The Pitt-Johnstown men's and women's basketball teams will celebrate Winterfest Weekend and welcome back Alumni, families, and friends with a PSAC West doubleheader against Clarion, Saturday afternoon in the Sports Center.  The women will tip-off against the Golden Eagles at 1 p.m., with the men's game to follow at 3 p.m.
 
            Head Coach Mike Drahos (10^th year), who earned his 100^th career victory at Pitt-Johnstown with a 70-60 win over Mercyhurst in the Sports Center on Jan. 23, brings his Mountain Cat women's squad into the game at 12-8 overall and 9-5 in the PSAC West.  Pitt-Johnstown, which had a bye in conference-play on Wednesday, looks to bounce back from a tight, 67-58, loss at California (PA) last Saturday.  Ashley Norling collected a double-double of 18 points and 11 rebounds, and Hayden Taylor added 11 points on 5-9 shooting.  In addition, Cassidy Crawford scored nine points, and Peyton Alazaus added eight points and seven rebounds against the Vulcans.
            First-year Head Coach Jemaine Cooper's Clarion Golden Eagles come in at 3-17 overall and 3-12 in the PSAC West.  Clarion suffered a 61-55 home loss to California (PA) on Wednesday,  Sierra Bermudez scored a game-high 19 rebounds and pulled down six rebounds, while Ava Haddad had 11 points, and Jada Smith chipped-in eight points and eight rebounds for the Golden Eagles.  Last Saturday, Slippery Rock defeated Clarion, 77-68.
            Pitt-Johnstown has won six of the last eight meetings between the two teams.  However, the Golden Eagles slipped by Mountain Cats, 62-55, in the last meeting on Jan. 11 in Clarion.  Makalyn Clapper and Taylor each scored 14 points, and Alazaus added 11 points and seven rebounds to lead Pitt-Johnstown.  The Golden Eagles got a game-high 21 points from Allyson Kirby, 12 points from Haddad, and 11 points from Charjae Brock.
 
            Head Coach Bob Rukavina (34^th-year) and the Pitt-Johnstown Mountain Cats, ranked 10^th in this week's D2SIDA Atlantic Region Rankings, have won four straight games and are 15-5 overall and are tied for second-place in the PSAC West at 11-3.  John Paul Kromka, the PSAC West Men's Basketball Athlete of the Week, poured in a career-high 31 points and had 12 rebounds in Saturday's, 76-72, win at California (PA).  Andrew Shull added 14 points and six rebounds, while Jared Jakubick had 13 points for the Mountain Cats.
            Kromka, Pitt-Johnstown's all-time leader in blocks with 291, ranks fourth on the Mountain Cat All-time Scoring List (1,760 points), third on the all-time rebounding list (877 rebounds), and 15^th on the Pitt-Johnstown All-Time List. (280 assists).  Drew Magestro, who recently went over the 900-career point mark, is currently seventh on the all-time 3-point field goals list with 178, and Joe Batt enters the game with 947 career points.
            The Clarion Golden Eagles, 3-17 overall and 1-14 in the PSAC West under fourth-year Head Coach Damian Pitts, earned their first conference victory of the season with a, 95-85, home win over California (PA) on Wednesday.  Gerald Jarmon scored a game-high 29 points and Cam Kearney added 26 points and eight rebounds to lead four Golden Eagle double figure scorers against the Vulcans. 
            Pitt-Johnstown is 18-5 overall and 11-0 in the Sports Center against Clarion since the 2004-05 season.  The Mountain Cats have won five straight games in the series, including a, 66-53, victory over the Golden Eagles in Clarion on Jan. 11.  Kromka's 16 points paced four Mountain Cats who scored in double figures.  Batt scored 13 points, while Jakubick and Shull each netted 10 points.  Jarmon finished with a game-high 19 points, and Mekhi Reynolds tallied 11 points for Clarion.
 
            Both Pitt-Johnstown team travel to PSAC West games at Gannon on Monday and Indiana (PA) on Wednesday, before returning home to host a conference doubleheader against Seton Hill next Saturday starting at 1 p.m. in the Sports Center.