Mar 11, 2003 By Dave Stofcheck 4 min read

COAL CENTER – California and Clarion both seem to have answers. Question is, which one will have the most tonight?

The squads meet in second-round PIAA Class A action at Butler High School, with tip-off slated for 6 p.m. Both schools are coming off first-ever state playoff victories, which may come as a surprise to many.

The WPIAL showed their disrespect for California (20-6) by seeding the Section 2-A champions eighth out of 13 teams. And just ask Clarion coach Rob Leone how well his team, the 21-7 Bobcats, are thought of.

“This whole year, we’ve been the underdog,” Leone said. “We weren’t expected to win the district, we weren’t expected to win our last game. We’re not expected to win any game.”

And while we’re on the topic of similarities, perhaps the most glaring is something all coaches dream of, but few ever attain: balance.

California has gone 3-1 in the postseason despite seeing leading scorer Rick Cope, a senior forward, held to nine points per game. Senior point guard Shane Tonkavitch has led the Trojans in scoring two times and tied for the lead once with senior forward Ryan Robinson, while junior center Dan DeMoss led the team with 19 points in a WPIAL semifinal loss to eventual Class A champion Union.

Clarion, meanwhile, uses a lot of hard work and elbow grease to hold opponents to 46.8 points per game. Offensively, senior forward Joel McNeil leads the Bobcats at 10.4 points per game, while Greg Bean, the team’s best all-around player, averages 8.3 points per game. Then there’s senior guard B.J. Roth at 8.1 points, followed by sophomore guard Eric Moore (5.8) and senior forward Curt Miles (5.6).

“Height-wise, we’re a little smaller than California,” Leone said. “I think we’re a little quicker as a team overall. But they’re going to be tough to keep off the boards with their size. As far as experience in the playoffs, I think we’re in the same boat. Both teams have a well roundedness and both teams are coming off close games. This could be anybody’s game.”

California advanced to this point after finishing as the third-place WPIAL team, then winning for the first time in PIAA action last Friday over Southern Fulton. In that game, California led by as many as 15 first-half points, but saw the Indians eventually take a five-point lead with three minutes to play.

Tonkavitch tied a career-high with 29 points, and hit a three-pointer with 1:32 to play to give the Trojans the lead for good at 58-56. Cope battled constant double teams and was held to four points, but DeMoss and Robinson reached double figures to pick up the slack.

“Teams are really concentrating on Rick,” said California coach Steve Luko said. “They’re doubling him almost every time he gets the ball. But Tonkavitch had a great game (against Southern Fulton). Robinson had a good game as well and DeMoss had another steady performance.

“Basically, our offense is set up that way. If a team shuts down one of our players, it’s set up for somebody else to step up. Any team we’ve played, I think we could have honestly beat them. We’ve really beaten ourselves. Cope was held to four points against Southern Fulton and we still came up for a victory against a real good team. If we can put it together for 32 minutes, who knows how far we can go?”

Tonkavitch, Cope, Robinson, DeMoss and senior forward Thom Russell round out California’s starting lineup, while Roth, McNeil, Miles, Bean and Moore comprise Clarion’s starting five.

California’s postseason has included wins over Cornell, Monessen and Southern Fulton, while Clarion finished second to Keystone in the Keystone Conference, but rebounded to win the District 9 championship. The Bobcats then nipped Homer Center, 41-40, last Friday for their first-ever PIAA victory.

“From what I’ve heard, they’re not really a big team, but they play hard for 32 minutes,” Luko said. “They’re aggressive and play scrappy defense. They like to play a lot of man-to-man and some 2-1-2.

“We hope we can be more patient on offense and execute better. During the regular season, we were sluggish in the first half, then we’d come out and take the game over in the third quarter. In the playoffs, we’ve been taking a big lead and the kids have been thinking the game is wrapped up. We just have to play the full 32 minutes.”