Otto spoils Ridgway repeat
CLARION - The topseed Terrors defeated the Elkers 41-35 in the District 9 Class 2A semifinals Wednesday at PennWest Clarion's Tippin Gymnasium, ending Ridgway's bid to repeat as champs.
The 17-8, four-seed Elkers are still alive for a berth in the PIAA playoffs and will play Karns City in the consolation final on Friday at a site to be determined. The three-seed Gremlins (21-4) were beaten 47-43 by twoseed Clarion-Limestone (23-2) in Wednesday's other semi at Tippin. Three teams advance to the state championship from the class.
The 23-1 Terrors never trailed and led 9-2, 3:30 into the contest. Aaron Sorg, who scored a game-high 20 points, hit two field goals and the teams traded scores with the quarter ending 13-10 Otto.
With 5:52 left in the second, Sorg hit a jumper to pull Ridgway within 16-14, and made it 20-16 with 3:00 to go in the half. Otto's Manning Splain scored, and Brax Caldwell put a rebound in as time expired giving the Terrors a 24-16 halftime advantage.
Otto-Eldred extended the lead to 29-18 to open the third. The Elkers responded with an 8-0 run with two buckets from Sorg, two free throws from Alex Merritt, and a layup from Jack Benninger after an Eric Gustafson steal. Otto's Landon Francis missed a three and picked up his third foul with 18 seconds left. Sorg's three attempt missed to end the quarter with the Terrors up 29-26.
Splain and Sorg each scored before Sheen Thomas made it 3328 with 5:31 left. Sorg banged a trey cutting the lead to two, but Ridgway would get no closer and Otto pulled ahead by seven before
Merritt hit a three with 46 seconds left making it 39-35. Francis finished the scoring by hitting both ends of a one-and-one with 46 seconds left. A missed three with under 15 seconds to go, allowed the Terrors to run out the clock after getting the ball in play.
“We didn't get enough loose balls and rebounds and usually when you lose that statistic, you're probably going to lose the game, and that was the difference,” said Elker head coach Eric Herzing.
Merritt finished with nine points, Benninger four, and Erik Pannebianco two. Caldwell led Otto with 14 points. Thomas scored 10, Francis seven, and Austin Cousins and Splain five points.
Herzing talked about Friday's win, or the season ends.
“The boys know. We have seniors that have been through this before and they know the deal. We can't take first or second, so we're going to do our best to get third on Friday.”
The Terrors and C-L will play for the title on Saturday at Tippin in Clarion at 8 p.m. Otto-Eldred 41,
Ridgway 35
By Quarter
Ridg 10 6 10 9 35 Otto 13 11 5 12 41
FG=FTM-FTAPoints
Ridgway: Aaron Sorg 9-1-2-20, Alex Merritt 3-2-2-9, Jack Benninger 2-0-0-4, Eric Pannebianco 1-0-0-2, Eric Gustafson 0-0-0-0, Jackson Kilpeck 0-0-0-0, Alec DeVallance 0-0-0-0, Totals 15-3-4-35.
Otto-Eldred:
Brax
Caldwell 7-0-0-14, Shene Thomas 4-2-310, Landon Francis 2-2-2-7, Austin Cousins 1-2-2-5, Manning Splain 2-0-0-5, Max Splain 0-0-0-0, Totals 16-6-6-41.
Three-pointers: Ridgway 2 – Sorg, Merritt; Otto-Eldred 3 – Splain, Francis, Cousins.