Punxsytawney — Many times a team can be measured on how it responds to adversity and how well they deal with tough losses. For Clearfield, perhaps all doubts should be put to rest on the talent of the squad.
One night after a devastating overtime home loss to Elk County the Bisons showed the poise of a battle tested team of veterans traveling to Punxsutawney and coming away with a 49-38 win. The win is believed to be Head Coach Forrest Campman’s 100th victory.
The shorthanded Bisons, still without starting guard Trey Campman, who sat out his third consecutive game with a foot injury, got a big first quarter out of star senior Chad Zurat who poured in eight points in the frame on his way to a game high 21. However the Chucks kept things close in the first matching the Bisons 12 point output in the period.
Things got dicey for the Bisons in the second quarter as Zurat was held scoreless and spent a majority of the period on the bench in foul trouble. Clearfield, however, was able to get three pointers from Ben Johnson and Luke Peterson, their only points of the contest. Punxsy on the other hand used the Bisons foul woes and capitalized from the line to jump out to a 27-22 halftime advantage.
In the third quarter Zurat, perhaps fueled by his first half foul problems, took over the period by netting five buckets and scoring a total of 11 more points. Jack Mellgard and Curtis Frye also scored buckets for Clearfield in the frame. Frye, seeing more playing time due to Campman’s injury, had a solid game scoring 11 points. At the end of third third period Clearfield jumped ahead to a 38-36 advantage.
Clearfield used their full court zone trap to great advantage to hold the Chucks to only two more points in the contest while Frye dropped in three more buckets to seal the victory for the Bisons 49-38.
Clearfield will be back in action Friday night when the Harmony Owls come to town. The game will also mark Senior Night for the Bisons. Tipoff is scheduled for 7:30.
Clearfield          12-10-16-11  49
Punxsutawney 12-15-9-2Â Â Â Â Â 38
Clearfield: Fannin 0 0-0 0, Houge 0 0-0 0, Johnson 1 0-0 3, Peterson 1 0-0 3, Zurat 9 1-1 21, Metz 0 0-0 0, Redden 0 0-0 0, Mellgard 4 0-1 8, Frye 5 1-2 11, Swales 0 0-0 0, Bowman 1 1-2 3
Punxsy: Kopas 3 2-4 9. Neal 2 0-0 4, Dale 0 0-0 0, Pifer 0 3-4 3, Cressley 0 0-0 0, Mesoraco 1 2-2 4, Lowmaster 0 0-0 0, Feaigan 0 0-0 0, Triponey 1 0-0 2, Weaver 4 5-7 16, Jonocha 0 0-0 0.
