CLARION, Pa. – The District 9 Class 1A and 2A semifinals will be played as parts of doubleheaders Wednesday, March 1.
The 2A games will be played at PennWest Clarion’s Tippin Gym with top-seeded Otto-Eldred facing fourth-seeded Ridgway in the 6 p.m. game – this game will be broadcast on the YDL Sports Network – and second-seeded Clarion-Limestone facing third-seeded Karns City at 7:30 p.m.
The 1A semifinal contest will take place at St. Marys High School with second-seeded DuBois Central Catholic battling sixth-seeded Union at 6 p.m. followed by top-seeded Elk County Catholic taking on fifth-seeded Cameron County at 7:30 p.m.
Here is a breakdown of all four games.
CLASS 2A SEMIFINALS
(Note: The losers of the semifinal games will play in a third-place consolation game Friday, March 3, at a time and place to be announced)
(4) Ridgway (17-7) vs. (1) Otto-Eldred (22-1), 6 p.m. at Tippin Gym, PennWest Clarion
Winner gets: Winner of Karns City/Clarion-Limestone game at 8 p.m. Saturday, March 4, at PennWest Clarion’s Tippin Gym
Ridgway leading scorers: Aaron Sorg (14.2 ppg), Jack Benninger (9.9 ppg), Alex Merritt (8.0 ppg)
Otto-Eldred leading scorers: Landon Francis (15.2 ppg), Manning Splain (13.3 ppg), Shene Thomas (12.0 ppg), Austin Cousins (11.9 ppg)
Notable: This is a matchup between a program that is used to playing in D9 title games and one that hasn’t been there in nearly three decades … Ridgway is the defending D9 2A champion having beaten Redbank Valley, 41-38, last year. It marked the seventh time since 2012 the Elkers reached the D9 title game either in 1A or 2A and it was Ridgway’s fifth D9 title in that span. That includes winning 3 of the last 4 2A championships … Otto-Eldred, on the other hand, hasn’t been to a District 9 championship game since losing to Keystone in 1A in 1997. That is the only time as the school Otto-Eldred the Terrors have been in a D9 title game. Otto Township did win back-to-back D9 titles in the old Class B (which ceased being a thing in 1975) in 1944 and 1945 … This game pits teams with contrasting styles. Ridgway averages 42.1 ppg and its games average 2.4 points per minute between both teams … Otto-Eldred, on the other hand, averages a D9-leading 64.7 ppg, and its games average 3,2 points per minute … Otto-Eldred lost in the D9 1A semifinals to DuBois Central Catholic last year … Both teams are under the direction of first-year head coaches who were assistants for their respective clubs a year ago. Ridgway is led by Eric Herzing, who took over for Tony Allegretto, while Derek Francis took over for Steve Bell. Francis’ wife, Kristina, was the long-time girls’ coach at Port Allegany, and his son, Landon, a sophomore, is the Terrors leading scorer.
(3) Karns City (21-4) vs. (2) Clarion-Limestone (23-2), 7:30 p.m. at Tippin Gym, PennWest Clarion
Winner gets: Winner of Ridgway/Otto-Eldred game at 8 p.m. Saturday, March 4, at PennWest Clarion’s Tippin Gym
Karns City leading scorers: Taite Beighley (14.5 ppg), Micah Rupp (10.4 ppg), Shane Peters (9.3 ppg), Jacob Callihan (9.0 ppg), Hobie Bartoe (7.5 ppg), Braden Grossman (4.8 ppg)
C-L leading scorers: Jordan Hesdon (14.4 ppg), Riley Klingensmith (11.7 ppg), Jase Ferguson (10.1 ppg) Alex Painter (8.0 ppg), Tommy Smith (7.2 ppg), Jack Callen (6.4 ppg)
Notable: This is the fourth meeting of the year between these KSAC Large School rivals with Clarion-Limestone having taken two of the first three including a 51-46 win in the KSAC Title Game Feb. 18. The Lions also won 68-55 Dec. 16 at C-L. Karns City won 64-46 Feb. 9 at KC. The KC win is the only time C-L has been beaten in its past 21 games. The Lions other loss is to fourth-seeded Ridgway … Karns City has also lost to Clarion D9 3A champion Brookville … These two teams love to run with the ball. C-L is the second-best scoring team in D9 averaging 64.4 ppg with Karns City checking in tied for fourth in D9 in scoring at 56.8 ppg … C-L is looking for its first trip to a D9 championship game since winning the 1A title in 2015 … Karns City won the 2021 title in its first appearance in a title game since 2005.
