NORTH CLARION 65, A-C VALLEY 57

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Jan. 23, 2009

By Chris Rossetti

FOXBURG – North Clarion withstood two A-C Valley rallies to get a 65-57 win in KSAC boys’ action Friday night at A-C Valley.

 Twice in the fourth quarter the Wolves watched A-C Valley rally from deficits to the tie the score first rallying from nine down to tie the game at 50 and then rallying from six down to knot it again at 56.

But North Clarion (13-1 overall, 11-1 KSAC-North) ended the contest on a 9-1 run with all nine points coming on free throws. The Wolves were 9 of 12 in the final 1:31 from the free-throw line, including hitting their final seven, after starting the game just 11 of 18.  

“I think it was the momentum of the game,” North Clarion head coach Glen Bobak said. “The momentum helps you relax.”

Junior forward Kyle Gilbert played a key role in the final run despite scoring just one point during the stretch. He had a key blocked shot that kept the game tied at 56 and then came up with an offensive rebound on a missed free throw with the contest still tied up that led to the go-ahead free-throw by Jeremy Schmader with 1:31 to play. Gilbert followed that up by rebounding a key miss by A-C Valley that would have given the Falcons the lead and then hit a free throw to put North Clarion ahead by two. He then ended up with the basketball ball after teammate Zach Weaver punched it away from an A-C Valley player with the Falcons (5-10, 5-5 KSAC-South) down 59-57 with 38.7 seconds left. But maybe the most telling stat of all of Gilbert’s importance to North Clarion was that in the five minutes he was out of the game from late in the third quarter until midway through the fourth after picking up his fourth foul, North Clarion was outscored 13-3 going from ahead 10 to tied. But after he reentered the game, the Wolves outscored A-C Valley 15-7 to close out the contest.

“His presence on the court, the maturity he brings in there definitely pulls everybody together,” Bobak said. “It made a difference having him back on the court at that time.”

Gilbert finished the game with 19 points, 11 rebounds and six steals. Sophomore Jeremy Schmader, who is the leading scorer in District 9, had a team-high 21 points including nine from the free-throw line and nine in the fourth quarter.

That helped offset a monster night from A-C Valley sophomore Allan Eaton, who was the All American Awards & Engraving D9Sports.com Rookie of the Year last season. Eaton recorded his seventh straight double-double and his ninth in 15 games by netting a game-high 27 points to go with 11 rebounds. He added three blocked shots for good measure.

“Allan had been consistently up there for us all season,” A-C Valley head coach Jim Marron said. “We ask him to do everything. He is one of the top players in 10^th grade in the district and really one of the top players in the KSAC. But the rest of our players have to step up too.”

The Falcons did get 11 points and 15 rebounds from Reed Terwilliger, 10 points from Blayne McGuirk and nine from Matt Barley, but no one else scored for A-C Valley.

Turnovers also killed the Falcons. A-C Valley turned the ball over 30 times including three times in the final 40 seconds when the game was still within one possession.

“We don’t take care of the basketball,” Marron said. “You can’t win with that many turnovers. We ought to be able to get the ball inbounds. We are averaging 22 of 23 turnovers per game. That is why we aren’t winning.”

North Clarion used a 9-2 run at the end of the first half to take a 31-27 halftime lead. But A-C Valley started the second half with a 9-4 run of its own to go back ahead 36-35 on a McGuirk jumper in the paint with 4:24 left in the third quarter.

The Wolves answered with a 12-1 run fueled by five points from Bryan Burkhart. Burkhart gave North Clarion a 38-36 lead on an old-school 3-point play when he drove the baseline, scored, was fouled and hit the free-throw. He then ended the 10-0 portion run with another basket making it 45-36 with 2:34 left in the third quarter. Burkhart, a senior forward, finished with nine points and four rebounds.

“Burk did a great job tonight on the boards,” Bobak said. “His focus was topnotch, 100 percent. He did just a great job tonight.”

After a Gilbert hoop made it 37-37 with 1:25 to play in the third quarter, A-C Valley slightly cut the deficit to eight, 47-39, at the end of the quarter.

But that started the 13-3 run for the Falcons, which got back into the game thanks to 3-pointers by Barley and McGuirk at the start of the third quarter. Terwilliger’s two free throws with 4:14 to play tied the game at 50.

“I wasn’t surprised at all that they came back,” Bobak said. “I know these guys have strong legs. They are a strong team and could keep pushing you.”

North Clarion responded with the next six points taking the lead again on a Schmader layup with 3:32 to play and then getting a basket from Steven Hargenrader and a free throw each from Gilbert and Schmader to make it 56-50 with 2:44 to play.

But A-C Valley answered with strong defense creating a couple of turnovers that led to easy baskets including a McGuirk layup with 1:50 to go that tied the game at 56.

McGuirk then stole the inbounds pass and tried a layup. Gilbert, however, blocked the first shot and then kept McGuirk from getting a solid look at a second shot that was missed as well with Hargenrader getting the rebound and being fouled with 1:37 to play.

“I actually thought Gilbert fouled him, but he must not have because it wasn’t called,” Marron said. “We had the ball in a tie game, and missed a layup.”

Hargenrader, shooting in the double bonus, missed both free throws. But Gilbert got the rebound and found Schmader who was fouled before hitting one of two free throws to put the Wolves ahead for good.

Eaton had a chance to give A-C Valley the lead but missed an open 12-footer with Gilbert hauling down the rebound and making one of two free throws to put North Clarion ahead 58-56.

Eaton then made the back-end of a two shot foul to get A-C Valley back within one, 58-57, with 55.7 seconds to play, and the Falcons trailed by two, 59-57, following a free throw the Schmader free throw with 38.7 seconds left.

A-C Valley then made a move toward the basket to tie the game, but Weaver stripped the Falcon player from beyond with Gilbert securing the ball. From then on, the Wolves were perfect from the line salting the game away.

“We’ve been in every game, we just can’t finish them,” A-C Valley head coach Jim Marron said. “They are battlers We have to learn how to win. I’m convinced, we can play with anybody. It’s very frustrating. But they are young. But I don’t want them to make that excuse.”

NOTES – A-C Valley outrebounded North Clarion 43-28 but had 30 turnovers to the Wolves 19 … North Clarion’s 13-1 start is its best since starting 14-1 in 1999-2000.

NORTH CLARION 65, A-C VALLEY 57

Score by Quarters

North Clarion 10 21 16 18 – 65

A-C Valley 12 15 12 18 – 57

North Clarion – 65

Jeremy Schmader 6 9-14 21, John Bobak 0 3-4 3, Zach Weaver 0 0-0 0, Bryan Burkhart 3 3-3 9, Kyle Gilbert 7 2-4 19, Chad Wolbert 2 2-4 8, Steven Hargenrader 2 1-1 5. Totals 20 20-30

A-C Valley – 57

Allan Eaton 7 10-12 27, Reed Terwilliger 4 3-4 11, Matt Bartley 4 0-0 9, Blayne McGuirk 4 0-1 10, Josh Austin 0 0-0 0, Joe Kaufman 0 0-0 0, Cole Smith 0 0-0 0, Logan Wetzel 0 0-0 0. Totals 19 13-17 57.

Three-pointers – North Clarion 5 (Gilbert 3, Wolbert 2). A-C Valley 6 (Eaton 3, McGuirk 2, Bartley).