Rams stay hot open postseason tonight
JOHNSONBURG – Wednesday night's 66-25 home win over Brockway (2-20) was the sixth-straight for the Paper City boys, who head into tonight's AML semifinal game at St. Marys 16-6. North champ 21-1 Elk County Catholic hosts 13-9 Ridgway in the other semi. The league championship will be decided at SMAHS on Saturday.
"We know what we should have done tonight, and we did it," said Rams head coach Cole Peterson, whose team finished with 11 players hitting the score sheet. "We told everyone to go out, play some basketball, don't slack off no matter the score, play hard until you come out of the game, and everyone did. Games like that are nice, especially heading into the playoffs."
Luke Zimmerman hit two free throws, and Isiah Jackson scored before Brockway's Reese Yahner gave the
Rovers a 5-4 lead with a bucket and old-fashioned three with 4:41 left. A Jackson basket started a 15-0 run, and after another Yahner score, Noah Stauffer hit a three-pointer with 4 seconds left in the quarter, putting his team up 22-7.
Johnsonburg controlled throughout the rest of the contest, allowing Peterson to put all 14 dressed players in.
"It was nice to get the bench more minutes and see the chemistry out there as we're getting locked and loaded for the playoffs."
Jackson finished with 20 points, and Stauffer had 10. Luke Zimmerman and Garrett Lehman scored seven points, Mitchell Schreiber six, Aiden Demay five, Nick Myers and Cade Peterson three, Eric Hoffman and Parker Calla two, and Eli Perez one. Sam Davis, Jude Schreiber, and Darren Shaw also played. There was no JV game due to a lack of Brockway players.
Yahner led the Rovers with 10 points. Kyle Kennedy added five, Aiden Wilcox four, Triston Coder hit a threepointer, and Aiden Patton scored two points.
Peterson enjoyed seeing his team having fun in Wednesday's win.
"It's good to see, especially after the season we've had. Everyone's worked hard, and to have a game like this where we can get everyone in, kick back, and root for the guys off the bench is awesome to see."
Tonight
The Rams won the first two meetings against the 10-12 Dutch, who they beat in round one of the Elk County Holiday Tournament, 55-41, and 5755 in St. Marys on Jan. 8.
ECC has three wins over the Rams, who beat Ridgway in both meetings.
The Crusaders are the top-seed for the Class A playoffs and Johnsonburg is two (see D9 hoop seeds)
"I'm feeling good. I've told the guys to treat each game like a playoff game no matter who we're playing, and they've done that," Peterson said. "Nothing changes for us. It's still one game at a time. So, Friday, we'll try to take care of business in St. Marys, move on, and then get ready for the district playoffs and see what transpires from there."
The game will air on WDDH-97.5 FM-The Hound.
Johnsonburg 66, Brockway 24 1 2
B-way 7 8 4 5 25 J-burg 22 17 17 10 66
FG-FTMFTA-Points
Individual: Brockway: 3 4 T
Reese Yahner 4-2-7-10, Kyle Kennedy 2-0-0-5, Aiden Wilcox 2-0-0-4, Triston Coder 1-0-0-3, Aiden Patton 1-0-0-2, Kolton Kahle 0-0-2-0, Cales Daughterty 0-0-0-0, Dom Durle 0-0-0-0, Totals 10-2-9-24.
Johnsonburg:
Isaiah Jackson 9-2-2-20, Noah Stauffer 4-1-3-10, Luke Zimmerman 2-2-4-7, Garrett Lehman 3-02-7, Mitchell Schreiber 3-0-0-6, Aiden Demay 2-0-0-5, Nick Myers 1-0-0-3, Cade Peterson 1-0-0-3, Eric Hoffman 1-0-0-2, Parker Calla 1-0-0-2, Eli Perez 0-12-1, Sam Lewis 0-0-0-0, Jude Schreiber 0-0-0-0, Darren Shaw 0-0-0-0, Totals 27-6-13-66.
Three-pointers:
Brockway 2 - Kennedy, Coder; Johnsonburg 6 – Zimmerman, Stauffer, Demay, Peterson, Myers, Lehman.