EMPORIUM, Pa. – A dominant second half helped two-time defending NTL champion Otto-Eldred make an early-season statement with a 55-35 road win over previously unbeaten Cameron County.
The Terrors (6-0 overall, 4-0 NTL), who upped their NTL win streak to 36 straight games, led by just four, 21-17, at halftime before outscoring the Red Raiders (4-1, 2-1) 34-18 in the second half, including 18-8 in the fourth quarter.
Davey Schenfield led the second-half charge with 10 points after the break, including nine of Otto-Eldred’s 16 third-quarter tallies which helped the Terrors expand their lead to 10, 37-27, by the end of the third.
Brax Caldwell then helped finish the deal by scoring seven of his team-high 15 points in the fourth quarter.
Schenfield added 13 points, while Manning Splain had 11.
In the win, Otto-Eldred showed it could be victorious even when leading scorer Landon Francis (21.2 ppg entering the contest) is held in check. Francis was held to a season-low seven points, his fewest regular-season output since scoring three against Northern Potter on Jan. 23 of last season.
Ryan Shaffer paced Cameron County with 12 points, while Josh Beer added nine and Landon Farren eight.
ELK COUNTY CATHOLIC 54, BROOKVILLE 48
BROOKVILLE, Pa. – An 18-8 first-half-ending run helped Elk County Catholic pick up a key D9 League road win at Brookville, 54-48.
The teams were tied at 10 when the Crusaders went on the half-ending run to take a 28-18 halftime lead.
They then had to hold off Brookville in the second half.
A 6-2 run to start the half helped the Raiders close the gap to four, 41-37, helping to the fourth quarter, and the game remained within two possessions until the final minute.
Colby Nussbaum had a double-double for ECC with 12 points and 12 rebounds and was one of three Crusaders in double digits.
Wil Wortman led unbeaten ECC (4-0 overall, 1-0 D9 League) with 14 points, and Lance O’Neill added 10 points.
Jack Pete paced Brookville, which fell to 1-4 overall and 0-1 in the league while losing its fourth straight game, with 12 points. Luke Burton and Kellan Haines each added 10 points.
The four-game skid is the longest for the Raiders, who haven’t lost more than four games in a season since dropping eight in 2019-2020, since losing four in a row from Jan. 25, 2019, through Feb. 5, 2019.
PUNXSUTAWNEY 49, BRADFORD 36
PUNXSUTAWNEY, Pa. – The early season’s best turnaround story continued Friday night in Punxsutawney when the Chucks, who won seven games all of last year, won their fifth straight to start the season thanks to a 49-36 win over Bradford.
Punxsutawney (5-0 overall, 1-0 D9 League), which hasn’t had a winning season in seven years, was led by Noah Kengersky’s 13 points. Kengersky hit three 3-pointers.
Beau Thomas added 12 points for the Chucks with Jimmie Neese adding nine and Noah Weaver seven.
Bradford (1-3, 0-1) got a season-high 14 points from Brendan Warner, who hit four triples. Jake Franz added 10 tallies for the Owls.
COUDERSPORT 62, NORTHERN POTTER 57
ULYSSES, Pa. – Coudersport bult a 13-point lead on the road at Northern Potter after three quarters of play and then held off a strong Panther push in the fourth quarter to pick up a 62-57 NTL victory.
The Falcons (2-2 overall, 2-1 NTL) led 50-37 at the end of the third thanks to a 21-12 advantage in the quarter, but Northern Potter (3-3, 2-2).
Up four at halftime, Coudersport hit four third-quarter 3-pointers to push the lead to 13 by the end of the quarter.
Mason Roessner hit two of those triples and scored eight points in the quarter, while Drew VanWhy and Micah Batson each hit one. VanWhy added seven points in the frame with Batson scoring four.
But in the fourth quarter, the Panthers rallied behind Ethan Fuhrer, who scored 12 of his team-high 25 points in the quarter. Fuhrer finished a monster double-double with 20 rebounds.
Roessner scored a career-high 28 points while adding four steals.
VanWhy added 15 points for Coudersport, while Batson had seven points and five steals. Kevin Sherry grabbed five rebounds and scored five points.
Ty Daniels added 14 points for Northern Potter with Nolan Smith adding eight points. Noah Cady had 11 rebounds.
CRANBERRY 72, SHEFFIELD 51
SENECA, Pa. – Landon Baker led a four-some of Cranberry players in double digits with 15 points, as the Berries rolled past visiting Sheffield, 72-51.
Ethan Merryman added 14 points for Cranberry (3-3) with COle Findlay chipping in 12 and Blake Marchinke 11. Cayden Baker also contributed with eight points.
Dylan Harwick paced Sheffield (2-4) with 18 points with Leihden Wotorson adding 13 points and Allen Eaton contributed eight points.
DUBOIS CENTRAL CATHOLIC 68, BROCKWAY 28
DUBOIS, Pa. – Andrew Green shot 9 of 12 from the field while scoring a game-high 20 points and grabbing seven rebounds to lead homestanding DuBois Central Catholic past Brockway, 68-28, in AML action.
Marek Hoyt added 18 points while hitting four 3-pointers from the Cardinals (3-2 overall, 1-1 AML South).
Johnny Varischetti also had 10 points for the Cardinals, while Brayden Fox dished out seven assists and had six points and five steals.
Aiden Wilcox scored 13 points for Brockway (0-5, 0-2).
ST. MARYS 69, KANE 24
ST. MARYS, Pa. – Ten different St. Marys players scored in a 69-24 AML home win over Kane.
Quin Gavazzi led the Dutch (4-1 overall, 4-0 AML South) with 12 points with Drew Schutz adding 11 points, Ben Paul nine points, and Devlin Caskey eight.
Dane Anderson had 14 points for Kane (4-2, 0-2 AML North).
JOHNSONBURG 65, SMETHPORT 39
JOHNSONBURG, Pa. – Scoring 46 first-half points, Johnsonburg rolled to a 65-39 home win over Smethport.
The Rams (2-3) led 46-18 at the break.
Luke Zimmerman and Isaiah Jackson each scored 11 points to pace a balanced Johnsonburg attack, while Eric Hoffman scored 10. Cade Peterson added nine tallies on three 3-pointers.
Playing without two of its top six players, Smethport (1-6) got a career-high 20 points from Colin Okerlund with Carson Dunn adding eight tallies.
LATROBE 64, DUBOIS 57
LATROBE, Pa. – Max Butler scored 23 points to help Latrobe to a 64-57 win over visiting DuBois.
The Wildcats (3-2) led 37-23 at halftime before DuBois (4-2) got within seven, 47-40, by the end of the third quarter.
John Wetzel added 13 points for Latrobe.
Tyson Kennis had a career-high 27 points for DuBois surpassing his previous high of 25 vs. Central Mountain last season.
Maddox Bennett added 12 points on four 3-pointers for the Beavers, and Cam Thompson chipped in with eight points.
