DUBOIS, Pa. (D9Sports) — Broc Weigle hit two 3-pointers in the final four minutes of the game, as fifth-seeded A-C Valley stunned heavily favored and fourth-seeded Johnsonburg, 71-65, in the District 9 Class 1A quarterfinals at DuBois High School.
(Photo of Levi Orton, whose 30 points and 12 rebounds led A-C Valley to an upset win over Johnsonburg)
“It’s just amazing,” A-C Valley junior guard Levi Orton, who scored 30 points while pulling down 12 rebounds and coming away five assists while being named the Hager Paving Player of the Game, said. “All this hard work we put in (during) the offseason paid off.”
Reslisten to the game:
While it was Orton all game long leading the Falcons, it was Weigle who stepped up big time in the fourth quarter for the Falcons.
He broke a 49-all tie and gave A-C Valley the lead for good when he nailed a 3-pointer from the corner right around the four-minute mark. That triple started a quick 5-0 spurt for A-C Valley, which never led by less than two points the rest of the way.
Then, after a Gabe Watts basket got Johnsonburg back within three, 63-60, with 1:21 to play, Weigle hit another 3-pointer to push the lead to six.
“Broc is a guard stuck in a bigs body, that’s all I have to say,” Orton said. “He likes to shoot the 3-pointer.”
Weigle’s second three turned out to be a big shot, as Austin Green answered with a 3-pointer for the Rams to make it 66-63 with a minute left.
Johnsonburg then got a turnover, but Green missed a 3-pointer with 31 seconds to play with Weigle getting the rebound. That led to an Eddie Stevanus layup at the other end with 21 seconds left, and A-C Valley (16-7) hit 3 of 4 free throws in the final 12.9 seconds to secure the win.
Stevanus added 24 points and seven rebounds with Weigle scoring 11 points while hitting three 3-pointers as A-C Valley, which won a postseason game for the first time since 2013, put up the most points against Johnsonburg this season.
“I was seeing the middle was open,” Orton said when asked what worked so well on offense for the Falcons. “We worked on that all week because we went and watched them play Brookville, and we saw the middle was open and then we just tried working it in. We came up with new sets for zone and plays and that’s it.”
Watch Orton’s full postgame interview.
Johnsonburg (16-9), which had been to the past two District 9 Class 1A title games, winning the title in 2018, got 27 points from Green and 22 from Watts.
A-C Valley will take on top-seeded and defending champion Elk County Catholic in the semifinals Wednesday.
ELK COUNTY CATHOLIC 69, AUSTIN 18
BRADFORD, Pa. — Top-seeded Elk County Catholic started defense of its District 9 Class 1A title with a 69-18 blowout of eighth-seeded Austin at Bradford High School in the quarterfinals.
Ten different Crusaders (24-1) scored led by 12 points from Mason McAllister, 10 from Regis Wortman, nine from Ben Hoffman and eight each from Mark Kraus and Leo Gregory.
Jackson Glover led Austin with seven points.
ECC led 15-7 after on quarter and then outscored the Panthers 15-2 in the second quarter to take a 30-9 halftime lead before expanding the advantage to 49-12 going to the fourth quarter.
