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Clarion Area Boys And Girls Basketball Teams Bounce Back With Consolation Wins In Tip-off Tournament Action

Photos by Nate Girvan – Above: Bryce Brinkley getting some major air on shot against Panthers

The Clarion Area Bobcat Boys and Girls basketball teams both competed in tip-off tournaments this past weekend (Friday and Saturday, December 2nd and 3rd). Both dropped their openers, but came back to win consolation games.

The Boys were in the Keystone Tournament, while the Girls were at the DuBois Tournament.

Boys At Keystone Tournament

Opener

The Bobcats fell to the Oil City Oilers 74-40 in the opener, on Friday.

The Oilers led 20-7 after one. Both teams registered 14 points in the second giving Oil City a 34-21 halftime lead. With a 19-12 Oil City advantage in the third, the Oilers led 53-33 heading to the final stanza and a 21-7 Oiler edge, in the fourth, set the 74-40 final.

Gabe Simko and Devon Lauer led the Bobcats with 10 points apiece, followed by Dawson Smail with nine. Bryce Brinkley added 6 points, including a pair of treys, and Derek Smail finished with five points.

Cam Van Wormer led the Oilers with 22 points and Jake Hornbeck added twenty.

Consolation

Clarion bounced back from the loss in the opener, with a 78-73 victory over the host Panthers on Saturday.

The Bobcats led by one, 14-13 after one, but with a 20-12 Panthers advantage in the second, Keystone led 33-26 at the half. The teams were tied 62-all after regulation, with the Cats outscoring the Panthers 16-11 in overtime for the victory.

Devon Lauer on the dribble

Simko and Lauer led Clarion with 21 points apiece, with Lauer burying three from long range. Dawson Smail and Derek Smail had 13 each with Dawson hitting on a trey. Bryce Brinkley had a three-pointer, as he amassed five points.

Drew Keth and Aiden Sell led the Panthers with 20 and nineteen points respectively.

Girls At Dubois Tournament

Opener

The Clarion Girls open tournament action on Friday, falling to the host Beavers 44-19.

DuBois led 7-6 after one and 17-11 at the half. DuBois had a 10-2 third quarter advantage to lead 27-13 heading to the last stanza, where they posted a 17-6 advantage to set the final.

Natalie Durish led the Bobcats with seven points. Taylor Alston had 5 points, Sophia Babington had 3, and Gia Babington and Emily Troese followed with two points apiece.

Madison Rusnica led DuBois with eighteen points.

Consolation

The Bobcats rebounded to defeat Brockway 23-16 in Saturday’s consolation game.

Clarion led 6-4 after one, but a with a 5-2 Rover advantage, in the second, Brockway led by one, 9-8 at the half. With both teams posting four points in the third, Brockway led 13-12 heading to the last quarter, where an 11-3 Bobcat edge set the final.

Alston and Gia Babington led Clarion with 8 points apiece, with Babington hitting one from long range.

Sophie Babington had three points on a trey. Durish and Marley Kline had two points each.

(Keep up the hard work Cats!!!! Thanks to Nate Girvan for his photos!!)