Jan. 20 District 9 girls’ recaps
CLARION 42, CLARION-LIMESTONE 36
CLARION, Pa. – Payton Simko’s jumper pff a Jordan Best pass with 52 seconds left broke a 36-all tie, and Clarion went on to beat rival and visiting Clarion-Limestone, 42-36.
Rewatch the game
The Lady Cats trailed 34-31 following five straight points from Alex Leadbetter around the seven-minute mark of the fourth quarter – a 3-pointer and then a layup off a Frances Milliron steal.
But a Jordan Best runner from the right corner with 5:03 to play got Clarion back within one, and a Simko jumper at the 4:44 mark put the Lady Cats in front, 35-34.
After Rebeka Ketner made it 36-35 with a free throw, Kendall Dunn tied the game at 36 when she rebounded a missed free throw by Leadbetter and scored with 1:47 left.
C-L ended up with the ball back with just over a minute to play, but Taylor Alston tipped a Leadbetter pass into the hands of Best to give Clarion the ball back with 1:07 on the clock.
That led to Simko’s go-ahead shot and following a miss by Lexi Coull on the other end with 37 seconds to go, Best hit two free throws to make it a 40-36 lead with 29.6 seconds to play.
Leadbetter then missed a 3-pointer, and Alston sealed the win with a pair of charity shots with 12.6 to go.
The fourth-quarter comeback capped a rally from a slow start for Clarion.
The Lady Cats didn’t score a point until there were just over 36 seconds left in the first quarter and trailed 11-2 with under three minutes to play in the first half.
But Alston’s turnaround layup with 2:36 left started a half-ending 11-3 run that saw Alston score five points and Best four.
Noel Anthony then gave Clarion its first lead of the game, 15-14, early in the second half before the teams ended the third quarter tied at 29.
Best led Clarion with 16 points and was named the Allegheny Grille of Foxburg Player of the Game. She talked about the win.
Simko also reached double digits for the Lady Cats with 10 points, while Alston added nine.
Dunn had a double-double for C-L with 19 points and 13 rebounds.
Clarion, though, effectively used a box-and-1 on Milliron to hold the Lady Lions’ leading scorer (14.8 ppg coming in) to a season-low four points, the first time she failed to reach double figures this year and the first time since being held to eight by Keystone Feb. 23, 2021, ending a 15-game streak of double-digit performances.
REDBANK VALLEY 32, NORTH CLARION 28
FRILLS CORNERS, Pa. – Redbank Valley used a game-ending 5-1 spurt to hold off an upset bid from North Clarion, 32-28, at North Clarion.
The She-Wolves mucked up the game going slow and led 24-18 going to the fourth quarter.
But Redbank Valley turned to Madison Foringer inside to avoid the loss.
Foringer scored nine of her team-high 13 points in the final eight minutes including an old-fashion three that gave Redbank Valley the lead – North Clarion took it back one last time at 28-27 – and then started the game-ending sequence with a basket that put the Lady Bulldogs in the lead for good.
Mylee Harmon added five points, including three in the fourth quarter, for Redbank Valley.
Gwen Siegel scored a game-high 18 points for North Clarion, including all 12 of the She-Wolves’ third-quarter points.
North Clarion outscored Redbank Valley 12-6 in the third quarter to take the 24-18 lead after the teams were tied at 12 at halftime.
ELK COUNTY CATHOLIC 24, RIDGWAY 22
RIDGWAY, Pa. – Sami Straub and Tori Newton combined to score all six of Elk County Catholic’s fourth-quarter points to help the visiting Lady Crusaders edge Ridgway, 24-22, in AML action.
Both players hit a basket and a free throw in the final eight minutes after the teams went to the fourth quarter tied at 18.
Newton led ECC with 12 points and 11 rebounds with Straub adding four points and four steals.
Jenna Kasmierski had a game-high 13 points to go with nine rebounds, two assists, and a blocked shot for Ridgway.
KEYSTONE 45, VENANGO CATHOLIC 40
OIL CITY, Pa. – A monster double-double of 20 points and 16 rebounds from Natalie Bowser helped Keystone edge Venango Catholic, 45-40, in Oil City.
Mia Traister added eight points and five assists for the Lady Panthers with Emma Gruber chipping in seven points.
Lily Homan paced Venango Catholic with a game-high 24 points to go with nine rebounds and five steals. Mariah Wessell added seven points and six rebounds.
DUBOIS CENTRAL CATHOLIC 46, JOHNSONBURG 32
JOHNSONBURG, Pa. – Missing two of its top-five scorers, DuBois Central Catholic got a career game from Rose Whipple and a double-double from Faith Jacob to beat homestanding Johnsonburg, 46-32.
Whipple had a career-high 12 points – she entered the game with 11 tallies on the season – to go with eight rebounds and seven assists, while Jacob had a game-high 19 points to go with 10 rebounds.
Also for the Lady Cardinals, who were without leading scorer Kayley Risser and fifth-leading scorer Marina Hanes, Lexi Berta scored eight and Jessy Frank seven.
Annasophia Stauffer paced Johnsonburg with 11 points with Maria Casilio adding 10.
KARNS CITY 55, A-C VALLEY 15
FOXBURG, Pa. – One of nine players to score for Karns City, Emma Johns had a game-high 11 points to help the Lady Gremlins roll to a 55-15 road win over A-C Valley.
Rossi McMillen and Emma Dailey each added eight points for the Lady Gremlins.
Mackenzie Parks had seven points for A-C Valley.
UNION 53, CRANBERRY 13
RIMERBSURG, Pa. – Leading 41-2 at halftime, Union cruised to a 53-13 win over visiting Cranberry.
Dominika Logue led the Golden Damels with 15 points with Kennedy Vogle adding eight and Keira Croyle seven. Ten different Union players scored in all.
Rylee Coe scored five points for Cranberry.
WEST SHAMOKIN 45, MONITEAU 41
RURAL VALLEY, Pa. – Falling behind by 11 at halftime, Moniteau’s second-half rally came up short in a 45-41 loss at West Shamokin.
The Lady Warriors trailed 27-16 at the break and 34-22 going to the fourth quarter before making it a game thanks to six fourth-quarter points from Catherine Kelly and five from Abbey Jewart.
Kelly led Moniteau with 12 points, five rebounds, and four assists, while Jewart scored 10.
Also for the Lady Warriors, Davina Pry netted nine points and Kendall Sankey eight.
Lily Jordan had a game-high 15 points for West Shamokin with Lexie Young adding 11.
HOLLIDAYSBURG 70, CLEARFIELD 22
HOLLIDAYSBURG, Pa. – Hollidaysburg rode a 26-point first quarter to a 70-22 Mountain League home win over Clearfield.
The Tigers led 26-8 at the end of eight minutes.
Marin Miller led Hollidaysburg with a game-high 23 points with Alison Hatajik adding 16.
Cayleigh Walker scored seven for Clearfield.
