PORT ALLEGANY, Pa. – Four teams, one PIAA playoff berth.
That is what is at stake when District 9 kicks off its boys’ and girls’ fifth-place consolation games Monday with a pair of semifinal contests for both genders.
When the PIAA awarded D9 a fifth PIAA playoff berth in both boys’ and girls’ basketball, it was decided by the District to allow the teams to play for it, and thus the fifth-place consolation bracket was formed.
Monday is the semifinals of those brackets with losers of the quarterfinal games getting a second life toward the final PIAA playoff berth.
This year, District 9 reseeded the bracket so that the highest seed plays the lowest seed and the middle two seeds play each other.
In girls’ action, eighth-seeded Northern Potter travels to fifth-seeded Port Allegany for a 7 p.m. game, while seventh-seeded Clarion plays sixth-seeded Ridgway at St. Marys High School at 7 p.m. Ridgway’s gym was ruined by a water leak a few weeks ago and thus the reason the game is at St. Marys.
On the boys’ side, eighth-seeded Smethport travels to third-seeded Clarion for a 7 p.m. game, while seventh-seeded Keystone is at fourth-seeded Johnsonburg at 7 p.m.
The semifinal consolation contest winners will meet on Thursday, March 2, at neutral sites to determine the fifth PIAA playoff team out of D9 in each gender.
Here is a closer look at each game
GIRLS
(8) Northern Potter (14-10) at (5) Port Allegany (19-5), 7 p.m.
This is the third meeting between these NTL rivals this season with Port Allegany winning the first two. The Lady Gators won 44-35 at home Jan. 4 and 53-41 at Northern Potter Jan. 31.
This is the third D9 postseason game for NoPo, as the Lady Panthers beat Oswayo Valley, 32-23, in an opening-round contest Tuesday, Feb. 21, before losing to top-seeded Otto-Eldred, 57-38, Thursday, Feb. 23.
Port Allegany got into early foul trouble and couldn’t recover in a 54-30 loss to fourth-seeded DuBois Central Catholic Feb. 23.
Northern Potter is led by senior Rebecca Martin who averages 11.7 ppg and 9.9 rpg. Martin is the 14th-leading scorer in District 9 and has scored 23 points in two meetings against Port Allegany.
Also for the Lady Panthers, Reagan Slawson checks in at 6.4 ppg and is coming off a 14-point game against Otto-Eldred, while Haylee Chapman averages 5.3 ppg.
Port Allegany is paced by Kayleigha Dowell’s 10.4 ppg. Dowell is tied for 20th in D9 in scoring.
Evin Stauffer (8.6 ppg), the lone senior among the key Lady Gator contributors, and Ella Moses (8.5 ppg) also play key roles as does Leigha Nelson (5.7 ppg).
(7) Clarion (10-14) vs. (6) Ridgway (13-10), 7 p.m. at St. Marys HS
Clarion, under first-year head coach Sam Heeter, is a young team without a senior.
The Lady Cats are coming off a 47-28 loss to second-seeded Elk Country Catholic in the quarterfinals. It was Clarion’s fourth loss in its last five games.
Clarion is paced by the sister combination of Sophie Babington (9.8 ppg) and Gia Babington (6.8 ppg) as well as Taylor Alston (9.1 ppg).
Sophie Babington is the 28th-leading scorer in District 9 for a Lady Cat team that averages just 32.5 ppg.
Ridgway is also a young team with all three of its top scorers being juniors.
The Lady Elkers suffered a 49-33 loss to North Clarion in the quarterfinals but do enter the game having won 5 of 7.
Jenna Kasmierski is the third-leading scorer in District 9 at 16.6 ppg while Gabby Amacher is just outside the Top 30 at 9.0 ppg. Kristen Ellenberger adds 6.9 ppg.
Those three accounted for 28 of Ridgway’s 33 points in the North Clarion loss led by 14 from Amacher, her third-best scoring output of the season.
BOYS
(8) Smethport (11-11) at (3) Clarion (15-9), 7 p.m.
A frigid start doomed Smethport in a 55-30 loss at top-seeded Elk County Catholic in the quarterfinals, as the Hubbers fell down 18-0 at the end of the first quarter.
The Hubbers had entered the playoffs having won 4 of 6.
Preston Alfieri leads the way for first-year head coach Tim Brosky. The senior is tied for 18th in D9 in scoring at 13.8 ppg.
Hayden Leet (9.8 ppg) and Carson Dunn (9.2 ppg) also play key roles on offense for the Hubbers although Leet (10.4 ppg) has been the better of the two in terms of scoring in the second half of the season after Dunn averaged 12.1 through the first 11 contests.
Clarion was upset by sixth-seeded Union, 58-48, in the quarterfinals at home Friday, a team it had beaten twice in the regular season. The Bobcats fell behind 11-1 at the start and never fully recovered.
The 2021 D9 1A champion, Clarion started the season strong going 7-2 through Dec. 28 but has limped home playing basically .500 ball since.
Offense has been the main culprit for the Bobcats. After averaging 59 ppg (excluding the Forest Area game) through Dec. 28, Clarion is averaging just 50.8 ppg (excluding the second Forest Area game) since then.
Devon Lauer does check in tied for sixth in D9 at scoring at 16.4 ppg while Gabe Simko adds 11.9 ppg, which is just outside the Top 30 in D9, and Dawson Smail checks in at 10.7 ppg.
All three of those players have seen a drop in scoring average since late December with Lauer going from 19.7 ppg through Dec. 28 to 14.5 ppg since, Simko from 12.4 ppg to 11.6 ppg and Smail from 13.2 ppg to 9.2 ppg.
(7) Keystone (10-13) at (4) Johnsonburg (11-13)
Keystone is looking to rebound from being Mercy Ruled by second-seeded DuBois Central Catholic (57-26) in the quarterfinals. The Panthers scored the game’s first two points but then surrendered 18 in a row.
Barring some sort of miracle playoff run, Keystone will finish with back-to-back losing seasons for just the third time in head coach Greg Heath’s 39 years at the school. The other times were 2011 and 2012 and 1985 and 1986 (Heath’s first two seasons). The Panthers were 12-13 last year.
Heath is the second-winningest coach in District 9 history with 664 wins. He has a winning percentage of 68.3%.
Cole Henry is Keystone’s leading scorer at 11.9 ppg while Kyle Nellis (10.8 ppg) and Drew Keth (10.2 ppg) give the Panthers three players averaging in double figures. Tyler Albright adds 7.7 ppg.
Johnsonburg is looking to find a way to rebound from a devasting loss to fifth-seeded Cameron County in the quarterfinals.
The Rams led on their home court by six with a minute to play only to watch the Red Raiders go on a game-ending 9-0 run thanks to four Johnsonburg turnovers.
Isaiah Jackson is the 23rd-leading scorer in D9 at 13.3 ppg and is the lone Johnsonburg player to average in double digits.
Aaron Myers checks in at 7.8 ppg, Jake Lobaugh scores 7.4 ppg, Kole Asti adds 5.4 ppg, and Luke Zimmerman 5.0 ppg.
