KANE 59, CRANBERRY 47

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Feb. 25, 2010 - District 9 Class AA Boys' Semifinals

By Chris Rossetti

CLARION – Kane shot a blistering 59 percent from the field (23 of 39) to beat Cranberry 59-47 in the District 9 Class AA boys’ basketball semifinals Thursday night at Clarion University’s Tippin Gym.

The Wolves controlled the game from wire-to-wire and never trailed by being tied just once at two apiece while advancing to their third District 9 title game in the last four years and their first since 2008.

Kane (15-8), which lost 55-44 to Cranberry in last year’s semifinals after falling to the Berries 55-48 in overtime in the title game two years ago, used a 12-4 run between the end of the first quarter and the start of the second to take a 20-9 lead moments into the second frame.

Cranberry (12-11) got the deficit down to 20-12, but Kane ended the half on an 8-2 run to take a 33-18 halftime lead.

The lead grew to 17 a couple of times early in the second half including at 37-20 on an Arie Paul steal and basket with 3:04 left the third quarter. But Cranberry fought back and used a 7-0 run to close back within 10, 37-27, on an Adam Vernam 3-pointer with 1:55 left in the quarter.

Kane, though, took advantage of a seldom seen infraction on Cranberry to build the lead back to 14, 45-31, by the end of the quarter.

Trailing 41-32 with under a minute left, Cranberry had the ball but was called for a turnover when one of its players went out of bounds along the baseline without the basketball in an attempt to avoid a Kane defender who had established position, a no-no.

That led to a Paup basket with 26.8 seconds left that was followed by a Dave Bucheit bucket with just three second left to make it a 14-point lead.

Tyler Anderson’s basket 20 seconds into the fourth quarter upped the advantage to 16, 47-31, and the lead grew to as many as 18, 53-35, halfway through the quarter.

Paup led Kane with 17 points and 13 rebounds, while Bucheit added 16 points and 12 rebounds, including five offensive rebounds.  Bert Leonard chipped in with 10 points.

Ryan O’Neil paced Cranberry, which shot just 38.3 percent (18 of 47) with 14 points, while Coleman Willison added 11.

Kane would have had an even more lopsided win if the Wolves had hit free throws. Kane went just 12 of 23 from the free-throw line.

The Wolves will now face Brookville, a 47-42 winner over Moniteau in Thursday’s other semifinal game, at 7:30 p.m. March 5 at Tippin Gym in the District 9 Class A title game. Kane is looking for its first title since 2007.    

KANE 59, CRANBERRY 47

Score by Quarters

Cranberry 9 9 13 16 – 47

Kane 18 15 12 14 – 59

Cranberry – 47

Shawn Raybuck 1 0-0 2, Adam Vernam 2 0-0 6, Ryan O’Neil 5 4-5 14, Ryan Willison 5 0-0 11, Coleman Willison 4 3-4 11, Casey Spence 1 1-2 3. Totals 18 8-11 47.

Kane – 59

Arie Paup 8 1-6 17, Bert Leonard 4 1-4 10, Tyler Anderson 2 0-0 4, Pat Anderson 0 0-0 0, Zach Holt 0 2-2 2, Logan Depto 1 4-4 6, Alex Anderson 1 2-4 4, Dave Bucheit 7 2-3 16. Totals 23 12-23 59.

Three-pointers – Cranberry 3 (Vernam 2, R. Willison). Kane 1 (Leonard).