DCC 36, ECC 34

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Jan. 25, 2008

Varacallo's 3 sinks ECC

Information for this story is courtesy of the DuBois Courier-Express

DuBOIS – Dom Varacallo’s 3-pointer with seven second left lifted DuBois Central Catholic to a 36-34 win over Elk County Catholic in an AML slugfest between two of the top District 9 Class A teams Friday night at DCC.

The game was tied at 33 when DCC got the ball back with 26 seconds left following a charge called on ECC’s Kiel Nissel. The Cardinals then called time-out setting up Varacallo’s 3-ball from the corner that gave DCC a 36-33 lead.

DCC (18-2 overall, 8-0 AML South), the RRR Roadhouse/D9Sports.com No. 2 overall and Class A team, then fouled ECC (16-3, 8-1 AML North), the third-ranked team overall and in Class A, so the Crusaders won’t have a chance to attempt a game-tying 3-pointer of their own.

Nick Wortman hit the first free throw with 4.1 seconds left but purposely missed the second one. The rebound went out of bounds off of DCC giving ECC one last chance to win or tie the game with 2.1 seconds left. But Nissel’ 3-pointer at the horn was no good giving DCC its first straight win over rival ECC.

The game was close throughout with DCC holding an 8-7 lead at the end of the first quarter and a 15-13 halftime lead.

ECC then started the second half on an 8-4 run to take a 21-19 lead before DCC retook the lead at 23-21 with four straight points. ECC then retied the contest at 23 at the end of the third quarter, and neither team led by more than three the rest of the way.

Varacallo led DCC with 14 points including four 3-pointers, while Nissel paced ECC with 11 points.

Corrected version 1/29/08 2:07 p.m.

NOTES – DCC clinched the AML South crown with the win, while ECC has clinched at least a tie of the AML North. If ECC clinches the AML North, it will now meet DCC in the AML Title game Feb. 9. Last season, DCC beat ECC 61-50 for the AML Title after beating the Crusaders 69-68 at ECC in the regular season … DCC made only 10 baskets in the game but five of them were 3-pointers … ECC hit 12 shots for the contest but was just 10 of 17 from the free-throw line. DCC went 11 of 14 from the line … The 36 points tied a season-low for DCC, although the 34 points allowed were the fewest given up by the Cardinals to a team other than Ridgway this season. It was the second time this year ECC failed to reach 40 points, but the 36 points allowed marked the ninth time this season a team has failed to reach 40 against the Crusaders … The game pitted the last two PIAA Class A Western Champions. ECC won the PIAA Class A Western Title and the PIAA Class A title two years ago while DCC won the PIAA Class A Western Title last season and was PIAA Class A runner-ups a year ago.

DUBOIS CENTRAL CATHOLIC 36, ELK COUNTY CATHOLIC 34

Score by Quarters

ECC 7 6 10 11 – 34

DCC 8 7 8 13 – 36

ECC – 34

Nick Wortman 1 1-2 3, Nate Higgins 2 3-4 7, Logan Haberberger 4 0-0 9, Eric Mastrogiacomo 0 0-0 0, Kiel Nissel 3 5-8 11, Robby Wortman 1 0-0 2, Alan Agosti 1 0-0 2, Kyle Garner 0 0-1 0, Matt Bauer 0 1-2 1. Totals 12 10-17 34.

DCC – 36

Matt Pentz 2 0-0 4, Max Moclock 1 3-4 5, Michael Hassan 0 2-2 2, Christian Spilman 1 1-2 4, Dom Varacallo 4 2-2 14, John Ferraraccio 0 2-2 2, Andy Kunkle 0 0-0 0, Chris Marshall 0 1-2 1, Kelcey Gulvas 0 0-0 0, Taylor Pentz 2 0-0 4, Zach Lewis 0 0-0 0. Totals 10 11-14 36.

Three-pointers – DCC 5 (Varacallo 4, Spillman 1).