The PIAA Sweet 16 round continues today, with two local teams gearing up for Round Two tilts.
In Class A girls action, Coudersport will take on Blacklick Valley after advancing by avoiding a near upset against Avella, 48-41.
Meanwhile, the Ridgway boys are gearing up for a Class AA matchup with Farrell after the Elkers defeated Shenango in Round One.
Here are glimpses into each game:
Girls Class A: Coudersport (22-4) vs. Blacklick Valley (18-7)
Tonight, 7 p.m., at Bald Eagle Area High School
BELLEFONTE — Coudersport head coach Bob Tingley maintains that the first game of any tournament is among the toughest to win.
It sure looked that way as the Lady Falcons held off an upset-minded Avella team to advance to the PIAA Sweet 16. Using a high-pressure defense and at times, a full-court press, Avella forced 27 Coudy turnovers and rallied back from a 10-point halftime deficit to tie things up in the fourth.
But Coudersport answered with a 12-5 run to finish the game and avoid an upset at the hands of the WPIAL’s sixth-place team.
The usually effective trio of Sarah Chambers, Rosalyn Page and Mikayla Gunn paced Coudy in scoring with 13, 11 and 11 points, respectively, while Emma Chambers also scored 11.
Key for District 9’s champions in that game were defense and rebounding. Fueled by those aforementioned takeaways, Avella took an astounding 57 field goal attempts on the day, but was able to only make 15 for a field goal percentage of just 26.3. In addition, Coudy won the battle on the glass, 34-20.
If Coudy is to take out District 6’s third-place team, that will need to be the case again, and turnovers will have to be kept at a minimum. The Lady Vikings average 56 points per game and shoot 40% from the field. They also average 27 rebounds, 12 assists and 13 steals per game.
Blacklick Valley is led by guard Maria McConnell, who averages 20.8 points and 8.6 rebounds per game. Emily Marines (9.9 ppg), Nikki Zimmerman (8.7 ppg) and Marissa Skubik (7.5 ppg) provide the bulk of secondary scoring to bolster McConnell.
BV enters having won eight of its last 10 contests. The Lady Vikings narrowly edged District 7’s Clairton, 43-37, in the first round.
Coudy, meanwhile, has now won 10 in a row since Jan. 25’s loss to Bradford.
The winner of this game faces the winner of District 10 champion Kennedy Catholic (21-3) and District 5 champion Shanksville (24-4) in the state quarterfinals on Saturday.
Boys Class AA: Ridgway (20-7) vs. Farrell (17-8)
Tonight, 7:30 p.m., Tippin Gymnasium at Clarion University
CLARION — A familiar name for fans of District 9 awaits the Elkers.
Farrell, who has twice knocked Coudersport out of the Class A football postseason and eliminated those same Falcons in the first round of this year’s state basketball tourney, is on the other side of this matchup after dispatching Coudy, 69-64.
District 9 champion Ridgway, meanwhile, surged back from a late five-point deficit to defeat Shenango, 57-49.
Key for the Elkers in that win — and all season, for that matter — was Matt Dush, who scored 19 points. But just as big for Ridgway was the play from Dan Park in the post, who also scored 19 and has picked up his play since the postseason began. In addition, Zack Zameroski scored 10 points and Domenic Allegretto tallied seven.
Since a 2-5 stretch in January, the Elkers have won 12 of their last 14 games and enter tonight’s contest on a four-game win streak.
Farrell, meanwhile, went back-and-forth in its first-round matchup with Coudersport. The Steelers put the game away on a late steal-and-score.
Key for Farrell in that game was the charity stripe. The Steelers converted on 10 of 17 free throws, while Coudy went just 1-for-3.
Leading District 10’s runner-up in scoring were Eric Hopson (25 points) and Brian Hilton (16 points).
As it has been in previous Ridgway games, tonight’s winner will likely be the team that can dictate the pace of the game.
The Elkers will need to execute their methodical offensive approach and couple that with sound defense against a Farrell team that can run the floor, as the Steelers come in having scored at least 54 points in each of their last 10 games.
Farrell’s lone loss in that span was a 55-54 decision against Lakeview in the D10 championship. During that stretch, the Steelers eclipsed 80 points twice and 70 points three times.
Tonight’s winner will face the winner of WPIAL champion Our Lady of the Sacred Heart (25-1) and D6 runner-up Portage Area (21-6).
