PORT ALLEGANY — Reilly Raught scored 10 of her 12 points in the third quarter to help Otto-Eldred pull away from Port Allegany for a 47-34 win Tuesday night.
The Terrors (13-3) led 20-17 at halftime before Raught erupted in the third to push that advantage to 35-24 heading into the fourth. She finished with 11 rebounds as well to notch a double-double.
“We were actually trying to get (Raught) the ball a lot in the first half, and it finally worked out and she made shots in the third,” O-E coach Shawn Gray said. “She made some big shots and had 11 rebounds, which was definitely her biggest rebounding night of the year. She set the tone in the third quarter, and we needed it.”
From there, Port (9-5) rallied to within six a few times, but a combination of turnovers, rebounding and O-E free throws sank the Gators’ comeback bid.
Katie Sheeler scored a game-high 18 points for O-E, which included an 8-for-10 night at the charity stripe. Bri Heller added nine points.
As a team, the Terrors went 12-for-19 at the line.
Port Allegany’s Bree Garzel, who led District 9 in scoring average with 22.2 points per game entering the contest, was kept to a five-point night thanks to strong defense by Sheeler. It marked the first time since last season Garzel was kept to less than 10 points, a streak of 18 games.
Gray said of Sheeler’s performance, “Katie’s a basketball player. She does whatever we ask her to do. We started out in a 3-2 zone we’ve been working on, but (Port was) getting open so we went man-to-man.
“I said (to Katie), ‘You’ve got her,’ and she said, ‘Yeah.’ That was that. We did help as much as we could on (Garzel), but Katie did a great job on her. Katie stepped up as she does for us.”
Port coach Jamie Evens noted that the Gators committed around 20 turnovers on the night and were severely outrebounded.
“Going in, we were focused on turnovers and rebounding, but they outrebounded us by about 20 and turnovers killed us,” he said.
Two other Gators finished in double figures, as Jade Evens (5 rebounds, 3 blocks) tallied 12 points and Evin Stauffer (6 rebounds, 3 assists) scored 11 points. Garzel pulled down five boards and added four assists.
The game served as the only meeting between the North Tier League rivals, which split the 2019-’20 home-and-home series.
AT PORT ALLEGANY
Otto-Eldred (47)
Katie Sheeler 4 8-10 18, Merry 2 1-2 6, Reilly Raught 5 0-0 12, E. Sheeler 0 0-1 0, Dalton 0 2-2 2, B. Heller 4 1-4 9. Totals: 15 12-19 47
Port Allegany (34)
Jade Evens 5 0-0 12, Evin Stauffer 3 2-5 11, Archer 1 0-0 3, Garzel 1 3-4 5, Budd 1 1-2 3, Dowell 0 0-1 0. Totals: 11 6-12 34
Otto-Eldred 13 20 35 47
Port Allegany 8 17 24 34
Three-point goals: O-E 5 (Raught 2, K. Sheeler 2, Merry), PA 6 (Stauffer 3, Evens 2, Archer); Total fouls: O-E 14, PA 15; fouled out: None.
BOYS
Northern Potter 44, Austin 43
AUSTIN — Jackson Glover dropped 21 points for Austin, but the Panthers fell to Northern Potter by one.
Aydan Nicka added 14 points for Austin (6-8).
Carter Anderson (16 points) and Tre Slawson (11 points) paced Northern Potter (5-9), which led 17-9 after the first quarter and 30-24 entering the fourth.
AT AUSTIN
Northern Potter (44)
Carter Anderson 7 1-1 16, Tre Slawson 5 0-0 11, Langworthy 2 0-0 5, Moore 2 2-4 6, Brown 2 2-5 6. Totals: 18 5-10 44
Austin (43)
Jackson Glover 8 2-2 21, Aydan Nicka 6 0-2 14, Crawford 1 0-0 2, Lucas 1 0-0 2, Hooftallen 2 0-0 4. Totals: 18 2-4 43
Northern Potter 17 30 37 44
Austin 9 24 33 43
Three-point goals: NP 3 (Langworthy, Anderson, Slawson), Austin 5 (Glover 3, Nicka 2); Total fouls: NP 9, Austin 13; fouled out: Slawson (NP)
Johnsonburg 56, Smethport 35
JOHNSONBURG — Johnsonburg led by 19 at halftime en route to a dominant win over visiting Smethport.
Three Rams (10-3) scored in double figures as Cam Stelene tallied a game-high 22 points, while Gabe Watts and Eric Christoff chipped in 12 and 10 points, respectively.
Alex Ognen and Richie McDowell each scored 10 points for Smethport (7-9). Layne Shall added nine points.
AT JOHNSONBURG
Smethport (35)
Alex Ognen 4 0-0 10, Richie McDowell 4 0-0 10, Shall 3 2-2 9, Burdick 1 0-0 2, Howes 1 0-0 2, Higley 0 2-2 2. Totals: 13 4-4 35
Johnsonburg (56)
Cam Stelene 10 2-2 22, Gabe Watts 5 2-6 12, Eric Christoff 4 0-0 10, Fruburg 2 0-0 5, Douglas 1 2-2 5, Wells 1 0-0 2. Totals: 23 6-10 56
Smethport 6 13 28 35
Johnsonburg 14 32 39 56
Three-point goals: Smethport 5 (Ognen 2, McDowell 2, Shall), Jburg 4 (Christoff 2, Fruburg, Douglas); Total fouls: Smethport 9, Jburg 6; fouled out: None.
