Boys Basketball: Bobcats Down Falcons To Claim Spot In KSAC Tournament

on 17 February, 2022 at 14:48

The Clarion Area Bobcats claimed a spot in the Keystone Shortway Athletic Conference Championships, with a 56-50 win over the homestanding A-C Vally Falcons on Wednesday (February 16th).

The Cats finished the regular season at 13-9 and tied North Clarion and Union at 8-2 in the KSAC Boys’ Small School Division. North Clarion won the division and Clarion claimed the number two spot to advance to the KSAC Championships at Clarion University’s Tippin Gymnasium. All three teams will still participate in the District Nine playoffs. (Information on the KSAC Tournament, including Clarion University’s Covid-19 face covering policy, is at the bottom of the article.)

Clarion 56 – A-C Valley 50

Clarion had three players hit for double-figures. Devon Lauer led all scorers with 19 points, which included five baskets from 3-point range. Dawson Smail followed with 14, including a trey and Christian Simko had ten points.

Others contributing to the Bobcats’ total were Gabe Simko with 6 points, Ryan Alston with 4 and Aiden Quinn who had three points, on a 3-pointer.

Clarion led by four after one, 21-17, but the Falcons had a 16-12 edge in the second, to send the game to the half knotted at 33-all.

A 10-6 Bobcats’ advantage in the third had them up by four, 43-39 headed to the last stanza. The Cats outscored the Falcons 13-11, in the fourth to set the final.

A-C Valley also had three players hit for double-figures, led by Jay Clover’s seventeen points. Brody Dittman had 13, including 3 treys and Alex Preston finished with eleven.

(Congratulations and Nice Work, Cats!!!!)

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The KSAC Tournament will begin tonight (Thursday, February 17th), with the Girls’ Semifinals. The Boys’ Semis will be tomorrow (Friday, February 18th) and Championships will be on Saturday (February 19th). Admission will be $8 each day for adults, $4 for students.

The Cats will face off against Redbank Valley at 8:00 p.m. on Friday. North Clarion and Karns City will play at 6 p.m. The winners will play for the Championship at 8 p.m. on Saturday. Tonight’s Girls’ semifinal matchups include North Clarion versus Karns City at 6 p.m. and Union against Redbank Valley at 8 p.m. The Championship will be at 6 p.m. on Saturday.

EYT Media will have live video broadcasts of all the games, with Bob (the Governor) Dunkle and Mike Kalinowski doing the play by play and color. Tonight’s (Thursday, February 17th) broadcast will begin around 5:45 p.m.

All games will be on www.exploreclarion.com and www.d9sports.com

Face coverings are required for the tournament (with the exception is players when they are playing)

From Clarion University’s Covid-19 page:

Face coverings are still required in all facilities, regardless of vaccination status;
Higher-grade masks (KN95 or KF94) or disposable surgical masks are strongly recommended;
Face shields, bandanas, neck gaiters, scarves, turtleneck collars, masks with valves and balaclavas/ski masks not acceptable;
Cloth and handmade face coverings are discouraged. If they are used, it is strongly recommended they be worn with a surgical mask;
A mask must fit snugly over the wearer’s nose and mouth and under the chin, and snugly against the sides of the wearer’s face.

(To all the teams, have a great tourney!!!!)