In the Region 5 version of the old kids game "Mother May I?" -- which probably no one ever heard of unless they're at that certain age -- the Oilers asked Friday night, "Mother, may we come from 16 points down on the road to beat Ft. LeBoeuf, 73-70, and keep first place all to ourselves?" 

And Mother said, "Go for it."

So the Oilers did behind 27 points by Nevin Stinson and 11 apiece by Steven Heise and  Isaiah Van Wormer, one of the three major freshmen contributors on the team. One of the other super frosh, Easton Liederbach, contributed seven boards and five steals.

It's the second time in two weeks they've erased what appeared to be an insurmountable deficit.

The win, the 13th in 18 starts overall, ran their region record to 9-1 against a LeBoeuf team that was coming off two straight road upsets over Warren and Franklin.

They both remained a game behind Oil City with victories Friday. In fact, the Knights (11-7, 8-2) received a career high 37 points from Jameson Wofford in their 68-48 romp over Conneaut, which recently lost its 1,000 points star, Alex Brady, to a second ACL. Wofford scored 23 in the second half. Franklin also received 11 points from sophomore Nolan Parry. 

Warren was also a winner -- 75-28 over Titusville -- to keep pace with Franklin in the standings.  Corry (6-4) joined LeBoeuf (5-5) in the "outside looking in" category by lambasting Seneca, 63-44.

Over in Region 2, Rocky Grove had an easy time with Commodore Perry. Noah Baughman scored 15, Landon Jones 11 and Landen Carter 10 for the 12-6 Orioles, who lead the league with a 9-1 mark.  Jones collected 11 rebounds.

The headliner, though, was Saegertown tripping Cochranton, 58-57. The Panthers remained a half game behind the Grove in second place. The Cardinals fell to 6-4.

Since the Grove is 2A, it should be noted that Lakeview star Luke Fagley went down with an ankle injury, the extent ion which is unknown. The Sailors beat the Grove for the D10 title last season.

The Cranberry Express continued to hum along in  District 9. Sixteen players scored in a 69-41 victory over Forest, led by Blake Marchinke with 17, Shia Sanchez with 11 and Connor Morrow with 10. Landon Baker grabbed nine rebounds.

At  16-2, the Berries look like a cinch to better last year's 18-8 record and challenge their best mark since 1952 when they were 20-4 and District 10 champs with Wayne Russell, Dean Sheatz and Marv Davis making life easier for coach Byron Johnston.