WARREN, Pa. – The Elk County Catholic boys advanced to the PIAA Class 1A semifinals on Tuesday and on Wednesday, several other District 9 and District 10 teams will be looking to join them.
There are a pair of doubleheaders at Clarion University and Oil City High School, which included a D9 vs. D10 matchup in Class 1A girls when Kennedy Catholic takes on Otto-Eldred.
Here’s a look at each game.
CLASS 2A BOYS
(10-1) Kennedy Catholic vs. (6-1) Portage, Clarion U., 6:30 p.m.
District 6 champion Portage (28-1) is coming off a pair of double-digit wins, 68-46 over Sto-Rox in the first round and 67-52 over Fort Cherry in the second round. Kennedy Catholic, meanwhile, held off a furious Redbank Valley rally for a 61-56 win in the second round. Elijah Harden drained a three with 53 seconds left to provide the Golden Eagles (23-4) with the cushion they needed and combined with fellow seniors Gio Magestro and Malik Lampkins-Rudolph for 49 points in the win. The two teams met in the same round a year ago, a 65-57 Portage win.
In the win a year ago, Kaden Claar scored 26 points against the Golden Eagles. Claar leads the team in scoring at 19.9 ppg. Andrew Miko checks in at 11.9 ppg., Mason Kargo 9.3, and Gavin Gouse 9.1. Claar had 22 points and 17 rebounds in the second-round win over Fort Cherry. The winner moves on to play the OLSH/Ridgway winner in the semifinals on Saturday at a site and time to be determined.
(9-1) Ridgway vs. (7-1) OLSH at Oil City HS, 7:30 p.m.
Ridgway has earned wins over Cambridge Springs (47-44) and Greensburg Central Catholic (59-53) to get to the quarterfinals, where they will meet unbeaten WPIAL champion OLSH (25-0), the defending PIAA champions. The Elkers look to end OLSH’s 64-game win-streak and our led by Dan Park and Dom Allegretto. Park poured in a career-high 29 points to go along with 15 rebounds in the win over GCC, while Allegretto had six points while saddled with foul trouble, while Jack Benninger had 13 points and Aaron Sorg 11. Allegretto had 17 points in the win over Cambridge Springs. This is the Elkers’ (22-5) fourth appearance in the quarterfinals in head coach Tony Allegretto’s 18-year tenure.
OLSH, meanwhile, comes into the game riding a 64-game win streak. Jake DiMichele leads the way for the Chargers at 32.8 ppg., scored 29 points, and had 11 rebounds in a 60-36 WPIAL title game win over Fort Cherry. It was the fourth WPIAL title for the Charger senior. DiMichele has tallied over 2,500 points in his career, good for top four in WPIAL history. Fellow senior Dawson Summers checks in at 12.8 ppg and Rocco Spadafora 10.8 ppg. The winner meets Kennedy Catholic or Porage in the semifinals.
CLASS 4A GIRLS
(10-1) Villa Maria. vs. (7-1) Blackhawk at Oil City HS, 6 p.m.
It’s a showdown of epic proportions as Villa (23-2), the defending PIAA runner-up, meets WPIAL champion and unbeaten Blackhawk (26-0). Blackhawk earned a hard-fought first-round win over Eastern York (3-6), before a 72-52 win over Southmoreland. Villa meanwhile is coming off a pair of one-sided wins over Quaker Valley (60-21) and Bedford (59-29). In the win over Bedford, Carissa Dunham came out on fire with five three’s in the first quarter on her way to a game-high 20 points, while Lena Walz had 17 and Jayden McBride 12.
Blackhawk also beat Quaker Valley, 62-24 in the WPIAL quarterfinals. Blackhawk is led by seniors Jillian Mannarino and Casey Nixon, juniors Quinn Borroni and Kassie Potts and sophomore Alena Fusetti. Fusetti drained eight threes in the win over Quaker Valley as Blackhawk won its eighth WPIAL title. The winner will play the Lansdale Catholic/Delone Catholic winner in the semifinals on Saturday at a site and time to be determined.
CLASS 1A GIRLS
(10-1) Kennedy Catholic vs. (9-2) Otto-Eldred at Clarion U., 8 p.m.
The Kennedy Catholic girls have won 12 straight District 10 titles, while Otto-Eldred is making its first PIAA quarterfinal appearance in program history. Both teams had blowout wins in Round 1, but much different paths in the second round. Otto-Eldred trailed by 10 going into the fourth quarter before rallying for a thrilling 56-51 win over WPIAL champion Bishop Canevin. Kennedy Catholic, meanwhile, earned a 55-29 win over Shanksville-Stonycreek. Katie Sheeler, who checks in at just over 18 ppg., scored 13 of her 29 points in the fourth-quarter rally, while Carrie Drummond, who has come on strong in the playoffs, finished with 13 and Anna Merry seven.
Kennedy Catholic, as has been the case all year, had a balanced scoring effort in their second-round win, led by Bellah DiNardo’s 15 points, while Paris Gilmore had 11 and Layke Fields and Monique Vincent added 10 each. Kennedy went on a 20-0 run in the win over Shanksville-Stonycreek, including the final 16 points of the first half. The winner will meet the Portage/Union (New Castle) winner in the semifinals on Saturday at a site and time to be determined.
