WARREN, Pa. – The District 9 playoffs pick up on Tuesday with a quartet of games – three Class 1A girls’ contests and the Sheffield at Clarion Class 1A boys game.
All of the winners will advance to the quarterfinal round, where they will play teams that all received first-round byes.
Tuesday’s games featured both defending D9 Class 1A champions, the Clarion boys and Coudersport girls.
See the preview capsules below.
CLASS 1A BOYS FIRST ROUND
SHEFFIELD AT CLARION
Records: Clarion 13-10; Sheffield 9-13
Top Players: Clarion – Christian Simko 18.0 ppg., Devon Lauer 10.0 ppg., Dawson Smail 8.9 ppg., Gabe Simko 7.7 ppg; Sheffield – Tony Richards 11.1 ppg., Connor Finch 10.6 ppg., Lucas McNeal 7.6 ppg., Caden Copley 7.5 ppg.
Winner Gets: No. 1 seed Elk County Catholic in quarterfinals.
Notable: Clarion is the defending Class 1A champion, advancing to the PIAA semifinals in 2021. Sheffield is making its second consecutive postseason appearance, falling in the first round to Otto-Eldred in 2021.
CLASS 1A GIRLS FIRST ROUND
(9) SMETHPORT at (8) NORTHERN POTTER
Records: Smethport 14-7; Northern Potter 16-6
Top Players: Smethport – Elizabeth Hungiville 13.3 ppg., Abby Lutz 8.9 ppg., Coryn McClain 5.5 ppg., Danielle Nelson 4.5 ppg.; Northern Potter – Rebecca Martin 11.2 ppg., Courtney Martin 9.8 ppg., Megan Hyde 5.7 ppg., Abby Cady 3.9 ppg.;
Winner Gets: No. 1 seed Elk County Catholic in quarterfinals
Notable: The teams split their regular-season meetings, with NoPo winning 48-26 on Dec. 20 and Smethport 38-33 on Jan. 25. Smethport comes in winners of eight of their last 10 games, while Northern Potter is riding an eight-game winning streak.
(11) PORT ALLEGANY AT (6) UNION
Records: Port Allegany 12-10; Union 13-7
Top Players: Kayleigha Dowell 9.6 ppg., Ella Moses 8.1 ppg., Leigha Nelson 5.6 ppg., Evin Stauffer 5.5 ppg.; Union – Dominika Logue 13.6 ppg., Keira Croyle 12.5 ppg., Hailey Kriebel 6.8 ppg., Kennedy Vogle 6.1 ppg.
Winner Gets: No. 3 seed Otto-Eldred in quarterfinals
Notable: Port Allegany has given up 35 points or fewer in each of its 12 wins this season. Union had a season-high seven-game winning streak from Dec. 15-Jan. 10. Dominika Logue scored in double figures in all but three games.
(10) CLARION at (7) COUDERSPORT
Records: Clarion 9-10; Coudersport 15-7
Top Players: Clarion – Jordan Best 9.8 ppg., Payton Simko 6.7 ppg., Taylor Alston 5.8 ppg., Rebeka Ketner 5.7 ppg.; Coudersport – Liz Frame 10.6 ppg., Emma Chambers 8.6 ppg., Sierra Myers 6.7 ppg., Savannah Myers 5.7 ppg.
Winner Gets: No. 2 seed North Clarion in quarterfinals
Notable: Coudersport is the two-time defending D9 champion. The Lady Falcons have won eight of their last 10 games. Clarion gave up fewer than 40 points in each of its wins this season.
