HYDE – The Clearfield and Punxsutawney girls basketball teams traded home-court wins in their two District 9 League games, but a lot more will be at stake Tuesday night when they tangle for the third time on the Lady Chucks’ hardwood.
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The winner earns the opportunity to take on league co-champ and No. 1 seed St. Marys (20-2) for the District 9 Class AAA title Saturday in Clarion University’s Tippin Gym and also secures a berth in the PIAA Playoffs.
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Lady Bison coach Joey Castagnolo expects the 7 o’clock semifinal to mirror the previous duels, close and low-scoring.
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“We’re pretty equal, and it’ll probably be a slow tempo game,” he said. “A big thing is taking care of the basketball. I think the team with the least turnovers is gonna win.”
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Punxsy (11-11) prevailed 40-34 on Jan. 27, while Clearfield (15-7) emerged triumphant 31-28 in Weiss Gym on Feb. 17 to stretch its season-high winning streak to five.
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The Lady Bisons lost 53-34 at Elk County Catholic the next night with the Lady Crusaders needing a victory to tie cross-town rival St. Marys for the league title, and then closed the four-game week and regular season with a 62-57 win at Harmony.
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Punxsy received the No. 2 seed because of a better league record, 8-4 compared to 6-6 for Clearfield. The difference was that the Lady Chucks split with St. Marys and ECC.
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Both teams played much better in the second half of the season, winning eight of their last 11 games, and both have displayed good balance on offense.
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Clearfield’s all-senior lineup is led by guards Madison Sopic (251 points, 11.4 average) and Gwenn Porter (249, 11.3).
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Amber Byerly (215, 9.8) has been tough in the post, and Jayme Ryan (154, 7.0) gives the Lady Bisons firepower from outside, having poured in 44 three-pointers.
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Forward Elizabeth Peters (97, 4.4) is the other starter.
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Castagnolo is confident calling on guard Angela Moore (68, 3.2) and forwards Breanna Peters (62, 3.0) and Lori Zalno (25, 1.2) for valuable minutes.
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Punxsy, on the other hand, relies almost exclusively on its starters. All five played the entire game at Clearfield.
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Pacing the Lady Chucks offensively is junior Hannah Neal with 263 points and a 12.0 average.
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Junior point guard Jenna Reitz (213, 9.7) can be dangerous from any distance, often launching NBA-range three-pointers, and junior power forward Shawna Crago (173, 9.1) is tough under the boards.
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Senior forwards Megan McCully (162, 7.4) and Amber Fye (137, 6.2) round out the Punxsy lineup.
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“Neal is a concern just because she’s their top scorer and hasn’t had a good game against us yet,” Castagnolo said. “Reitz shoots those NBA threes, and you can’t stop that. We’ll try to force her out further by extending our zone.”
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Scoring more points is one goal for Castagnolo.
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“I can’t ask much more from them on defense, but I’d like to see us run more,” he said. “We really haven’t pushed the ball down the floor against them, and I think we can score more points in transition.”
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The home team has won the last five games, including Clearfield’s 43-34 victory in last year’s semifinal.
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Top seed St. Marys beat the Lady Bisons 56-28 for the championship.
