC a 10-point lead (25-15) late in the half. Isaac Wortman finished with eight points.
However, Gino Gregori scored in the closing seconds to send the Rams to the locker room with a single-digit deficit at eight (25-17).
After Watts scored to open the third quarter, Isaac Wortman and Gregory hit back-to-back buckets, with Gregory completing a 3-point play to give ECC its largest lead of the night at 30-19. The teams traded baskets from there, with ECC eventually taking a nine-point lead (36-27) to the fourth.
Watts and teammate Austin Green tried to rally the Rams late in the fourth, but ECC hit its free throws down the stretch to hold off the comeback. Watts had seven of his game-high 15 points in the fourth, while Green had five of his 13 in the quarter.
Both teams are now off until Friday when they open postseason play in the District 9 Class A quarterfinals.
Top-seeded Elk County awaits the winner of Wednesday’s first-round game that has No. 9 Northern Potter traveling to No. 8 Austin. That ECC contest will be played in Bradford at 7 p.m.
The fourth-seeded Rams battle fifth-seeded A-C Valley in DuBois at 7:30 p.m.
Should ECC and Johnsonburg each win those quarterfinal games, it would set up a fourth meeting between the teams in the semifinals next week.
AT ST. MARYS
Johnsonburg (42)
Gabe Watts 6 3-5 15, Austin Green 6 0-0 13, Gi. Gregori 1 0-0 2, Ga. Gregori 2 0-0 4, Christoff 2 2-2 8. Totals: 17 5-7 42
Elk Catholic (49)
Regis Wortman 5 2-3 12, Mark Kraus 4 2-2 12, I. Wortman 4 0-0 8, Lindemuth 2 0-0 4, DePrator 1 0-0 2, Hoffman 1 0-0 3, Gregory 2 4-5 8. Totals: 19 8-10 49
Johnsonburg 8 17 27 42
Elk Catholic 14 25 36 49
Three-point goals: Jburg 3 (Christoff 2, Green 1), ECC 3 (Kraus 2, Hoffman 1); Total fouls: Jburg 16 , ECC 11; fouled out: none.
