BRADFORD — A strong performance by the Clearfield Area High School boys basketball team went for naught Friday night when senior guard Tom Morris nailed a jumper from the right elbow at the buzzer to give Bradford a 50-48 District 9 League victory.
\”We played well with the exception of our foul shooting,\” Bison assistant coach Wayne Wood said.
The Bisons, who fell to 1-3 in the league and 6-5 overall, hit only two of eight free throws in the hectic fourth quarter and were 4-for-12 for the game.
James Zimmerman led them in scoring with 15 points and Todd Hryn added 11, while Mike Johnson pulled down 12 rebounds.
Clearfield led 9-5 after the first quarter, but Bradford inched in front 22-20 at intermission to set the stage for a see-saw second half. The Bisons, who scored 10 points on their first four possessions of the third quarter, were up 45-41 with less than five minutes remaining and again at 48-46 in the final minute. The Owls knotted the score with 20 seconds left, regained possession with 9.8 seconds left after a Bison turnover and set up the final shot.
Morris finished with a game-high 18 points, and Ryan LaBrozzi chipped in with 11 for the Owls, who evened their record at 6-6 with their fourth league victory in five games.
Clearfield won the junior varsity game.
Clearfield\’s next game will be Wednesday at home against DuBois, which is 1-9 for Saturday\’s non-league game against West Shamokin.
CLEARFIELD — 48
John Lhota 3 0-1 8, Jarrin Campman 0 2-4 2, Andrew Janocko 1 0-0 3, Mike Johnson 4 1-4 9, Kyle Kline 0 0-0 0, Todd Hryn 5 1-1 11, James Zimmerman 7 0-2 15, Drew Hipps 0 0-0 0. Totals: 20 4-12 48.
BRADFORD — 50
Tom Taylor 2 0-0 5, Tom Morris 7 1-1 18, Ryan LaBrozzi 4 1-2 11, Drew Kelly 1 0-0 3, Tyler Grandy 0 0-0 0, Pug Fuhrman 0 0-0 0, Ben Lanich 3 3-5 9, Randy Confer 2 0-0 4, Dan Vecellio 0 0-0 0. Totals: 19 5-9 50.
Three-Point Field Goals: Clearfield 4 (Lhota 2, Janocko 1, Zimmerman 1). Bradford 7 (Morris 3, Taylor 1, LaBrozzi 2, Kelly 1).
Score by Quarters:
Clearfield 9 11 15 13 — 48
Bradford 5 17 16 12 — 50
District 9 League Standings: Elk County Catholic 3-0, Bradford 4-1, St. Marys 2-1, Punxsutawney 1-1, Clearfield 1-3, Brookville 1-3, DuBois 0-4.
