WESTOVER – Gwenn Porter poured in 20 points and Madison Sopic scored a career-high 19, including eight consecutive free throws in the fourth quarter, as Clearfield held off Harmony 63-57 in an entertaining non-league girls basketball game Friday night.
They were joined in double figures by Amber Byerly and Jayme Ryan with 11 and 10 points, respectively.
With their third win in four games this week, the Lady Bisons conclude the regular season with a 15-7 record.
They will be idle until March 2 and a trip to Punxsutawney for the District 9 Class AAA Playoffs semifinal.
“It was a great win,” coach Joey Castagnolo said of his team’s bounce-back from a disappointing loss to District 9 League co-champ Elk County Catholic on Thursday. “Harmony’s a good team. They didn’t back down from us.”
Harmony, which finished 10-10, was led by its two seniors, four-year standout Alyson Leyo with 28 points and Lindsey Neff with 11.
Behind seven points by Leyo, the Lady Owls took a 14-9 advantage into the second period, but the Lady Bisons pulled ahead 23-20 by halftime.
Porter fronted the Clearfield offense with 11 points, and Sopic chipped in seven in the first two periods.
Porter added seven more in the third quarter as the Lady Bisons stretched their lead to 42-36.
Then, the teams traded points in the high-scoring final eight minutes.
Leyo fueled Harmony’s comeback bid with a dozen tallies.
However, Castagnolo switched ball-handling chores from Porter to Sopic with the Lady Owls fouling to stop the clock.
Sopic, who scored 10 points in the quarter, was money on her four trips to the charity stripe for an 11-for-12 night that pushed her free throw percentage to just under 75 percent.
“We went to a half-court offense in the fourth quarter, and they had to foul us,” Castagnolo said. “Our foul shooting was unbelievable. We were 12-for-13. The girls just stepped up and made them.”
In addition to Sopic, Ryan and Byerly swished two free throws apiece. Ryan also hit a big three-pointer, her second of the game and 44th of the season.
“We were never very far ahead,” Castagnolo said. “Every time we’d make two foul shots, they’d come down and score.
“It was a good girls basketball game, because they didn’t know us and we didn’t know them, so we just went out and played. Both teams refused to lose. And the fans were into it, too.”
In the prelim, Breanna Peters and Rachel Thompson scored 12 points apiece as coach Jerry Stewart’s Lady Bison junior varsity capped a 12-10 season with a 44-12 victory.
CLEARFIELD — 63
Jayme Ryan 3 2-2 10, Gwenn Porter 8 2-4 20, Madison Sopic 4 11-12 19, Elizabeth Peters 1 0-0 2, Amber Byerly 3 5-7 11, Angela Moore 0 0-0 0, Lori Zalno 0 0-0 0, Breanna Peters 0 1-4 1, Lisa Ambuski 0 0-0 0, Rachel Thompson 0 0-0 0. 19 21-29 63.
HARMONY — 57
Alyson Leyo 11 4-10 28, Makenzie Kruise 2 2-2 8, Lindsey Neff 4 2-2 11, Alaina Westover 2 0-0 4, Ashley McDonald 2 0-0 4, Katie Novella 1 0-0 2, Brittany Maseto 0 0-0 0. TOTALS: 22 8-14 57.
Three-Point Field Goals – Clearfield 4 (Ryan 2, Porter 2). Harmony 5 (Leyo 2, Kruise 2, Neff 1).
Score by Quarters
Clearfield 9 14 19 21 – 63
Harmony 14 6 16 21 – 57