CLARION, Pa. (D9Sports) — Coming up with a strong second half, Clarion ended a three-game playoff losing streak to rival Clarion-Limestone that spanned the better part of two decades knocking the Lions from the postseason with a 61-43 victory Thursday night in the District 9 Class 2A quarterfinals at Clarion University’s Tippin Gym.
(Photo of Calvin German, the Hager Paving Player of the Game with 15 points off the bench for Clarion)
The Bobcats (17-6), the fifth seed, were tied with the shorthanded Lions (17-7), who were without their leading scorer, Ian Callen — Callen is on a mission trip to the Caribbean that everyone knew about dating back before the season started — at 27 at halftime but built a 38-31 lead at the end of three quarters. Clarion then used a 6-2 run in the fourth quarter to put the lead into double digits.
Relisten to the game
“It means a lot to the boys who have worked very hard to get here,” Clarion’s third-year head coach Jess Quinn said. “We got here (to Tippin Gym) last year but fell short (in a loss to C-L). Every year, we say take a step forward. It was to make the playoffs that first year, then it was to make it here last year. This year it was to get here and win. That was one of our goals. I’m very proud the way they came out in the second half and kind of took control of the game.”
Freshman Calvin German, who was named the Hager Paving Player of the Game, played a key role in the third quarter. He hit a pair of 3-pointers to help Clarion start the frame on a 10-2 run.
“This one was a really important to use because we lost to them twice on the year and we just felt we had to get revenge in this one,” German said. “We just came out and did out job.
German said his teammates did a great job of finding him in the third quarter.
“I was just feeling it,” German, who finished the game with 15 points off the bench including three 3-pointers, said of his hot shooting. “My teammates were getting me the ball, and I was just stroking.”
Watch more of what German had to say about the win.
Quinn said he wasn’t sure how his freshman would react to being in such a big environment for the first time.
“To be honest, I didn’t know what this environment would do to him,” Quinn said. “He has great vision and he can hit that shot. If we could have gotten him a couple of nicer passes, I think he would have hit a couple of more.”
Up seven after three quarters, C-L had a chance to significantly reduce the lead when Cam Craig, Clarion’s senior point guard, was whistled for a technical foul at the end of the third quarter (more on that below) giving C-L not only two free throws but also the basketball at the start of the fourth quarter.
Christian Smith, who had a team-best 15 points for the Lions, hit one of the two charity shots, but Clarion’s defense came up with a stop on the Lions possession and Nick Frederick (much more on Frederick below as well) scored six of the game’s next eight points to open the lead up to 10, 44-34, for the Bobcats with just under six minutes to play.
“After the technical, I told the guys we had to rise up,” Quinn said. “You have to get a defensive stop. They are going to get two shots and the ball. Let’s go. I think we got a steal right out of it. The rest of the guys did a great job picking (Cam) up.”
About a minute after Frederick’s personal six-point streak, another freshman, Josh Craig, buried a 3-pointer to push the lead to a game-high, at that point, 12 points, 37-35, and C-L never got back within single digits.
“Clarion does a good job of pressuring you,” C-L head coach Joe Ferguson said. “That’s what they were counting on, to wear us down. We were happy to be tied at halftime.”
CHRIS’ THOUGHTS
1. Quinn understood it could have been a different game with Ian Callen.
Quinn said that while beating C-L for the first time this season was great, especially with everything on the line, he also acknowledged that the Lions weren’t at full strength without Callen.
“I think it will always have an asterisk without Ian,” Quinn said. “We know that. I talked to his mom right afterward. I can’t tell you the level of respect for a young man, a 17-year old kid who basketball means the world too but who takes time to go better somebody else’s life. It’s huge. So yeah, it was good to get a win against C-L but I think everybody realizes that Ian wasn’t here.”
Ferguson wasn’t using Callen’s absence as an excuse.
“You can’t replace that,” Ferguson said. “But, we have a saying with the team, ‘No explanations, no excuses.’ We’re not going to use that as a basis. It’s tough losing him, but we played a good game.”
2. C-L went cold in the second half.
The Lions played an inspired first half without their leader who is so much more than just the team’s leading scorer. But the Lions couldn’t overcome missing Callen AND a frigid shooting second half.
C-L started the third quarter 0-for-16 for the field and went 1 of 18 in the quarter. They warmed up a tad in the fourth hitting on 5 of 11 shots but the cold third quarter was the difference.
“Legs, I think we lost our legs,” Ferguson said. “We couldn’t hit a shot and that happened against teams we played this year. When you wear them down by pressing, their legs are starting to go in the third quarter. I really think that was one of the big keys. We couldn’t knock shots down. We couldn’t even make free throws.”
3. What a story Nick Frederick playing was.
Frederick is Clarion’s 6-foot-3 sophomore forward. He played a key role in the win scoring six points, all in the fourth quarter helping Clarion pull away. He also grabbed four rebounds. That was the last thing anyone expected the last time we all saw Frederick in a uniform.
That was the night of Jan. 29 when he collided with Keystone’s Corey Rapp going for a loose ball with under 10 seconds to play in Clarion’s win over the Panthers. After the incidental collision, Frederick was in considerable pain grabbing his knee, and an air cast was quickly put on his leg and an ambulance called.
He was taken to Clarion Hospital and was diagnosed with a dislocated kneecap, which can be a gruesome injury with months of recovery. Everyone figured his season was over and that there was a possibility he might never be the same.
But Frederick was optimistic even that night. In a video shared with D9Sports.com by teammate Zak Bauer, Frederick, from the hospital, said he was going to do all he could to get back in time for the playoffs. I have to be honest, I just thought it was a great kid who just trying to keep his spirits up.
