JOHNSONBURG, Pa. – Trailing by three going to the fourth quarter, Keystone got six points from Cole Henry and a big 3-pointer from Kyle Nellis to rally past Johnsonburg, 43-39, in the District Class 1A fifth-place consolation bracket semifinal.
Also see: D9 1A girls’ consolation semifinal recaps
The seventh-seeded Panthers trailed by three, 32-29, going to the fourth quarter but outscored the fourth-seeded Rams 14-7 in the quarter.
That finished a strong second half for Keystone (11-13) which trailed 25-19 at halftime,
But Henry scored 14 points in the second half to lead the Panther comeback.
Henry finished with 21 points and 15 rebounds with Nellis chipping in seven points and Tyler Albright and Drew Keth each scoring six points.
Isaiah Jackson paced Johnsonburg (11-14) with 15 points with Jake Lobaugh adding 10 points and Aaron Myers.
Keystone will face Clarion in the fifth-place consolation final at 7 p.m. Thursday, March 2, at Clarion-Limestone. The winner advances to the PIAA playoffs and the loser’s season is over.
CLARION 83, SMETHPORT 28
CLARION, Pa. – Scoring 32 points in just over seven minutes, Clarion rolled past visiting Smethport, 83-28, in the District 9 Class 1A fifth-place consolation bracket semifinal.
The third-seeded Bobcats led 32-7 with 57.4 seconds left in the first quarter and had the Mercy Rule by halftime leading 51-16.
Devon Lauer, who scored a game-high 25 points, all through the first 2 ½ quarters, talked about the win.
Pressure defense was the key for Clarion, as the Bobcats came out in a full-court press and scored 12 points in the first 2:45 of the game leading 12-0 and built the lead to 23-3 with four minutes left in the first quarter.
Lauer scored 10 first-quarter points with Bryce Brinkley and Gabe Simko each scoring seven points.
Dawson Smail added 15 points for Clarion in the win with Owen Kriebel scoring a career-high 13 points, including 10 in the fourth quarter.
Brinkley and Simko each chipped in nine points, and Derek Smail contributed seven points.
Eighth-seeded Smethport got nine points from Seth Sanderson and seven from Preston Alfieri.
Clarion will face Keystone in the fifth-place consolation final at 7 p.m. Thursday, March 2, at Clarion-Limestone. The winner advances to the PIAA playoffs and the loser’s season is over.
