While both teams had a lot at stake, the host Lady Crusaders were sharper and led throughout for a 53-34 win and a share of the District 9 League title with cross-town rival St. Marys.
The Lady Bisons, who still harbored hopes of grabbing the No. 2 seed for the District 9 Class AAA Playoffs from Punxsutawney after upending the Lady Chucks in a 31-28 thriller a night earlier, couldn’t match the Lady Crusaders’ energy on their Senior Night.
“We just played a little flat after that emotional win against Punxsy,” said coach Joey Castagnolo, whose team was playing its third game in four days. “Their man-to-man defense was real tough on us.”
The Lady Bisons played much of the thrice-postponed game without Amber Byerly, their leading rebounder and one of their top three scorers with a dozen double-figure performances. The senior forward picked up three fouls in the first quarter and did not have a point.
Point guard Gwenn Porter’s nine points were high for Clearfield (14-7), which trailed only 13-12 after one period but fell behind 27-19 by halftime and then was outscored 17-10 in the third quarter.
Senior Emily Detsch paced Elk County Catholic (19-3) with 21 points, one less than she pumped in when the Lady Crusaders closed with a 12-3 run to frustrate the Lady Bisons 39-36 at Clearfield on Jan. 20.
“She was on fire,” Castagnolo said. “We couldn’t stop her.”
Detsch, who is averaging just under 18 points, registered all but two of her tallies in the first three periods, with three of her nine field goals from three-point range.
Taylor Frank and Karly Carnovale added 11 and 10 points, respectively, for Elk County Catholic, which finished 10-2 in the District 9 League and will seek another Allegheny Mountain League championship this weekend.
Clearfield ended up 6-6 in the league and will bring down the curtain on the regular season with a non-league game against Harmony at Westover tonight.
The Lady Bisons then will have a 10-day layoff before traveling to Punxsutawney for the District 9 Class AAA semifinal. St. Marys (20-2) is the No. 1 seed.
Elk County Catholic also won the junior varsity game.
CLEARFIELD — 34
Jayme Ryan 2 0-0 6, Gwenn Porter 4 0-0 9, Madison Sopic 2 0-2 4, Elizabeth Peters 3 1-2 7, Amber Byerly 0 0-0 0, Angela Moore 2 1-2 6, Lori Zalno 0 0-0 0, Breanna Peters 1 0-0 2, Lisa Ambuski 0 0-0 0, Kristen Butler 0 0-0 0, Rachel Thompson 0 0-0 0. TOTALS: 14 2-6 34.
ELK COUNTY CATHOLIC — 53
Emily Detsch 9 0-2 21, Dani Cassels 0 0-0 0, Taylor Frank 4 3-3 11, Karly Carnovale 4 2-3 10, Emily Gregory 0 0-0 0, Ellie Petrosky 0 0-0 0, Lexie Meholic 3 2-4 8, Jena Struble 0 2-2 2, Abbi Petrosky 0 1-2 1, Taylor DaCanal 0 0-0 0. TOTALS: 20 10-16 53.
Three-Point Field Goals – Clearfield 4 (Ryan 2, Porter, Moore); Elk County Catholic 3 (Detsch 3).
SCORE BY QUARTERS
Clearfield        12  7 10 5 – 34
Elk County Catholic 13Â 14Â 17Â 9Â –Â 53