HYDE – A prize that seemed so distant midway through the season now is within the grasp of the Clearfield Area High School girls basketball team.
After the Lady Bisons saw a halftime lead slip away for the third time in four days in a 38-35 loss at Brookville on Jan. 19, coach Joey Castagnolo proclaimed he wouldn\’t enter the District 9 Class AAA Playoffs with a sub-par record.
At 4-8 with a 2-4 league mark, the outlook wasn\’t good for a veteran team that also had disappointed the previous season, stumbling to a 4-15 finish.
However, the 2008-09 Lady Bisons answered their coach\’s challenge by winning eight of 10 games down the stretch, earning the second seed and home floor advantage for their playoff opener and then eliminating Punxsutawney 43-34.
So, they\’ll take a 13-10 record into the district championship against No. 1 seed (20-2) St. Marys Saturday at 1:30 p.m. on Clarion University\’s Tippin Gym hardwood.
That means another run-in with Lady Dutch super soph Kayla Hoohuli.
The 5-8 guard is on her way to a second straight District 9 scoring title with 595 points, a 27-point average, after amassing 549 in 26 games last season.
And she\’s proved to be a real nemesis for Clearfield, leading St. Marys to three comeback wins the last two years.
Only in last season\’s 55-47 home victory did the Lady Dutch not need her as their savior. She only had 15 points but also registered six rebounds, eight assists, five steals and three blocked shots in a game St. Marys led 30-22 at intermission.
A month earlier, the Lady Bisons were ahead 20-19 at the half and 42-32 after three quarters, only to see Hoohuli explode for 19 points in the last eight minutes. The final was St. Marys 61, Clearfield 53.
Twice this season, Hoohuli has rallied the Lady Dutch against the Lady Bisons.
On Dec. 20, Clearfield held a 27-21 edge at halftime at St. Marys. Hoohuli matched the Lady Bisons\’ final 17 points with eight in the third period and nine in the fourth as the Lady Dutch pulled out a 48-44 win.
On Jan. 17, Clearfield looked sharp in taking a 35-23 cushion into the second half and still led 48-41 at the start of the fourth period. Hoohuli took charge again, scoring 16 points to fuel a 62-58 win.
Add \’em up. That\’s 113 points and a 28.3 average.
\”She\’s the most complete player in the whole district,\” Castagnolo stated. \”We have to be aware where she is at all times, even when she\’s not in position to score because she moves so well. We did address that in practice.
\”You\’ve got to accept she\’s going to score at least 20, but she just has those spurts.
\”When they\’re behind, she takes over, and we have to recognize that.
\”She\’s a one-man press. We\’ve been trying to throw over her to a teammate, and she just intercepts it and goes down to score. We have to realize that and not try to throw over the top.
\”We just have to have a lot more poise. Hopefully, we\’ve matured a little bit with that.\”
Hoohuli has accounted for 46.5 percent of St. Marys\’ offense.
Forwards Gina Pelgrin and Emily Hathorn, both 5-9, are averaging 6.2 (134 points) and 5.8 (128), respectively. They are seniors, as are guards Tia Cunningham (114, 5.2) and Leann Levenduski (62, 3.0).
Juniors Amanda Simbeck (119, 5.4) and Megan Herbstritt (114, 5.2) are capable of playing both positions.
Both of St. Marys losses came at the hands of District 9 League champion and District 9 Class A finalist Elk County Catholic, 61-52 and 53-44. The Lady Dutch did hand the Lady Crusaders their only loss in 26 games, 56-40, in the Elk County Holiday Tournament.
Clearfield lost to ECC 61-40 and 44-31. All of the other setbacks also came against teams that qualified for playoffs in District 9 or District 6, Castagnolo noted.
The Lady Bisons will be confronted by a man-to-man defense again, but Castagnolo pointed out, \”I don\’t think St. Marys plays as physical as Punxsy.
\”We seem to be able to run the floor on them, and we do have a little more inside.\”
What the Lady Bisons have to do is repeat Wednesday\’s performance when they were able to get the all into front court against the Lady Chucks, did a great job on defense with their 1-3-1 zone and outrebounded Punxsy.
Clearfield\’s last district championship was in Class AAAA in 2000. The last time the Lady Bisons played for the Class AAA title was in 2004, when Punxsy won 60-40.
\”It\’s gonna be special going to Clarion,\” Castagnolo said. \”I haven\’t been there in five years. It\’s just a neat atmosphere to play on a college campus.\”
A little over five weeks ago, that was only a dream.
