Playoffs open for Ridgway gals
Tonight, the District 9 Class A two-seed, 18-5 Lady Elkers begin their quest for their first District 9 championship since 1989 (2A) when they host ten-seed Northern Potter (13-10), a 35-30 winner at sevenseed Oswayo Valley (158), on Tuesday.
In St. Marys, the topseeded 22-2 Lady Crusaders host eight-seed Otto-Eldred (14-9), 5137 winners over visiting nine-seed Austin (12-10) on Tuesday.
The other quarterfinal matchups have threeseed DuBois Central Catholic (12-10) hosting six-seeded Port Allegany (17-5) and four-seed North Clarion (16-6) getting a visit from fiveseeded Clarion (13-9).
With five teams advancing to the PIAA championships, tonight's winners are guaranteed a spot while the three losers will vie for the fifth spot.
"This is it. This is what we've been playing for. We want to go deep into this thing," said Lady Elker head coach Jay Schreiber at Tuesday's practice. "So, we have to come and play like I know we can and take of business on Thursday."
Quarterfinal Breakdown
After finishing 18-4 in the regular season, the Ridgway girls lost a third time to ECC in the AML championship semifinals played on Feb. 15. On Saturday, the Lady Crusaders beat St. Marys (18-5), which was 2-1 against the Lady Elkers, for the league title.
Tonight's winner in Ridgway advances to the Feb. 28 semifinals to play the victor of tonight's game at DCC. The Lady Elkers beat the Lady Cardinals twice and did not play Port Allegany.
The winner from Elk Catholic plays tonight's winner at North Clarion, where the 16-6 home team, Lady Wolves, are losers of three straight. Clarion, which knocked Ridgway out of last year's postseason, has lost two in a row. The Lady Elkers did not play North Clarion but beat Clarion 44-22 to win the Clarion River Valley Tip-off Tournament at RAHS. North Clarion won the previous two games with Clarion.
After losing to OttoEldred in last year's district championship game, the Lady Crusaders beat them 54-14 in St. Marys to open the season. ECC's losses were at St. Marys 54-46 on Jan. 13 and 32-31 at 4A top seed Punxsutawney (19-2). The AML championship win was the seventh straight for the Lady Crusaders. The Lady Terrors had lost four of five before Tuesday's win over Austin.
A victory tonight would guarantee a spot in the state tourney for the Lady Elkers, who last did so in 2022 when they finished 15-10. That appearance was the first since the district championship 1989 season. A win would surpass the 1996-1997 (18-7) victory total.
"I am glad they took what I challenged them with and ran with it. I knew we could be one of the best teams in the district," said Schreiber of his squad that includes senior starters Gabby Amacher, Kristen Ellenberger, and Jenna Kasmierski, who has 1,097 career points, and juniors Emma Vargas and Grace Bon. Freshman Sophia Fullem and sophomore Sara Zameroski are the first off of the bench. Others ready are sophomore Maddy MacAfee and ninth-graders Dana Beimel, Izzi Lawrie, and Neve Washburn. Junior Meghan Tettis is out after being injured during the season.
The Ridgway coach, assisted by Bob Swanson, Dina Fullem, Cheri Hofmann, and Mike Armanini, praised his group's commitment.
"They came in every night and practiced hard. We're here because of what the kids did. They allowed us to push them, challenge them, and put new things in, so hats off to them. Hopefully, we can do this the right way and have a nice deep run."
WDDH-97.5 FM-The Hound will broadcast the Lady Elker contest which starts at 7 p.m.
D9 Class A playoffs Tonight
• Austin-Otto winner at #1 Elk County Catholic (20-2)
• Northern PotterOswayo winner at #2 Ridgway (18-4)
• #5 Clarion (13-9) at #4 North Clarion (16-6)
• #6 Port Allegany (175) at #3 DuBois Central Catholic (12-10)
• Feb. 28 - Semifinals
• Mar. 2 - Championship – at PennWest Clarion