All roads lead here: O-E boys, girls finally return to D9 championships, face tall tasks 

By HUNTER O. LYLE

lyleoleanstar@gmail.com

You couldn’t write a better script if you tried to.

On one hand, you have grass roots camaraderie, ascension and failure, persistence and failure, redemption and finally, one last effort at history. On the other, you have an underdog story, one built from the ruins of past victories that rests on the shoulders of the many rather than the few. And it all comes to a head on Super Saturday.

To anyone familiar with District 9 basketball, Otto-Eldred has been a pulsing blip on the radar. Over the past few years, the Terrors have built up two powerhouse programs with a prolific reputation. With an iron grip around their local competition, both the boys and the girls enter each years’ postseason as a perennial contender. This year has been no different, as both programs will be fighting for Class A banners in less than 24 hours. 

Flash back to two years ago and both Terrors squads were in the same exact situation. During the 2022-2023 campaign, the girls and boys both completed undefeated regular seasons before entering the District 9 playoffs with gale force winds. Cruising through the rungs of the postseason ladder with double-digits wins all around, O-E eventually landed on the biggest stage: the championship. While the girls had been here three times in the past four years, this was unbroken ground from the boys – before 2023, the boys team hadn’t made a D9 finals since 1997, which they lost to Keystone.

For the girls, their first championship in program history sat on the other side of Elk Catholic County, a historic program that had eliminated them in the title match the year before. For the boys in the Class 2A bracket, they faced Clarion-Limestone, another team making their first appearance in over two decades. 

That day, fate shined upon the girls, who avenged their shortcoming in 2022 with a 45-40 win over the Lady Crusaders, but left the boys in the shade as they fell to the Lions 68-54. 

“Our first year was the COVID year, we were wearing masks and stuff and had a good chance to win that game but fell apart. The next year, I kind of blame myself for some things that I decided to do, but in ‘23 it seemed like the girls were not going to be denied,” said Otto-Eldred head coach Shawn Gray. “It was super bittersweet to have our medals and see the disappointment on those boys’ faces.”

Neither team would find the same success in the following year. The girls lost the vast majority of their experienced roster to graduation, leaving them to begin the process of a rebuild that produced a second round exit in the 2024 playoffs. Although the boys maintained their star studded cast, their run was cut short in a heartbreaking game-losing defensive lapse in the final seconds of the semifinals. There would be no added hardware in O-E’s trophy case that year. 

That brings us to this year, where the boys and girls might finally be able to hoist a trophy side by side. 

Both teams started the season red hot, per usual. Racking up win after win while keeping their loss column nearly completely vacant – the girls lost their season opener to Port Allegany –, they stormed through the first few months with ease. Along the way, the boys team began picking up accolades along with victories, witnessing both Manning Splain and Shene Thomas tally their 1,000th point while Landon Francis became the all-time leading scorer in school history. 

Jared Obenrader looks to shoot from beyond the arc during the Terrors’ win over Galeton on Monday, Jan. 27. | Photo by Hunter O. Lyle

However, late in the season, some potholes appeared in the road. 

Eleven games into the season, the Lady Terrors lost their second game of the season to North Tier League opponent Oswayo Valley, being held to just 18 points. Although they would respond with eight more consecutive wins, including an upset against the eventual Class A No. 1 seed, DuBois Central Catholic, the Lady Terrors once again fell to OV, this time on Senior Night. 

They would see the Lady Green Wave one more time this season, meeting in the first round of the league tournament. Whether it be their research and development or the pressure of the playoffs, O-E was finally able to get over the hump, defeating OV in front of their home crowd to move into the NTL finals. However, the momentum wouldn’t carry over into the title game, where the Lady Terrors met Coudersport, a team that they had handled easily through two regular season meetings. With the first banner of the year on the line, the Lady Terrors fell apart, losing to Coudy by 19. 

The boys wouldn’t see their first hiccup until after the regular season. Finishing at 22-0, they swiftly moved into the NTL Championship with a win in the first round over Port Allegany. There they met Cameron County, their classic rivals who have been nipping at the Terrors’ heels during their rise to league dominance. Although O-E had taken care of business in all of their meetings over the past four years, this time was different. 

Playing through their worst shooting slump possibly ever, nothing was falling for the Terrors, and after four closely contested quarters, they fell short, ending their 65-0 league winning streak.

“The NTL as a whole, got better this year. Instead of two teams, there were four. There’s another fifth and sixth team coming,” said Derrick Francis. “In general, I think basketball in the NTL is getting better.” 

 Returning back home to lick their wounds, both teams then prepared for the ensuing District 9 playoffs, where the rubber met the road. 

While both teams earned the second seed in the Class A bracket, the boys were able to enjoy a bye through the first round. Meanwhile, after cruising past No. 7 Northern Potter by 35, the Lady Terrors then faced the ascending Lady Lions of Clarion-Limestone. That battle would go down to the wire, with Carrie Drummond pulling down the decisive rebound which turned into two game-sealing free throws. After a long season, O-E’s spot in the championship came down to one rebound and two shots at the charity stripe. 

