ST. MARYS, Pa. (D9Sports) — North Clarion closed the first half on a 10-0 run and never looked back on its way to a 50-29 win over Coudersport in the District 9 Class 1A semifinals at St. Marys High School.
(Photo of North Clarion’s Mackenzie Bauer, who had 15 points in the She-Wolves semifinals win over Coudersport Tuesday. Photo by Paul Burdick. Check out more of Burdick’s work here)
“I am super proud,” North Clarion head coach Terry Dreihaup said. “Coach (Terri) Obenrader and I, we have put in a lot of time with these girls, teach them fundamentals, teach them how to properly play the game. I believe that winning is contagious. It is just the way it is. We have more girls coming out every year. They are all excited. They all want to play all the time, all summer. That is just great for the program.”
The third-seeded and two-time defending D9 1A champion She-Wolves (17-7) led by just one, 12-11, following a Sarah Chamber steal and layup with around four-and-a-half minutes to play in the opening half.
But Chambers shot was the last points the second-seeded Lady Falcons (18-5), who had won back-to-back D9 2A titles before moving down to 1A this year, scored in the opening 16 minutes.
Hayley Sherman started the North Clarion run when she was fouled by Shay Black, the third of the first half by Coudy’s leading scorer, and hit one of two free throws to make it 13-11 with 4:19 to play.
Forty seconds later, Gaby Carll drilled her second of three 3-pointers in the game to make it 16-11.
The lead remained 16-11 until the final minute of the first half when North Clarion scored six straight points to build the lead to double digits, 22-11, at halftime.
First, Abby Gatesman scored on a layup off a feed from Carll with 57.2 seconds left to make it 18-11. Gabby Schmader then scored to make it 20-11, and in the final 10 seconds, Mackenzie Bauer ran the break to make it 22-11.
“I stressed to the girls the last few games, we run the ball,” Dreihaup said. “We pushed the ball in transition. We made some great passes and some nice shots.”
Bauer, who had a game-high 15 points to go with five steals and was named the Hager Paving Player of the Game, talked about the victory.
It was more of the same for North Clarion in the second half, as the She-Wolves built the lead to 19, 37-18, after three quarters and pushed it into the high 20s in the fourth quarter.
Gatesman added a double-double of 14 points and 10 rebounds while also coming away with five steals in the victory, while Sherman had eight points and 10 boards, Carll nine points on the three 3-pointers and Schmader two points and six assists.
“To win comes like this, everyone has to contribute,” Dreihaup said. “We have seen it all year long. We saw it in the playoffs last year. We just need to continue to get better on defense and running our offense when we get pressure and continue to push the ball going forward.”
Black led Coudersport with 10 points despite fouling out with over six minutes to play. Rosalyn Page added seven points and Chambers five.
“We had a game plan tonight to kind of focus our attention on 22 (Chambers) and 32 (Black), and the girls did an absolutely great job of holding those two under their averages and putting pressure on them all night long.”
North Clarion will take on top-seeded Johnsonburg in the title game, which is set for Thursday, Feb. 28, at Brookville at a time to be announced.
Coudersport, which has qualified for the PIAA playoffs, will face Otto-Eldred in the consolation game at 6 p.m. Thursday, Feb. 28, at St. Marys High School.
