CLEARFIELD – The Clearfield Bison boys basketball team will enter the PIAA Class AAA playoffs for the third straight year on Tuesday. It will also be the second time in those three years that the Bisons will be playing in the “play-in” game. The winner of which advances to the first round of the PIAA playoffs.
The Bisons will be traveling to District 10 on Tuesday to battle the Falcons of Erie Central. The game will take place at Mercyhurst Prep at 6:00 PM.
Clearfield comes into the game having lost to Bradford on Saturday, 56-28, in the District 9 Class AAA championship game. The Bisons, now 13-10 on the season, have lost three straight and four of their last five.
Erie Central advanced by winning the District AAA 10 consolation game on Friday over Meadville 56-50. The Falcons, who are 13-11 overall, lost in the District 10 semi-finals 46-45 to Hickory.
The two squads played one common opponent during the regular season. Erie Central beat DuBois 48-37 while the Bisons defeated the Beavers twice, 45-27 and 55-42.
The Falcons are led in scoring by 6’1” senior Shawn Pennamon who averages 9.7 points per game and Jeremiah Edwards, a 6’1” junior who pulls down an average of 8 rebound per game.
Clearfield is paced by senior Chad Zurat, averaging just over 15 points per contest with a total of 174 rebounds. Trey Campman, also a senior, has added 10 plus per game for Clearfield while another senior, Ben Johnson averages eight points.
In 2008 the Bisons lost to Meadville in the “play-in” game, 48-47, at Edinboro University finishing the year at 19-8.
Last year when Clearfield ended their season 22-3, they lost in the first round of the PIAA playoffs to Greensburg -Salem, 66-56.
Bison head coach Forrest Campman spoke Saturday about the upcoming game with Erie Central, “We’ll practice Sunday and Monday and prepare for our next game. We hope that some things that we do they haven’t seen before and that could help us.”
The winner moves on to the first round of the state playoffs against the District 7 (WPIAL) champions, Chartiers Valley (25-1) at Canon-McMillan High School on Friday at 7:00 pm in Canonsburg.
Listen to Clearfield Bison basketball on Tuesday on WOKW-FM, 102.9. Tune in to OK 102.9 for more details about the Clearfield-Erie Central game.