Baylee Francis (3) and Lexi Prince (30) cheer their team on from the bench during the Lady Terrors win over Clarion-Limestone on Wednesday. | Photo by Hunter O. Lyle

In the boys’ bracket, the Terrors couldn’t escape the dramatic irony that can be ingrained in postseason basketball. For their first game of the playoffs, they would face none other than Cameron County.

Just over a week after suffering their first loss and first NTL loss in the past four years, the Terrors came ready for their shot at redemption, not to mention a trip to the Class A finals. Playing at KOA Arena at the University of Pittsburgh at Bradford, O-E gutted out an 11-point win, taking the last laugh in what might be the final meeting between these two rivals. 

“Any time you can play a game like that, it’s going to help your team. When you’re winning by 50, it doesn’t help anybody,” said Derrick Francis. “But playing a game and grinding it out, winning in a way that you don’t really play, that just gives the kids more confidence.” 

After defeating Cameron County in the semifinals, Shene Thomas erupts with emotion after the Terrors punched their ticket back to the District 9 Championship. | Photo by Hunter O. Lyle

Breaking out of the semifinals, both teams now stand less than 24 hours away from the coveted championship stage. 

The Lady Terrors will take to the Tippin Gymnasium hardwood at 4:15 p.m., playing a semi-familiar face in DCC. As mentioned before, O-E and the Lady Cardinals faced off once before in early February, with the Lady Terrors taking a 56-45 win in hostile territory. With the memory of that upset victory still fresh in their minds, as well as the added boost of their hard-fought win against C-L, the Lady Terrors are ready for the task before them.

“We’re going to play our style. We’re a team that likes to get up and down if we can. Shoot some 3’s, attack the rim, play solid defense,” said Gray. “DCC didn’t play very well in our earlier game so we were able to get a big lead and hang on until the end, but that team has lost two ball games all year. They’ve beaten some quality basketball teams so we know we’re going to get their best tomorrow.” 

Playing in the headlining game at 8 p.m., the boys matchup will be a clash of two titans. While O-E has been a powerhouse for the last four years, their opponents are arguably the best program in Class A history. 

Becoming the third scholastic basketball coach in state history to reach 1,000 wins earlier this season, Aaron Straub has been at the helm of Elk County Catholic through all 26 of their D9 championships. Making it to the title game in nine out of the last 11 seasons, the Crusaders are the elite of the elite. Disciplined, strategic and not to mention talented, ECC knows how to pump out winning teams – Straub has captured 20 or more wins in a season over 30 times. Needless to say, they are the Goliath. 

“I’ve always said I want to play the best. It’s just another opportunity, as I see it, for the kids,” said Derrick Francis. “Yeah, we’re not oblivious that they’re back-to-back-to-back-to-back D9 champions but our kids aren’t scared by any stretch of the imagination. It’s just two really good basketball teams that are going to go play.” 

While the Crusaders and Terrors have similar play styles – fast paced, efficient squads that score by committee – O-E may have an edge when it comes to their main weapon: 3-point shooting. Throughout the years, the Terrors’ ability to cash in from beyond the arc has buried teams. Currently boasting three starters that shoot near or above 40 percent from long range – Ladon Francis (44.2 percent), Manning Splain (42 percent) and Davey Schenfield (39 percent) – that will almost certainly be the tip of the spear. Along with shooting, O-E will also look to break out of their slow rut, a pace forced upon them from back-to-back games against the stall-centric Red Raiders. 

“We want a lot of possessions. As many possessions as possible. (ECC) definitely plays faster than they have in years past but at the end of the day, I think they’re going to value their possessions and are going to try to limit us,” said Derrick Francis. “But we can also win games by scoring 45 points because our defense is that good.” 

Tomorrow’s outcome, for both teams, is far from certain. There are no favorites on Super Saturday. And while it is easy to look at a team’s record or box scores or scouting reports to try to determine how each team got to the 2025 District 9 Class A Championship, the real answer to that question takes a long look at the years before. 

How or why any team deserves to be playing for a title can’t be shown on paper or even told through an eloquently worded quote. Rather, it takes the understanding of the trials and tribulations, both in front of a crowd and in an empty gym, that created these moments.

“This has honestly been one of the best rides I’ve ever had in my life. There’s generation players and then there’s generational teams and this is a generational team,” said Derrick Francis. “It’s not even about what (this team) has done on their record and what their achievements have been, but I finally truly think that it’s starting to show that this is what it takes to win. The last part of that learning curve is success or failure with tears, with crying, with emotions. Somebody’s going to go home crying and someone’s going to be crying with joy.”  

“I don’t know a better word than special. This whole community is different. They get behind teams. It doesn’t matter if you’re playing for a District championship or if you’re struggling like we were last year,” said Gray. “That doesn’t matter. This community is all about the kids and the school and doing what’s right and doing what’s best for the kids. I’m proud to say I’m a part of it.”

The Lady Terrors stand ready during their win over Oswayo Valley in the North Tier League semifinals on Wednesday, Feb. 12. | Photo by Hunter O. Lyle