Frankly, Quinn did too. But Frederick showed all of us not only dressing but playing Thursday night.
“It’s incredible,” Quinn said. “When Nick went down, I didn’t think we would see him again until next year. I didn’t think he would play baseball. The orthopedic (surgeon) said it was one of the worst ones she had ever seen. His kneecap was stuck on the side of his leg. I felt it and went with him to the hospital. It’s just amazing. He sent me a text this past week and said he was going to the doctor and hopefully he was going to get cleared. Wishful thinking, I thought. Then he sent me a text saying, ‘Coach, I’m ready.’ You saw him tonight. He hit a couple of big shots for us. He had a couple of good rebounds.”
4. It’s all about rebounding and defense with Clarion.
When the Bobcats are at their best it is about rebounding and defense so it’s no surprise that was the message Quinn gave his team at halftime.
“Rebounding,” German said when asked what Quinn’s halftime speech was about. “You have to get on the glass. We didn’t get on the glass in the first half. The second half, I thought we did better.”
Austin Hummell was once again a beast on the boards collecting a game-high 13 rebounds — Hayden Callen led C-L with 10 and also had 10 points. Hummell had a double-double with 10 tallies as well.
“I said, Austin if we are going to win this game, you have to do it rebounding,” Quinn said. “He did in the second half. Without Ian on the floor, he had to control the boards, and I think he did a nice job.”
5. Don’t read or react too much about the technical foul at the end of the third quarter. Technicals happen, and it’s ok.
When Craig was whistled for the technical foul, he deserved it. Quinn knew it. I would bet Cam knew it.
I just hope no one overreacts, especially administrators — and I am not saying Clarion’s would but some at some schools they do.
Technical fouls are part of the game. Sports are emotional.
In this case, Craig believed he was wronged — and he very well might have been.
With the Bobcats up seven and the clock winding down late in the third quarter, he had the ball knocked loose from him and he dove to the floor wrestling a C-L player for control. He came out with it on the floor and tried to call timeout. He clearly got the timeout called well before being whistled for a travel call. But the referee, and remember they are human too, decided the travel happened first and called it.
Craig reacted by throwing the ball down but wasn’t whistled for the technical there. It wasn’t until the end of the quarter when he said something to an official or perhaps just to no one in particular who was probably a little too close to the Clarion huddle at that point that the infraction was called. It happens.
But you know what? There is nothing wrong with the occasional technical foul even if in today’s climate of “sportsmanship” a lot of administrators get upset when players or coaches get them. It’s part of the game. It’s the reason they are part of the rules. Sports are emotional. How many of us have ever yelled at the TV, yelled at an official or a player? I would venture to say most of us have at one point or another. It’s because we are passionate about the games we play and watch. It’s time to get over the fact that players, coaches and fans are emotional. It’s time for administrators to realize that as long as no one gets hurt or goes way overboard that the occasional technical foul is OK. Now, if it happens a lot then it becomes an issue and should and is addressed. But that isn’t the case with 99.9 percent of the players and coaches who get called for them. Most of the time they are just a heat-of-the-moment type of thing.
And Quinn handled the technical perfectly. He sat the young man, a great young man by the way if you have ever had the chance to meet him, and explained to him that he was a leader on the team and needed to keep his emotions under check. And Cam responded exceptionally to the situation
“Cam is one of the best kids I know,” Quinn said. “He was pretty hot. But he is like his coach. He wears his heart on his shirt sleeve. When he exploded like that, I come over and sat him down and told him you are our leader. You have to keep your composure.”
OF NOTE
Clarion won its second playoff game under Quinn but only its fourth since 2007 … The Bobcats beat C-L in a playoff game for the first time since a 69-39 win in 1988. The Lions had beaten Clarion in three straight playoff games, including last year, in 2012 and in 2001 in an epic double-overtime affair at Clarion High School … Clarion is in the District 9 semifinal for the first time since 2005, when it lost to Coudersport, 61-50, in the 1A semifinals. The Bobcats last won the D9 title in 2003 in Class 1A.
THE ROAD AHEADCLARION 61, CLARION-LIMESTONE 43
Score by Quarters
Clarion 17 10 11 23 — 61
C-L 17 10 4 12 — 43
CLARION — 61
Spencer Miller 2 5-6 9, Drew Whren 0 0-0 0, Archer Mills 0 0-0 0, Jake Burns 0 0-0 0, Jacob Selker 0 0-0 0, Josh Craig 1 0-0 3, Skylar Rhoades 0 0-0 0, Calvin German 5 2-2 15, Gavin Brinkley 1 0-0 2, Austin Hummell 5 0-2 10, Cam Craig 5 3-4 16, Zak Bauer 0 0-0 0, Nick Frederick 3 0-0 6. Totals 22 10-14 61.
CLARION-LIMESTONE — 43
Deion Deas 4 0-2 10, Julian Laugand 2 0-0 4, Aiden Wiles 0 0-0 0, Kyle Kerle 2 0-0 4, Curvin Goheen 0 0-0 0, Nick Cyphert 0 0-0 0, Christian Smith 5 4-5 15, Ian Hawthorn 0 0-0 0, Hayden Callen 4 1-2 10. Totals 17 5-9 43.
Three-pointers: Clarion 7 (German 3, Cam Craig 3, Josh Craig). Clarion-Limestone 4 (Deas 2, Smith, Callen).
Rebounds: Clarion 13 offensive, 28 defensive, 41 total (Hummell 13, Cam Craig 8). C-L 16 offensive, 20 defense, 36 totals (Callen 10, Smith 8).
