ST. MARYS, Pa. – Clarion’s zone press was so effective in their quarterfinal win over DuBois Central Catholic, the Bobcats figured they would use it again.
Rewatch the game:
Dawson Smail led a balanced offensive attack with 14 points as the No. 3 Bobcats suffocated No. 2 Johnsonburg, 54-34 to reach the District 9 Class 1A title game.
“Our defense has been really good this season,” Smail said. “Our guards were heckling them a lot and Gabe Simko and Derek Smail did a great job rebounding, controlling the boards and we just got out and ran from there.”
See Smail’s full interview:
Clarion (16-8) built a 16-6 lead after the first quarter and never looked back. In fact, a Smail layup with 3:45 to go in the first half gave the Bobcats a 24-14 lead and they led by double digits the rest of the way.
“It means a lot to be honest,” said Clarion head coach Tom Lewis of reaching the D9 title game. “They deserve it.”
The zone press forced a lot of turnovers and the Rams were never able to get in a groove offensively.
“The extended pressure made us lose our composure a little bit and do some uncharacteristic things,” said Johnsonburg coach Cole Peterson. “Their game plan was successful, and we just didn’t handle it the way we should have.”
Devon Lauer had 13 points and Gabe Simko 10 for Clarion.
Isaiah Jackson had a strong game for Johnsonburg (19-6) with a game-high 18 points.
With the win, Clarion advances to play Elk County Catholic, a 44-32 winner over Cameron County, for the D9 Class 1A title on Saturday at 4:30 p.m. at PennWest Clarion’s Tippin Gym.
Johnsonburg, meanwhile, will play Cameron County in the third-place game on Friday.
ELK COUNTY CATHOLIC 44, CAMERON COUNTY 32
ST. MARYS – A 12-0 run by No. 1 Elk County Catholic to start the third quarter broke a 19-19 halftime tie and helped send the Crusaders back to the District 9 Class 1A title game with a 44-32 win over No. 4 Cameron County.
Rewatch the game:
Lance O’Neil scored four points during the surge and Jordan Wasko knocked down a big 3-pointer to extend the lead to 10, 29-19, for the Crusaders (23-2).
“I think the key was we’ve been conditioning all season, been getting at it, been working hard and they got tired,” O’Neil said. “As a team we worked well.”
See O’Neil’s full interview:
O’Neil scored a game-high 18 points in the win, while Wasko added 12 and Wil Wortman eight.
Elk County Catholic led 19-13 late in the second quarter, but the Red Raiders (21-4) went on a 6-0 run to close the half and tie the game thanks to two buckets from Josh Smith and another from Landon Farren just before the horn.
ECC pushed the tempo right from the get-go, something they didn’t do in their last game, a loss to Johnsonburg in the AML title game.
“We learned a lot in the Johnsonburg game (AML title game loss),” Straub said. “We were really passive in that game. We allowed them to stick a guy in the paint, we allowed Johnsonburg to dictate the pace of the game and we said we said that’s not going to happen again, we’re just going to go into straight attack mode.”
Smith had 13 points and Farren eight for the Red Raiders.
Cameron County now drops into the third-place game, where they will meet Johnsonburg on Friday at a site and time to be determined.
