Lions cop KSAC-North title; Union next in Saturday's final

Thursday, February 16, 2012

Editor's Note: The Lions beat North Clarion, 75-69, to clinch the KSAC-North Wednesday night. They'll meet Union Saturday.

SENECA - Sitting in a precarious position atop the Keystone Shortway Athletic Conference's North Division, the Clarion-Limestone High School boys basketball team won a tight one at Cranberry Monday night, 53-48.
That win moved the 17-4 Lions (10-1 KSAC-North) within one win of clinching their first division title since the KSAC started its two-division format back in 2006-07 and a berth in Saturday afternoon's conference championship game against KSAC-South champion Union. That game is scheduled for Clarion High School at 1 p.m.
Before that happens, the Lions need to win on the road at 10-11 North Clarion Wednesday night. If they lose and Clarion beats 2-19 East Forest the same night, the Bobcats win the division.
Since the Lions and Bobcats split their season series, the tiebreaker that would be used to decide the division title would be the best record against the third-place team. Clarion swept North Clarion this year.
Also at stake is the District 9 Class A seeding. A Lions win secures the No. 4 seed with Clarion at No. 5. It would flip-flop if the Lions lose and Bobcats win.
"We have not looked ahead and will continue to take one game at a time, the next one being North Clarion," Lions coach Joe Ferguson said Tuesday after beating Cranberry. "Last night we had a really tight game with Cranberry. Our preparation is attempting to be as consistent as possible night in and night out and play solid defense. Hopefully we can continue to build on that and knock off these two teams that got by us the first time."
The Lions lost to Union (65-61) at home Jan. 17 and at Clarion (54-47) Feb. 6. It's the only two games since Christmas. Vincentian dealt the Lions a 96-64 loss in the first round of the West Shamokin Tournament and Brookville beat the Lions in the season-opener at the Raiders' tip-off tournament.
Against the Berris, the Lions broke a 34-34 tie at the start of the fourth quarter and outscored the hosts, 19-14, the rest of the way.
Billy Kelley scored a game-high 20 points for the Lions. Tyler Stitt and Adam Mellott had strong games in the paint, scoring 15 and 14 points respectively with 10 rebounds apiece.
In last week's games:
FRIDAY, Feb. 10
C-L 83, East Forest 52
At Marienville, the Lions used a 28-4 second-quarter blitz to build a 43-11 halftime lead on their way to a 31-point rout of East Forest.
R.J. Laugand led three Lions in double figures with 21 points and nine assists. Billy Kelley nearly recorded a quadruple double with 20 points, 13 rebounds, eight assists, and eight steals. Tyler Stitt added 17 points and 10 rebounds, Emmitt Switzer chipped in with nine points, and Adam Mellott added eight.
C-L led 15-7 after one quarter before its big second quarter.
East Forest held a 27-23 third-quarter advantage before the Lions closed the game with a 17-14 fourth-quarter edge.
WEDNESDAY, Feb. 8
C-L 82, West Forest 50
At home, Billy Kelley led four C-L players in double figures with 23 points to help the Lions cruise to an easy win over visiting West Forest.
Adam Mellott scored 14 points while Ross Munsee and R.J. Laugand added 13 each.
C-L led 25-10 after one quarter and 50-21 by halftime.
An 18-13 edge in the third quarter pushed the lead to 68-34.
West Forest then held a 16-14 fourth quarter edge to set the final score. Shaylor Bemis led four West Forest players in double figures with 13 points. Drew Sneeringer, Sheldon McFarland, and Dalton Silvis scored 10 points each.
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Steve Smail contributed to this story.