BROCKWAY, Pa. – The Clarion girls have bullied their way into the PIAA playoffs.
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The seventh-seeded Lady Cats who entered the postseason as the seventh seed and got blown out by Elk County Catholic in the opening round, fought their way back to claim the fifth and final PIAA playoff berth awarded to District 9 in Class 1A with a 35-31 come-from-behind win over Port Allegany at Brockway High School.
Clarion trailed 21-14 at halftime but outscored Port Allegany 11-5 in the third quarter to get back within one, 26-25, going to the fourth quarter.
Sophie Babington hit a pair of 3-pointers and scored seven points in the third quarter to help field the comeback.
The Lady Cats then used a balanced offensive effort and more strong defense to overtake the fifth-seeded Lady Gators in the fourth quarter with Sophie Babington, Gia Babington, Taylor Alsotn, and Marley Kline each scoring two points.
Sophie Babington led Clarion with nine points with Alston adding eight points, Kline seven points, and Gia Babington six points.
Ella Moses had eight points and 14 rebounds for Port Allegany while Evin Stauffer hit a pair of 3-pointers and scored six points.
Clarion will face the WPIAL champion – either Union (New Castle) or Aquinas Academy – in the opening round of the PIAA playoffs Saturday, March 11. The WPIAL champion will have the option of hosting that game.
DUBOIS CENTRAL CATHOLIC 64, NORTH CLARION 44
STRATTANVILLE, Pa. – Scoring 43 second-half points including 25 in the third quarter alone, DuBois Central Catholic grabbed the coveted third-place spot in District 9 Class 1A with a 64-44 win over North Clarion at Clarion-Limestone.
Leading 21-17 at the break, the fourth-seeded Lady Cardinals got hot in the third quarter hitting four 3-pointers, including two each from Lexi Berta and Marina Hanes.
Faith Jacob, meanwhile, scored seven of her 11 points in the third quarter.
DCC didn’t let up in the fourth quarter adding 18 more points, including nine from Kayley Risser.
Berta led the Lady Cardinals with 18 points with Risser adding 17, Jacob 11, and Hanes nine.
Madison McFarland led North Clarion with 13 points with Lauren Lutz adding 12 and Emma McFalrdnad seven.
Both teams move into the PIAA playoffs – but DCC’s road is significantly easier. The Lady Cardinals will face the District 10 champion – either Jamestown or Commodore Perry. Jamestown is 4-17 and Commodore Perry is 2-19 with one of the wins being a forfeit win.
North Clarion will face the District 5 champion – either Berlin Brothersvalley or Northern Bedford.
Both those PIAA games are Saturday, March 11. And the D10 and D5 champions will have the option of hosting those games at their gyms.
BOYS
CLARION 69, KEYSTONE 41
STRATTANVILLE, Pa. – Third-seeded Clarion overcame a disappointing quarterfinal loss to fight its way back for the fifth and final PIAA playoff berth awarded to District 9 Class 1A boys with a 69-41 win over rival Keystone.
After a high-scoring first quarter for both teams that saw Claron leading 21-18, the Bobcats took control in the second quarter outscoring Keystone 24-5 behind six points from Gabe Simko and five from Dawson Smail.
In fact, in the middle two quarters, Clarion outscored Keystone 38-10.
Devon Lauer paced the Bobcats with 17 points and four assists with Dawson Smail, who hit four 3-pointers, adding 16 points and five rebounds. Simko chipped in with 12 points, and Mason Burford dished out seven assists to go with two points.
Drew Keth hit four 3-pointers for Keystone and scored 16 points to lead the Panthers with Cole Henry chipping in 12 points.
Clarion will face WPIAL champion Imani Christian in the opening round of the PIAA playoffs Friday, March 10. Imani Christian will have the option of hosting that game.
