Basketball: Both Bobcat Junior High Boys’ Squads Open With Victories Over Forest Area (01/24/15)

The Clarion Bobcat Junior High Basketball season opened on Thursday. Both teams were victorious against the visiting Forest Area Fires. Coaches Jess Quinn and Jason Craig share the following summaries of their teams victories.

A-TEAM SUMMARY

(By Coach Jess Quinn)

The Clarion Area Boys A Team opened the season January 22nd with a 41-12 victory over the Forest Area Fires. The Forest Area schools have combined teams this season and they brought many boys to our gym.

The boys started the game with a strong defensive effort. I can’t be more pleased with their effort and performance. Our boys were able to use a high pressure defense and layups after, to post a 16 point first quarter. Austin Hummell was able to put in three shots, Nick Cherico had two putbacks, and Zach Bauer and Drew Wrhen both hit big three’s to help us go ahead 16-0 in the first.

The 2nd quarter we pulled back the “d” a little and worked more on our half court defense. Still we were able to keep the Fires from hitting a shot from the floor. They did however make two free throws going into half-time and that set the score at 23-2.

During half-time we made a few adjustments to the zone the Fires were putting forth. The Bobcats stepped up their game and worked more on a half-court set offense. Zach Bauer set the tone scoring 8 points in the quarter. We wanted to do the things to make us better individually, that will in the end make us better as a team. The boys did just that! We worked on running the offense, passing, rebounding, and most importantly our defense. The boys were able to score 12 points in the third quarter stretching the lead to 35-8.

The fourth saw Nick Cherico grab several rebounds and score all the points for the Cats. He was able to put in six points for us, bringing his total for the game to 16 points. The fires were able to drop in two buckets to end the scoring at 41 for the Cats and 12 for the Fires.

Some of the best teams I have ever coached at Clarion, whether it be at the Jr. High level or the Junior Varsity level, have always had many boys scoring an equal number of points. When that happens it makes defending our team very hard. Tonight we had that type of scoring. Nick Cherico topped all scorers with 16 points. Zach Bauer poured in a respectful 12. Austin Hummell had 6, Drew Wrhen had 4. Brendan Zerfoss had 2 and Jacob Burns had 1.

I am looking forward to the rest of the team, boys like Marshall Powers, Archer Mills, Oscar Suzuki, Harrison Porter, and Gavin Brinkley getting into the scorebook. I know they all did many things that didn’t show up there tonight. Many of the boys had steals, rebounds, and nice passes to help our team succeed. I am very proud of all their efforts.

Our next opponent will be the North Clarion Wolves. I am excited for this challenge. Many of you know that our 7-8th grade football team was very successful. One big reason for that success was the effort of Sam and Logan Minich. Well, now they will be on the opposing team. They are good boys and we are looking forward to the opportunity to go to North Clarion. The game is scheduled for next Thursday, January 29th. I believe the first game will be the A Team.

B-TEAM SUMMARY

(By Coach Jason Craig)

The Jr. High Boys B-Team started their season on Thursday at home with a convincing 36 – 2 win over the Forest Fires.

Nick Frederick had the hot hand in the first quarter, scoring 7 of the Bobcats 9 points. Nate Datko knocked down 2 free throws as Clarion jumped out to a 9 – 0 lead. Datko, Frederick and Lake Staub each had two points in the second quarter and Clarion lead 15 – 0 at the half.

The Bobcats came out firing in the third, scoring 14 points in the quarter with Josh Craig bucketing 6 of them. Clay McElravy, Ben Murtha, Tyler Schmader and Staub each had 2 points in the quarter as Clarion pushed their lead to 29 – 0. Lucas Baker found the touch from beyond the arc in the 4th quarter, draining Clarion’s only 3-pointer of the game. Greg Kalinowski got into the scoring column with two points and Staub knocked down another jumper from the baseline. Forest’s Flick was able to make a layup in the 4th as time expired to set the final at 36 -2.

Frederick lead the way for the Bobcats, scoring 9 points (all in the 1st quarter). Craig and Staub each had 6 points while Datko had 4 and Baker 3. Kalinowski, McElravy, Murtha, and Schmader rounded out the scoring with 2 points apiece.

While the score is a little lopsided, it is not a good indication of how hard the Forest Fires played. With the two schools combined, they have a lot of players on each team and they never quit. Tonight just wasn’t their night as nothing would go in for them…..great effort though!

Clarion next travels to North Clarion on Thursday, January 29th, to take on the Wolves.

(Thanks to Coach Quinn and Coach Craig for the game summaries. Great start Bobcats!!!!)