HYDE – The Clearfield Area High School girls basketball team met most of coach Joey Castagnolo’s goals against Curwensville on Senior Night in Arthur J. Weiss Gymnasium Monday evening.
The Lady Bisons bolted to a 12-0 lead and played a turnover-free first quarter.
They dominated the first half, shooting 40 percent and smothering the Lady Tide offense with their 1-2-2 and 1-3-1 zones while weaving a 32-9 cushion with every Lady Bison seeing action.
“It was picture perfect,” said Castagnolo, whose aim was to give his starters plenty of rest with three tough games in three nights, including two crucial District 9 League battles, coming up to close out the regular season.
His only lament was the Lady Bisons didn’t finish strong in the 53-42 victory over the scrappy Lady Tide.
While the score is deceiving because Curwensville went on a 13-3 run in the final 3:08, the visitors did manage to chop six points off Clearfield’s advantage in each of the last two periods.
“I wasn’t very happy with our defense in the second half,” Castagnolo said. “We worked the ball around offensively to get the good shot. They just weren’t dropping.
“But you’ve got to give kudos to Curwensville. They could have packed it in at halftime, but they came back and scrapped right with us. They didn’t back down.”
The backcourt duo of Madison Sopic and Gwenn Porter, two of the seven seniors honored prior to tip-off, combined for 30 points as the Lady Bisons (13-6) made it four wins in a row for the first time this season. Twice before, they had strung together three victories.
Sopic shook free of Lady Tide defenders for five jumpers on her way to 16 points, while Porter exhibited her versatility with a set shot for a three-pointer, a jumper, a baseline floater and a lay-up in addition to five free throws resulting from drives to the hoop.
Sopic sunk her first three shots, including the first of her four pull-up jumpers in the lane and a coast-to-coast trip after one of her six rebounds, and Amber Byerly got open in the low post for two field goals as Clearfield raced to a 12-0 lead in the first 4:53.
Meanwhile, the Lady Tide missed seven shots and turned the ball over five times before Katie Wriglesworth stopped the bleeding from the foul line.
Down 14-5 after one period, Curwensville experienced a seven-minute drought in the second quarter and was staring at a 26-point halftime deficit before Tess Bloom launched a 40-footer that just beat the buzzer.
Sopic tossed in a runner in the lane and followed with two pull-ups for six of Clearfield’s 15 consecutive points that made it 29-5 before Wriglesworth again broke the ice for Curwensville via a free throw with 41.1 seconds left in the half.
Bloom, who has accounted for 45 percent of the Lady Tide offense with her 14.5 average, heated up in the second half with 14 of her game-high 17 points.
After making only three of 33 shots in the first half, coach Rusty McCracken’s team began to find the range but still couldn’t make much headway in narrowing the gap.
The Lady Tide (2-17) got to within 16 at 44-28 with 5:48 remaining, only to watch the Lady Bisons respond with the next six points.
“We rebounded well and we started moving the ball a little bit better in the second half, getting good looks at the basket,” said McCracken, whose team matched its season-high in points. “We just took better shots and made some. That was a big difference. You make some shots, confidence builds.
“I’m very proud of the way the girls finished it up. We could have very easily said this is going to be a sub-20-point game.
“I played 12 girls, and they all contributed in some way, whether it was rebounding, scoring, playing good defense, whatever.
“Joey’s subs contributed to his game, too. He’s got a lot of girls on that bench that have a lot of varsity time this year. They didn’t play as well in the second half, but maybe they had a letdown because of the score at halftime.
“We knew were outsized, and they have very good guards. We didn’t match up real well with them. But our girls didn’t quit.”
Katie Wriglesworth grabbed a game-high 12 rebounds as the Lady Tide owned a 43-37 edge over the Lady Bisons, who were led by Byerly’s eight boards.
Clearfield made 18 of 57 shots for 31.6 percent while Curwensville finished 13-for-61 for 21.5 percent.
“All in all, it was a nice Senior Night,” Castagnolo said. “These seniors have been with me four years, and it (win) is a nice way to end their career. We have another home game, but we do it this way in case we get snowed out.”
“We controlled the tempo and got what we wanted (a win). I just wish we would have played a little better in that second half.”
Byerly, Jayme Ryan, Elizabeth Peters, Angela Moore and Lori Zalno are the other Lady Bison seniors.
A nice gesture by the Clearfield boosters was also honoring Curwensville seniors Bloom, Shayla Buzard and Lindsay Barrett.
The Lady Bisons, 5-5 in the D-9 League, must knock off Punxsutawney (7-3), which upended front-running St. Marys 62-59 Monday night, on the Weiss Gym hardwood Wednesday and Elk County Catholic (8-2) at St. Marys Thursday to have a chance to host a District 9 Class AAA first-round playoff game. They will travel to Westover to take on Harmony Friday.
Curwensville wraps up the season with home games against Moshannon Valley Wednesday and Sheffield Thursday.
Clearfield won the junior varsity game 52-17.
Ciara Marsh scored 11 points to pace the Lady Bisons (11-8), while Becca Johnson had seven for the Lady Tide.
See photos of the game here: http://www.ladybisonsports.org/lbsbball021510.html
CURWENSVILLE — 42
Tess Bloom 4 6-10 17, Shayla Buzard 1 1-2 3, Taylor Bumbarger 2 0-0 4, Katie Wriglesworth 2 2-4 6, Savannah Strickland 3 0-0 8, Courtney Bachelier 0 0-0 0, Katrina Seaburn 0 1-2 1, Becca Johnson 0 0-0-0, Lindsay Barrett 0 1-2 1, Paige McCracken 0 0-0 0, Kate Norris 1 0-0 2, Hannah Bressler 0 0-0 0. TOTALS: 13 11-20 42.
CLEARFIELD — 53
Jayme Ryan 1 0-0 3, Gwenn Porter 4 5-8 14, Madison Sopic 7 2-4 16, Elizabeth Peters 2 0-0 4, Amber Byerly 3 2-2 8, Angela Moore 0 3-5 3, Lori Zalno 1 0-0 2, Breanna Peters 0 3-4 3, Rachel Johnson 0 0-0 0, Lisa Ambuski 0 0-0 0, Kristen Butler 0 0-0 0. TOTALS: 18 15-23 53.
Three-Point Field Goals – Curwensville 5 (Bloom 3, Strickland 2); Clearfield 2 (Ryan 1, Porter 1).
SCORE BY QUARTERS
Curwensville 5 4 16 17 – 42
Clearfield 14 18 10 11 – 53
Officials – Martin Flint, John Zimbardi, Mark Austin.
