Some storylines write themselves.
That was the case, on more than one occasion, in a winter that saw three local basketball teams make a run to the state quarterfinals. The interscholastic athletic circuit’s longest season concluded Friday — at least in terms of local rooting interest — after a four-week flurry of playoffs that felt like a season of its own.
Among its memorable moments? One school’s District 9 sweep, another’s retribution in the state playoffs, and a pair of Elk County coaching legends leading their teams deep into the postseason.
IT FELT as if Otto-Eldred and Elk County Catholic were on a course — in both hoops circuits — that was destined to collide in the District 9 final.
O-E enjoyed a banner year in the North Tier League, its boys and girls hoops teams sweeping the conference for the first time ever. The school was rewarded — through the fate of seeding and scheduling — with back-to-back district quarterfinal games at home.
The boys and girls swept Union, and in front of a spirited crowd, the evening became a community event, not just a pair of basketball games. As the rest of the North Tier struggled through a down year, the O-E boys and girls — led by a pair of high school teammates coaching at their alma mater — cemented themselves as the team to beat in their respective conferences for years to come.
ECC, meanwhile, battled through a difficult District 9 League and Allegheny Mountain Leauge schedule, its boys and girls teams each earning the top seed in their respective district playoff brackets.
Each cruised to the D9 final.
The girls, who had already defeated O-E during the regular season, would meet the third-seeded Lady Terrors again to decide Class A. The boys, meanwhile, would meet No. 3 DuBois Central Catholic, which had upset No. 2 O-E in the semis.
On a Saturday evening at Clarion University, ECC swept the Class A crowns, the Lady Crusaders capturing their first district title in 12 years before the boys won their 24th under head coach Aaron Straub. While the Lady Terrors fell short of a championship, they found solace in the PIAA tournament, where back-to-back victories led the program further into the state playoffs than it had ever previously been.
THE ENERGY AT the Lady Terrors’ first-round PIAA game channeled that of 12 days prior, as the community rallied for a Wednesday-evening tilt against Kennedy Catholic.
O-E not only won that game at home, but followed with a second-round victory over District 7 champion Bishop Canevin at Clarion, sending the Lady Terrors onto the Class A quarterfinals for the first time ever. The Lady Crusaders, meanwhile, crushed Monessen in a first-round home game.
ECC’s postseason ended three nights later at the hands of District 7’s Union Area. With a young core that rivals O-E’s, however, this year’s installment of Lady Crusaders vs. Lady Terrors may have been the first of several that will be decided at Clarion.
Elk County enjoyed a memorable hoops year in general as, between boys and girls, five of the county’s eight hoops teams appeared in the PIAA playoffs.
A top-five finish was required in Class A while top-three was required in 2A. Both ECC teams met the criteria, as did both Ridgway teams and the Johnsonburg boys.
In the end, however, two of the area’s coaching giants garnered the spotlight once again. In a season during which Straub eclipsed 900 career victories and Ridgway boss Tony Allegretto deemed it to be his last, the two led their teams as far into the state playoffs as any other District 9 team.
ECC — after blowing through the D9 tournament, beating its three opponents by a combined 56 points — started the PIAA tourney with a thrilling home victory over District 7’s Rochester. The Crusaders followed that by out-lasting D10 champion Farrell at Clarion, then returned to the same court, three days later, and held on to beat Union Area in overtime.
Ahead of his team’s first state semifinal appearance since 2009, Straub credited his on-court leaders for carrying the Crusaders to a six-game playoff win streak. D7 champion Bishop Canevin bounced ECC from the tournament, but after yet another successful campaign, Straub remains the common denominater in a program that continues to set the standard for District 9’s small schools.
Allegretto, meanwhile, added an exclamation point to his final season with the Elkers with an unforgettable postseason.
Seeded second, Ridgway held off a gritty Karns City team in the D9 semifinals before upsetting high-flying Redbank Valley to win the Class 2A championship.
The Elkers followed with back-to-back wins that took them to the PIAA quarterfinals. In the midst of the action was Allegretto’s son, Domenic, who sealed a first-round PIAA victory over Cambridge Springs with a game-winning sequence that put a poetic ending on his father’s final home game.
Allegretto leaves behind a legacy that many will best remember by two words — “Elker basketball.” His final playoff push, and the two schools that joined him in garnering respect for District 9 basketball amongst its Western Pa. peers, made the 2021-22 postseason one to remember.
(Jeff Uveino, Bradford Publishing Company assistant group sports editor, can be reached at juveino@bradfordera.com)