CLASS 1A SEMIFINALS
(Note: The losers of the semifinal games will play in a third-place consolation game Friday, March 3, at a time and place to be announced)
(5) Cameron County (17-6) vs, (1) Elk County Catholic (23-2), 7:30 p.m. at St. Marys High School
Winner gets: Winner of Union/DCC game at 4 p.m. Saturday, March 4, at PennWest Clarion’s Tippin Gym
Cameron County leading scorers: Camdyn Allison (12.3 ppg), Ryan Shaffer (11.2 ppg), Josh Smith (11.0 ppg), Landon Farren (8.4 ppg), Maddox Baughman (6.0 ppg)
ECC leading scorers: Jordan Wasko (10.6 ppg – has missed the past 5 games with a knee injury), Colby Nussbaum (8.1 ppg), Michael Jacobs (7.7 ppg), Wil Wortman (7.4 ppg), Lance O’Neill (5.2 ppg)
Notable: Cameron County is searching for just its third D9 title game appearance in the 21st century. The Red Raiders lost to Clarion-Limestone in the 2015 1A title game and to ECC in the 2020 champion game in 1A … Cameron County also lost to ECC in the 1995 1A title game and hasn’t won a D9 title since winning the fourth of four in a row in the old Class B (which ended in 1975) in 1973. That was during a stretch that saw the Red Raiders get to the Class B title game six times in seven years winning five titles … ECC is D9 royalty winning a 27 District 9 titles – all sine 1974 – including 22 in Class 1A, three in Class 2A, and one in the old Class C. The Crusaders, the defending champions after beating DuBois Central Catholic 40-31 last year to win their third title in four years, are looking for a 37th trip to the D9 championship game including their 18th since 2000. They have won 13 titles, all in 1A, since 2000 … Most of ECC’s success has come under 41st-year head coach Aaron Straub, who has a record of 936-243 as the ECC boys’ coach and has 963 wins as a head varsity coach when his two years of coaching the ECC girls is added in. Straub has piloted his teams to 24 D9 titles and one PIAA title (2006) … Cameron County fought its way into this game overcoming a six-point deficit in the final minute to beat Johnsonburg in the quarterfinals, 40-37 … ECC had no trouble in a 55-30 win over Smethport jumping out to an 18-0 lead at the end of the first quarter … ECC has played the last six games without starting guard and leading scorer Jordan Wasko, who injured his knee against Brookville Feb. 7 … Without Wasko Wil Wortman has stepped up and is averaging 13.2 ppg.
(6) Union (13-11) vs. (2) DuBois Central Catholic (16-7), 6 p.m. at St. Marys High School
Winner gets: Winner of Cameron County/ECC game at 4 p.m. Saturday, March 4, at PennWest Clarion’s Tippin Gym
Union leading scorers: Payton Johnston (16.4 ppg), ZanderLaughlin (12.2 ppg), Skyler Roxbury (10.3 ppg), Dawsoon Camper (8.7 ppg), Trey Fleming (5.4 ppg)
DCC leading scorers: Luke Swisher (16.3 ppg), Andrew Green (13.5 ppg), Marek Hoyt (7.0 ppg), Brendan Paisley (6.4 ppg)
Notable: Union upset third-seeded Clarion, 58-48, in the quarterfinals to win for the fifth time in six games. The lone loss was a heartbreaker to Clarion-Limestone in the KSAC semifinals when the Golden Knights blew a 3-point lead with under a minute to play … DCC is coming off a Mercy Rule win over Keystone, 57-26, in the quarterfinals … These teams have already played this year with DCC getting a 56-51 win at Union Jan. 23. In that game, the Cardinals outscored DCC 18-7 in the third quarter after trailing 29-26 at halftime. Luke Swisher had 22 points and Andrew Green 16 for DCC, while Union got a career-high 25 points from Skyler Roxbury and 12 from Zander Laughlin. Dawson Camper controlled the boards for the Golden Knights with 18 rebounds … Union is looking for a trip to the D9 title game for the first time since losing to ECC in 2011. That was the Golden Knights first D9 title-game appearance since winning the 1A title in 1981 … DCC lost in the title game to ECC last year. That was the Cardinals first appearance in the title game since winning the 2010 1A crown.
