CLARION, Pa. – Cole Johnston wasn’t even supposed to get the basketball with under three seconds left in a tied District 9 Class 2A semifinal game between Karns City and Otto-Eldred.
The ball was supposed to go to Taite Beighley.
But the Karns City freshman Johnston found an opening, cut to the hoops, took the inbounds pass from Hobie Bartoe, and laid the ball in just before the horn to give the Gremlins a 50-48 win.
“The plan was for all three of us to set a screen for Taite, and for him to come off it and get a finish,” Johnston said. “I saw that it was open, and I cut and Hobie got me a perfect pass. I went up with it. to be the ball.”
Karns City head coach Zach Kepple had had no issues with a freshman taking the shot.
“Cole is very talented,” Kepple said. “He basically had half of a year with us (Johnston missed the first half of the season with a football injury). Sitting in there in that timeout, we drew something up initially. Otto-Eldred called a timeout, so we drew something else up. When we came out there, we got that ball underneath (the hoop for inbounds), and luckily we said Cole dive to the hoop. He ended up being wide open. I didn’t expect him to be that open. I told all the guys right in that moment, I have trust in every single one of you guys. This play is drawn up for Taite, but any of you can knock it down. I fully believe in your abilities. So, whoever has it take the biggest advantage of it.”
Johnston’s shot capped a comeback from 10 down heading to the fourth quarter for third-seeded Karns City (20-6), who trailed 43-33 after being outscored 34-17 in the middle two quarters.
But the Gremlins went to a press, and it seemed to bother Otto-Eldred (24-2), the second seed.
The Terrors managed just five fourth-quarter points, including just one basket, and were outscored 50-48 in the frame.
“(Going to the fourth quarter), I said we are right here,” Kepple said. “The opportunity is at our hands to go compete for a District 9 title. But we have to get the job done right now. We changed up the defense. We went with a little bit of a trap. We saw they struggled with that a little bit against C-L. Luckily, it worked out for us. We got some turnovers, got some easy buckets. All on their hard work and work ethic. The guys never quit, never hung their heads.”
Watch the full Karns City postgame interview
Despite the offensive woes, Otto-Eldred still held a seven-point lead, 48-41, following two Brax Caldwell free throws with 3:06 to play.
But those were the last points scored by the Terrors.
Beighley hit two free throws with three minutes left to make to 48-43 before Beighley pump faked and hit a 3-pointer with 2:11 left to cut the deficit to two, 48-46.
Bartoe then came up with a steal and a breakaway layup to tie the game at 48 with 1:39 left.
Caldwell then lost the ball of his knee with 1:21 to play, and Karns City milked the clock all the way to the end.
Beighley led the Gremlins with 15 points with Jacob Callihan adding 12 and Bartoe nine.
Caldwell had 15 points for Otto-Eldred with Manning Splain adding 14 and Landon Francis 12.
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REDBANK VALLEY 65, CLARION-LIMESTONE 41
CLARION, Pa. – After losing to Clarion-Limestone in the KSAC semifinals, Redbank Valley knew it had to clean some things up when it faced the Lions in the District 9 Class 2A semifinals Tuesday night at PennWest Clarion’s Tippin Gym.
And clean those things up they did.
The Bulldogs cruised to a 65-41 win over the Lions to advance to the championship game Saturday.
“One thing we had to make sure we limited our turnovers and get our rebounds,” Mason Clouse, who had 15 points said. “Last game, we couldn’t stop them on the boards, and we had way too many turnovers. We had to get those two things straight.”
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Despite having C-L in deep foul trouble in the first half – a pair of Lion starters in Jack Callen and Jase Ferguson both had three first-half fouls – the top-seeded Bulldogs (21-3) led by just four, 25-21, at the break.
But Owen Clouse, Mason’s twin brother, got hot from behind the arc in the third quarter hitting three 3-pointers while scoring 11 points to help Redbank Valley outscore the fourth-seeded Lions (16-10) 28-11 to take control of the game. He finished the game with a game-high 19 points.
“I haven’t been able to shoot very well recently,” Owen Clouse said. “To hit those shots, it really felt great, especially back-to-back. It really got the team going and momentum in our favor.”
The other story of the game was the C-L fall trouble.
The Lions committed 15 first-half fouls and 22 in the game leading to Redbank Valley getting the line 25 times.
After a slow start, the Bulldogs were just 2 of 6 from the line in the first quarter, Redbank Valley shot 15 of 25 from the line, and perhaps, more importantly, kept the Lions point guard, Ferguson, on the bench for nearly the entire second quarter after he picked up two fouls in the first 13 seconds of the quarter to give him three in the game.
“We knew we were getting them in foul trouble,” Redbank Valley head coach Emmanual Marshall said. “We were shooting free throws. So, our goal was to do a little dribble handoff, get to the rim, just run our offense and go strong to the basket … and make our free throws.”
Marshall said the goal for the Bulldogs was to just play their game and let the officials call the game.
“Our thing was just play our game, and the refs will make the calls accordingly,” Marshall said. “They do play physical. If the physicality is allowed, sometimes it can be rough for us a little bit. But if it is a well-called game, in my opinion, they had to foul us. They had to foul us. These guys have a good skill set. As long they play their game, we should come out on top.”
Watch the entire Redbank Valley postgame media conference
Both Clouses completed double-doubles with 10 rebounds apiece, while Braylon Wagner and Kieran Fricko each chipped in 11 points.
Callen led C-L with nine points with Jesse Siwiecki adding eight and Ferguson seven.
CHAMPIONSHIP/CONSOLATION GAMES SET
The championship game will be the final of six games played Saturday at Tippin Gym and is slated to start at 8:30 p.m.
The consolation game will be at 7 p.m. Friday at Sheffield with the winner earning a PIAA playoff berth and the loser’s season being over.
