HYDE — Defense and rebounding have been hallmarks of the Clearfield Bisons boys
basketball program throughout the tenure of head coach Forrest Campman.
Friday night Clearfield leaned on those hallmarks by turning in another defensive gem
and outrebounding a taller visiting Bradford Owls squad to come away with a thrilling
48-47 OT victory in front of an energetic crowd at Arthur J. Weiss Gymnasium on a snowy
night at the Clearfield Area High School.
The snow might have been falling outside, but inside the Bisons were getting their
shots to fall when needed the most.
After an abysmal first quarter, Clearfield quickly got its act together as Campman
utilized his timeouts to perfection. During the strategy sessions, Campman reminded his
team that defense combined with rebounding and moving the ball around the court to get
open shots were the missing ingredients.
\”We know we are not going to shoot the ball well, we know we are not pretty,\” Campman
said. \”We know we are not pretty basketball players. We have tough kids. We practice hard
and we emphasize defense.
\”We hang out hat on our defense, our scrappiness, our hustle and we will the ball to
the basket sometimes. When Johnson hit a fade-away 10-footer. That was one of the game\’s
bad shots, but it went in.\”
Trialing 42-37, Clearfield\’s James Zimmerman hit a layup that pulled the Bisons within
striking distance and forcing Bradford coach Dave Fuhrman to call for a timeout.
It was during that timeout the Clearfield was able to turn around the game.
After the strategy session, Zimmerman connected on a 3-pointer from the top of the key
with 2:07 left that pulled the Bisons within one, 42-41.
Bradford quickly answered with a layup from Dan Vecellio to give the Owls a 44-41 lead
with 2:01 showing on the clock.
Clearfield (10-8 overall, 4-5 D9 League; at Punxsutawney Monday) then took the ball up
the floor and worked the perimeter. With the Owls running out of gas, the Bisons
continually pushed the ball around the floor until John Lhota spotted up at the top of
the key and drilled the game-tying basket with 1:02 showing on the clock.
\”There was still some time left,\” Campman said. \”We were looking for a good shot. We
kicked it out to John for a 3-pointer. We weren\’t worried about getting a 3-pointer –
just getting a good shot.\”
Bradford quickly called timeout. The Owls took control of the ball and set up for a
final shot. Bradford held the ball near mid-court and moved the ball inside to Ben
Lanich. Lanich couldn\’t connect on a layup with 5.8 seconds left, but was fouled by Mike
Johnson on the play.
The foul was Johnson\’s fifth, and he was forced to sit out the final seconds. Lanich
missed both shots from the free-throw line and Todd Hryn grabbed the rebound. He dished
the ball off to Lhota, who sped up the floor and missed a desperation 3-pointer from
NBA-ranger at the buzzer and sending the game into overtime.
In the extra session, Bradford took a 45-44 lead as Tom Morris connected on one of two
shots from the charity stripe.
Clearfield came back with patience and worked the ball inside to Zimmerman. The Bisons
forwrad nailed a layup to give Clearfield a 46-45 edge with 2:13 showing on the clock.
Morris then connected on a pair of foul shots to give Bradford a 47-46 lead with 2:03
left in overtime.
Matt Shiner then came up big for the Bisons. Having spent most of the season playing on
the junior varsity level, Shiner connected on a jumper from the left corner with 34.7
seconds left to give the Bisons the lead.
Bradford turned the ball over at mid-court with 26.7 seconds remaining, but pressured
Clearfield into a turnover merely seconds later. The Owls would have a final shot at the
basket, but Vecellio missed a jumper and Lhota pulled down the rebound. Lhota was tackled
by a Bradford player – much to the chagrin of the Clearfield faithful who were into the
game from opening tip-off – but Clearfield held on for the dramatic victory.
Clearfield didn\’t start well on its home floor. The Bisons fell behind 12-0, but were
able to outrebound Bradford 23-21 and was able to gain enough defensive stops to climb
back in the game. A strong second quarter sparked by the play of Shiner, who scored five
points, along with Hryn and Zimmerman connecting on long-range 3-pointers gave the Bisons
the offense they needed to climb back into the game.
\”Bradford was more worried about getting the ball to a certain guy and holding the
ball,\” Campman said. \”They choked at the foul line and made some foul shots that hurt
them down the stretch.\”
In junior varsity action, Clearfield improved to 13-3 on the season with a 51-37 win
over Bradford. Matt Shiner and Parker Herrington each scored 14 points in the win.
Bradford – 47
Taylor 0 2-2 2, Morris 4 7-11 19, LaBrozzi 3 3-5 10, Lanich 4 2-4 10, Vecellio 1 0-1 2,
Confer 2 0-0 4, Kelly 0 0-0 0. Totals: 14 14-23 47.
Clearfield – 48
Lhota 2 2-3 8, Janocko 0 0-0 0, Johnson 3 0-0 6, Kline 0 0-0 0, Zimmerman 7 1-2 16,
Campman 1 0-0 3, Shiner 4 0-0 9, Hryn 2 0-0 6, Hipps 0 0-0 0. Totals: 19 3-5 48.
3-pointers: Bradford 5-7 (Morris 4-4, LaBrozzi 1-1, Taylor 0-1); Clearfield 7-16
(Shiner 1-1, Hryn 2-3, Lhota 2-4, Campman 1-3, Zimmerman 1-4, Kline 0-1).
Score By Quarters
Bradford 12 13 10 9 3 – 47
Clearfield 4 15 11 14 4 – 48