Raider boys stay on Falcons' heels

Cameron County continues to nip at the heels of undefeated Coudersport as the Northern Tier Boys' High School Basketball League reaches its midpoint.

Those two teams meet in a pivotal battle on Monday night, Jan. 28, in Emporium.

"I'm very pleased with the team," said Cameron County coach John Barnhart, whose Red Raiders improved to 10-3 win a 54-28 win at Oswayo Valley Wednesday. "They have proven themselves in a lot of areas."

Barnhart, a veteran coach who is 28-11 at Cameron County after more than 400 wins at three other schools, said he hopes for more offensive production as the Raiders start second half NTL play and prepare for the playoffs.

"We will have to step it up and play a little better on offense, but that will come in time," he said.

Jordan Crane scored 15 points and grabbed 10 rebounds while Daniel Sullivan swished four three-pointers and finished with 14 points in Wednesday's win. Crane carries 980 career points into Friday's home game against Smethport.

If he doesn't reach the 1,000 mark then, he'll still be able to do it in front of the home crowd when Port Allegany visits on Tuesday.

In fact, a scheduling quirk has the Red Raiders playing six consecutive home games starting on Friday.

Cameron County is now 10- 3 overall and 5-1 in the D9 League a game back of firstplace Coudersport. Charlie Holjencin handed out 13 assists against OV (5- 11). Jarek Holjencin scored 10 points and Mike Malizia added eight.

The Raiders led 40-28 heading into the fourth quarter, when they broke away and blanked the Green Wave the rest of the way.

Meanwhile, Coudersport (16-0) dominated the boards in a 69-46 win over visiting Northern Potter Wednesday.

Blair Heimel scored 22 points and grabbed 17 rebounds. John Hau, another likely 1,000-point scorer later this season, scored 20 points and had 10 rebounds. Colton Corey pulled down 13 rebounds and Derek Burdick had six assists.

Coudersport amassed a 51- 18 rebounding advantage.

"I was real pleased with our efforts on the boards," Falcon coach Chris Fink said. "They had to work for their shots and they had very few second shots, thanks to our defensive rebounding."

Standings: Coudersport 6-0, Cameron County 5-1, Port Allegany 4-2, Otto-Eldred 4-2, Northern Potter 3-3, Austin 1-5, Oswayo Valley 1-5, Smethport 0- 6.

Friday: Coudersport at Otto- Eldred, Smethport at Cameron County, Oswayo Valley at Austin, Port Allegany at Northern Potter.

Tuesday: Coudersport at Austin, Port Allegany at Cameron County, Otto-Eldred at Oswayo Valley, Smethport at Northern Potter.

Thursday: Smethport at Coudersport, Otto-Eldred at Cameron County, Austin at Port Allegany, Oswayo Valley at Northern Potter.