ST. MARYS, Pa. – Using an 18-0 run in the second half, second-seeded Punxsutawney topped third-seeded Bradford, 38-24 in the District 9 Class 4A semifinals at St. Marys Area High School Thursday night.
“We came out as a team and we played well,” Punxsutawney sophomore Noah Weaver said.
Weaver played a role in the Chucks offense scoring nine of his 13 points in the second half.
Trailing 16-11 at halftime, Bradford (9-14) went on an 8-2 run and back-to-back buckets from Jake Frantz gave the Owls a 19-18 lead with 3:20 left in the third quarter.
“They came out and had three offensive rebounds in two possessions and two of them led to baskets, ” Punxsutawney head coach Jake Perrin said. “I called them over, chewed them out, told them to hit the glass and it looked like it corrected itself.”
Following a timeout, the Chucks (10-12) would go on an 18-0 run that went into the fourth quarter and finished the game on a 20-4 run from that point.
“We had a quick stretch of transition baskets,” Perrin said. “Once we got an eight-point lead they had to switch things up and pressure us which led to a few easy ones and pushed (the lead) to double digits and we just held on.”
Defense was also a big key in the Chucks victory.
Bradford trailed 5-3 at the end of one and was held without a field goal until 3:15 left in the second quarter.
The Owls were able to tie it 9-9 before the Chucks closed out the first half on a 7-2 run including a deep 3-pointer by Gabe Kengersky right before the buzzer.
Aside from the early third-quarter run, the Owls only managed four points in the fourth quarter that came under three minutes left to play.
“All week at practice we’ve been going hard,” Weaver said. “Defense was big. We came out, got stops, turnovers, and that’s how we won the game.”
Watch the entire Weaver interview
Frantz paced the Owls offense with 13 of the 23 points.
Kengerseky added 11 points for the Chucks while Donnie Neese chipped in eight.
“I think we got some momentum with this win,” Perrin said. “We got confidence and got that playoff win under our belt.”
Second-seeded Punxsutawney will face top-seeded Clearfield in the District 9 Class 4A Championship on Tuesday, March 1 at Tippin Gymnasium in Clarion University. The Bison won the regular-season matchup on Feb. 7, 51-39.
PUNXSUTAWNEY 38, BRADFORD 23
Scores by Quarter
Punxsutawney 5 11 11 11 – 38
Bradford 3 8 8 4 – 23
PUNXSUTAWNEY – 38
Gabe Kengersky 3 4-6 11, Noah Weaver 5 3-4 13, Donnie Neese 3 2-3 8, Ryen Heigley 1 0-0 2, Cooper Hollman 1 0-0 2, Zach Presloid 1 0-0 2, Josh Shoemaker 0 0-0 0, Nick Johns 0 0-0 0, Mason Nesbitt 0 0-0 0, Jimmie Neese 0 0-0 0.
BRADFORD – 23
Dalton Dixon 1 0-0 2, Ryan Ward 1 0-0 2, Chase Wineburg 0 0-0 0, Jerid Wilmoth 1 0-0 2, Jake Franz 5 3-4 13, AJ Gleason 0 0-0 0, Nolan Ruolo 0 0-0 0, Nate Gleason 0 0-0 0, Talan Reese 1 0-0 2, Lucas Johnson 0 0-0 0, Isaiah Fitton 0 0-0 0, Brendan Warner 1 0-0 2.
Three-pointers: Punxsutawney 1 (Kengersky)
