DUBOIS, Pa. – Outscoring Clearfield by 21 points in the middle two quarters, Punxsutawney ended the Bison’s grip on District 9 titles with a 70-44 win in the Class 4A semifinals Friday night at DuBois High School.
Rewatch the game
Fourth-seeded Clearfield (5-18) had won nine straight District 9 titles (two in Class 3A under the old four-class system and seven in Class 4A under six classifications).
That came to an end Friday night when top-seeded Punxsutawney (13-10), which is looking for its first D9 title since winning in 3A in 2014, outscored the Bison 39-18 in the middle two frames to take complete control of the game.
The Chucks led 13-10 at the end of the first quarter but built the lead to 32-20 at halftime thanks to second-quarter 3-pointers from Noah Weaver, Jimmie Neese, and Evan Presloid. Both Weaver and Neese scored five points in the quarter.
Punxsutawney kept rolling in the third quarter outscoring Clearfield 20-8 in the frame thanks in large part to 10 points from Noah Kengersky, who hit a pair of 3-pointers in the quarter.
Evan Presloid added another triple in the third as well.
Kengersky led the Chucks with 19 points while Neese added 14.
Weaver also had nine tallies for Punxsutawney, and Beau Thomas chipped in with eight points.
Braison Patrick had a game-high 25 points for Clearfield, including 12 in the fourth quarter. Evett Maines chipped in seven tallies.
Punxsutawney will face Bradford in the District 9 title game on Saturday, March 2, at PennWest Clarion’s Tippin Gym. A time for that game is yet to be determined.
BRADFORD 51, ST. MARYS 40
DUBOIS, Pa. – Building a 12-point halftime lead, third-seeded Bradford advanced to the District 9 Class 4A championship game with a 51-40 over second-seeded St. Marys.
Rewatch the game
The Owls (9-14), looking for their first D9 title since winning 3A in 2013, led 30-18 at halftime.
Jake Franz led the way in the first quarter helping Bradford take a 14-8 lead after eight minutes by scoring eight points.
Talan Reese and Brendan Warner then each scored five second-quarter points to grow the lead to double digits.
St. Marys (10-14) fought back in the third quarter getting six points from Ben Paul to cut the Bradford advantage to eight, 37-29, heading into the fourth quarter.
In the final eight minutes, however, the Owls went 12 of 16 from the free-throw line to seal the victory.
That included Franz going 5 of 6, Chase Wineberg connecting on 3 of 4, and Reese, who scored six points in the quarter, going 4 of 6.
Franz led a trio of Bradford players in double digits with 16 points with Wineberg adding 14 and Reese 11. Warner added eight tallies.
Paul paced St. Marys with 14 points with Anthony Nedzinski chipping in 12 tallies and Quin Gavazzi scoring nine points.
Bradford will face Punxsutawney in the title game on Saturday, March 2, at PennWest Clarion’s Tippin Gym. The Owls and Chucks haven’t played each other for a championship since 2012 and 2013 when Bradford won both years in Class 3A.
