Punxsutawney Wins Boys D9 Title, Runner Up in Girls Final

CLARION Pa. (EYT) – One-for-two isn’t bad for a school when you’re talking about District 9 championships.

To kick off Super Saturday, Punxsutawney both won and lost a District 9 4A title game at the Tippin Gymnasium on the campus of PennWest Clarion. The boys team held on to defeat Bradford, 60-52, and the girls team lost to St. Marys, 52-41.

Both games saw their eventual winners fend off a comeback from the opposition, and Punxsutawney got to experience both sides of that narrative.

The second game of the day will be the one Punxsutawney will remember more as they emerged victorious in a back-and-forth battle with Bradford to win the D9 title. It marks Punxsutawney’s first D9 win in boys’ basketball since 2014.

“I’m very proud of them,” said Punxsutawney head coach Randy Reitz. “It took everything we had to beat a very good Bradford team, and these kids stepped up down the stretch and on defense.”

It was a close game through and through at Tippin Gymnasium. The Chucks led 8-5 after the first quarter and 38-28 at halftime. Seniors Jimmie Neese and Noah Weaver led on offense. Weaver had 17 points and Neese 16.

“I worked hard underneath,” said Neese. “I tried to get around (the defense), especially for foul shots and I tried to grab everything that I could.”

At the other end of the court, Bradford’s Jake Franz would not give Punxsy the easy win. He scored 17 points in the game, 15 of which came in the second half as Bradford attempted a comeback.

“Our saying is that we smell the blood like sharks,” said Punxsutawney senior Noah Weaver. “I think we all came out, and the defense is where it started… We wanted to be number one, and we got to be number one.”

Foul shots essentially decided the game as Bradford ran into some foul trouble late and Punxsutawney made them pay. Weaver, Neese, Noah Kengersky, and Beau Thomas all cashed in on crucial free throw attempts in the fourth. Bradford then ran out of time and lost the game 60-52.

“It feels good (to win),” said Weaver. “The last four years we seniors have been grinding hard and I think we came out and did our job.”

Punxsutawney will host the WPIAL fourth-seeded Avonworth in the first round of the state playoffs on March 8.

Punxsutawney’s comeback falls short against St. Marys in girls final.

The first game of Super Saturday also had Punxsutawney involved. They took on St. Marys in the Class 4A D9 final with the winner advancing to states and the loser being done. The Chucks lost 51-41.

The story of the game revolved around a will they/won’t they scenario regarding Punxsutawney’s comeback. St. Marys came out strong and led 15-8 after the first quarter and 25-14 at halftime.

But slowly but surely, Punxsutawney chipped away at their lead. Senior Danielle Griebel led the charge. Griebel scored 23 points, five of which were 3-pointers, and led the game in scoring.

“She’s been our leader on the court. She can hit those deep 3s when we’re not hitting much else offensively,” said Punxsutawney head coach Mike Carlson. “That’s a really tough last game for her. It’s tough to lose a point guard like that.”

St. Marys was expecting a pushback from Punxsutawney in the second half and were even more prepared to stop their surge given that this sort of thing had happened recently in their games.

“In the last two games we played, the final scores were 58-51 and 58-53. Both times we were up by 14 and 17 at halftime and the other team came all the way back,” said St. Marys coach Zane Adiyeh.

“Punxsutawney is a very good team… and we were pretty sure they were gonna come out pretty hot in the second half. Luckily, we were able to build a league and I think we did a good job dealing with it.”

Punxsutawney came within two points in the fourth quarter. But foul shots and not enough time crushed their chances of a comeback as St. Mary’s won the D9 championship 51-41.

“It seemed that every time we got that momentum we would make a mistake,” said Carlson. “We would let St. Mary’s hit their big outside shots.”

(St. Marys poses for a team photo after their D9 Championship victory.)

St. Marys will advance to the state playoffs, where it will play the No. 5 team from the WPIAL at home on March 9.