In a crucial District 9 League game the Bisons found themselves on the short end of a 59-39 score to the Elk County Catholic Crusaders.
Clearfield found themselves trailing early in the game only being able to net eight points in the first quarter; a trend which stuck with the Bisons for much of the game as they only managed to reach double digit scoring in one quarter on the night while the Crusaders topped at least 13 points in each frame.
“We played one of our better games of the year tonight. We played good defensively and handled the ball well, but they just couldn’t miss,” commented Clearfield Head Coach Forrest Campman.
In the first quarter the Bisons only managed three buckets with Chad Zurat tallying five points in the frame. Zurat finished the night with 16 points and was the only Clearfield cager to reach double digits. The Crusader shooters got hot early with three different players hitting 3-point field goals in the frame. At the end of the first period the Bisons found themselves trailing 17-8.
In the second quarter things got no easier for the Bisons as once again they were only able to nail three field goals in the period. While the Crusader shooters continued to catch fire in the frame they increased their lead to 30-17 at the halftime buzzer.
In the third period the Bisons did put on a slight push netting 15 points in the frame with five different Bisons scoring buckets. However Elk County stayed consistent and were still able to cling to a 44-32 lead.
“They scored some points they probably shouldn’t have had in the first half. At the end of the first a kid hit a three quarter court shot, and another shot they made hit the rim then the top of the back board and still fell in. Then we fouled a 3-point shot at the end of the third and he made two of the free throws. Right there were eight points that they shouldn’t have had. If you take those shots away at the end of the third we are only down two buckets,” said Campman.
The Bisons were unable to continue their good shooting in the 4th quarter as they only managed seven points and did not have a single field goal. Clearfield will be back in action at home on Friday night as the bitter rival St. Marys Dutch come to town with tipoff scheduled for 7:30.
Clearfield 8-9-15-7 39
ECC 17-13-14-15 59
Clearfield: Fannin 0 0-0 0, Johnson 3 0-0 8, Peterson 0 0-0 0, Campman 2 4-4 8, Zurat 5 4-5 16, Redden 1 1-2 3, Mellgard 1 0-0 2, Frye 0 2-2 2, Bowman 0 0-0 0, Bell 0 0-0 0
ECC: Pearsall 1 1-2 4, Herzing 1 1-2 3, Crowe 0 0-0 0, Wehler 0 2-2 2, Chioda 0 0-0 0, Detsch 1 1-2 3, Jacob 8 0-0 21, Ngyuen 0 0-0 0, Healy 1 0-0 2, Wortman 6 4-5 17, Buchheit 0 0-0 0, Simons 2 0-0 4, Daghir 1 0-0 2, GeBauer 0 1-2 1, Wachter 0 0-0 0