Oilers battled Bobcats, advance to championship against Franklin

The Oilers had to work hard at it but found a way to grind out a win over the Bobcats 38-36 Tuesday night in the District 10 semifinals basketball game at Slippery Rock University.

Despite snagging the tip-off Oil City couldn't capitalize and found themselves down quickly when Seneca's Logan Kibbe struck first with a trey at the 7:15 mark. 
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Sayyid Donald quickly responded with a 3-pointer of his own to even up the score. The back-and-forth battle was underway on the scoreboard. The Bobcat defense seemed to frustrate the Oilers at times, stripping the ball, forcing bad passes and rushed decisions.

Neither team was finding much success getting the ball through the hoop as the first quarter ended with Oil City up by one at 9-8.

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The second quarter started off slow for both teams until Oil City's Jake Hornbeck hit for two at 5:41. He scored six in a row for the Oilers, who were up 15-8 with 3:25 to go in the half. The Bobcats got a lift, again from Kibbe, who hit two three-pointers before the half ended evaporating the lead Oil City gained in the quarter back down to one. 

Seneca came out strong from the locker room, claiming the first five points of the second half and taking a 21-17 lead. Once again it was Donald who kick-started the Oiler offense and once again he did so with a trey. Kibbe answered with another two points to maintain the lead for the Bobcats.

Gavin Stevenson came off the bench and got the Oilers back on top with a pair of free throws and a field goal.

​Cameron VanWormer and Hornbeck added two apiece to complete an eight-point run. Oil City was up 28-23, but not for long.

Seneca again answered with a couple of foul shots of their own and another three-pointer by Kibbe to tie it at 28 with two minutes remaining in the third quarter.   

Hornbeck hit for another two points. Kibbe answered with another three less than 10 seconds later. Hornbeck repeated his effort and Oil City was once again up by one point  at the end of a quarter, 32-31.

Kibbe opened the fourth quarter with his eighth three-pointer of the night and again Hornbeck responded by sinking two foul shots to once again tie the game. 

​With 6:11 left in the game and tied at 34, the back and forth scoring came to a three-minute halt.

VanWormer finally broke the stalemate with two points at the 3:03 mark. Seneca responded with two of their own.

Hornbeck put up his final two points of the night to give Oil City a lead they would keep through strong defensive plays by Donald and Ethen Knox. Despite the opportunity to earn a few more points down the stretch, Oil City was unable to capitalize on the foul shot opportunities. 

Kibbe had a game-high 26 points and reached the 1,000 career mark during the game.

Hornbeck led the Oilers with 20 points. VanWormer had eight, Donald had six, and Stephens had four. 

The Oilers will face Route 8 rivals Franklin on Friday at a site and time to be determined.