HYDE –Clearfield turned in a performance that was very pleasing to head coach Forrest Campman on Monday evening in a convincing 48-41 win over visiting Brookville at Arthur J. Weiss Gymnasium.
The Bisons got better as the game wore on to push their current win streak to four games. On the other side of the court, the Raiders suffered their fifth straight loss.
\”We\’re gonna win on determination, perserverance, having a heart and having a brain,\” Campman said. \”We are not going to win on pure athletic ability. All those things translate into a basketball game. We made better decisions in the second half, played solid defense and were physical on the boards. You have to do what you are good at. We want to be a little more meticulous with the ball and get it inside a little bit and draw some fouls. We want to get it inside and out. We were always around the perimeter and with the shots we don\’t want to shoot them on the second pass. In the second half, we played to our style.\”
Clearfield (13-8 overall, 6-5 D9 League) will host Ridgway on Wednesday. The game is scheduled as Senior Night for the Bisons. However, should inclement weather force the postponement of the game, it will be made up on Thursday evening.
The Bisons suffered from poor shot selection in the game, but were resilient in turning their game around to score the 7-point victory.
James Zimmerman led Clearfield with 20 points, with 12 coming in a crucial fouth-quarter performance. Todd Hryn added 17 points, with nine coming in a vital first half.
Hryn came off the bench to score those nine first-quarter points to salvage a first half where the Bisons shot poorly from the field and from the free-throw line. Clearfield went 5 of 12 from the charity stripe in the first half.
\”Obviously, Todd Hryn came in and gave us a lift in the first quarter,\” Campman said. \”He put the ball in the basket and got us going.\”
But it was the second half play of the Bisons that counted most. Clearfield found rhythm on offense and turned a 1-point halftime deficit, 24-23, into a 3-point lead, 32-29, heading into the final quarter of play.
Patience on offense and waiting for the right shot allowed Clearfield to take control of the game. Zimmerman hit a key 3-pointer to open the third quarter to kickstart the Bisons offense.
Hryn and Zimmerman added layups midway through the quarter to push the Clearfield lead to six, 30-24, on a wilting Brookville squad. Hryn added a pair of foul shots as the Bisons cruised into the fourth quarter.
In the fourth quarter, Clearfield changed up its play to secure the victory. Brookville was sitting in a 1-3-1 for most of the game and Campman changed the Bisons offensive set to a modified 4-corners. The move worked as Clearfield easily passed the ball around the perimeter to make Brookville play man-to-man defense.
\”We wanted to stretch them out a little more,\” Campman said. \”We were running a 2-1-2 set, basically. We kept everybody wide. It looks like a 4-1 set, basically, and what that does it opens up the little a lot more. We were able to move the ball around the perimeter and what it did it gave James the ability to drive since they were spread out. When we went to the four-wide we didn\’t really stretch their defense. We made them play more man-to-man principles. I thought we made their zone get into a man-to-man situaiton and it gaves James the ability to slash and go by guys.\”
Zimmerman benefited the most from the most as it isolated him one-on-one in the paint with a Brookville defenders, and the senior Bisons scored 12 of his game-high 20 points in the stanza.
Zimmerman hit two early layups to give the Bisons a 36-31 advantage with 5:30 remaining, but Brookville came right back as Chuck Shields and Tyler Ross hit layups to pull the Raiders within striking distance, 39-35.
But patience perservered in the Bisons and Zimmerman added a three-point play and two foul shots in a span of 22 seconds to lift the Bisons to a commanding 9-point lead, 44-35, with 1:29 left in the game.
\”They were giving us more perimeter shots,\” Campman said of Brookville\’s first-half defense. \”I don\’t know if we were standing around and not making good cuts to get into the seams, but, remember, they are allowed to play too. In the second half, we took away some of the passes they were making in the first half.
\”When you are hot, you want to shoot that first open shot. It reached the point in the first half where they\’d come down in a good defensive shot and we would come down and shoot in one or two passes. You are gonna get those same shots six or seven passes down the line, so why not look for something better down the line rather than launch that 3-pointer. I thought we were a little impatient in the first half. We told them they can\’t go out and score 30 points in one minute. That\’s what its seemed like we were trying to do in the second quarter. Either we threw the ball away trying to make the miraculous pass or we shot the ball right away. When you get some ball movement and you get those same shots, you are putting yourself in position for offensive rebounding. Kyle Kline, Mike Johnson and James (Zimmerman) those three more than anybody else when Brookville shot we were one and out and didn\’t give them any second chances.\”
Cleafield converted 12 of 21 shots from the foul line in the game, including 7 of 9 the second half.
\”I think we were 5 of 9 in the first half – which is a killer,\” Campman said. \”We were 7 of 9 in the second half and that makes a difference. It probably was the story of two halves, we just did things much better in the second half.\”
Hryn would add four foul shots over the final minute and Zimmerman would add a breakaway layup to secure the victory.
\”They are a 7-14 team, but they are still a danger,\” Campman said. \”They got better as the year went on. They remind me of the team I had a couple of years ago – they battled you they just didn\’t have enough scoring ability. Brookville played a solid game and they deserve credit.\”
In junior varsity action, Clearfield junior varsity Donnie Billotte has the junior Bisons working overtime. Clearfield used the extra session to improve to 16-3 with a 59-57 win over Brookville. Parker Herrington led Clearfield with 21 points, while Matt Shiner added 20 points in the win. It was the second straight overtime for the Bisons, who beat Bellefonte 51-47 on Friday in overtime.
Brookville – 41
Hetrick 0 0-0 0, Wonderling 1 2-2 4, Ross 7 2-4 15, Dougherty 0 1-2 1, Shields 4 4-4 12, Galbraith 2 1-2 7, Brocious 0 0-0 0, Spence 0 0-0 0, Beatty 1 0-0 2, McCormick 0 0-0 0, Kerr 0 0-0 0. Totals: 15 10-14 41.
Clearfield – 48
Lhota 1 0-0 3, Janocko 0 0-0 0, Johnson 2 2-6 6, Kline 1 0-2 2, Zimmerman 8 2-3 20, Campman 0 0-0 0, Hryn 4 8-10 17, Hipps 0 0-0 0, Shiner 0 0-0 0. Totals: 16 12-21 48.
Score By Quarters
Brookville 9 15 5 12 – 41
Clearfield 10 13 9 16 – 48
3-pointers: Brookville 3-11 (Galbraith 2-4, Ross 1-5, Hetrick 0-1, Wonderling 0-1); Clearfield 3-15 (Zimmerman 1-2, Hryn 1-5, Lhota 1-6, Campman 0-2).