HYDE — The winter season for high school sports in Clearfield has not been one of good fortune and success. For the Clearfield boys basketball squad, it has been a struggle as they have only been on the good side of the scoreboard twice this season. The last victory for coach Forrest Campman’s squad came two weeks ago against Central Mountain.
Friday night, Clearfield was back on their home court for the first time since last Friday to take on the Bald Eagle Area Eagles. Fans braved the plummeting temperatures to come to the Clearfield High School to watch the game.
What they got was a warm feeling as the home team put on it’s best game performance of the season as Clearfield defeated the Eagles by a final score of 59-45.
The reason for the victory: points off turnovers. All season, Clearfield has been able to force the opposition in turning the ball over. The issue has been not capitalizing and putting points on the board. That wasn’t the case Friday as 24 of the 59 points came from Bald Eagle turnovers.
“I thought we came out and played well defensively in the first quarter. We made some steals and that led to some layups,” Clearfield head coach Forrest Campman said following the contest. “That was probably the first game all year that turnovers led to points.”
Both Robbie Myers and Jack Mellgard were tops in the steals category, each having six on the night.
Even after halftime, Clearfield did not let up. In fact, they played a lot smarter as Campman wanted his team to slow down and be patient. It led to Clearfield gaining a 20-point lead in the third quarter.
“I thought we executed a lot better in the first four or five minutes of the second half,” Campman said.
Myers led Clearfield in scoring with 20 points. Mellgard and Curtis Frye also made double digits in scoring for Clearfield as each added 13.
For Bald Eagle, the fourth quarter was where they shined as they also took advantage of some Clearfield mistakes to bring the deficit as close as 12 points. Dennis Fisher paced the Eagles with a game-high 21 points.
“Everybody was gambling like crazy on the defensive end, and you might get an occasional steal where you get a basket,” Campman said. “We exchanged points a lot, but I told our kids that isn’t what we want to do. We’ll always get outscored by teams if we try to exchange baskets.”
Despite that, Campman seemed pleased with the effort his team put on during the game.
Clearfield also won the junior varsity game by a final of 55-48.
Clearfield (3-10) will have some time to enjoy the victory as its next game will be Tuesday as they travel to Juniata. Tip off will be at 6 p.m. for the junior varsity game. The varsity match-up will follow at approximately 7:30 p.m.
BOX SCORE
Bald Eagle Area 9 4 20 12 45
Clearfield 17 10 23 9 59
BALD EAGLE AREA 45
T. Bennett 1 2-2 4, Fisher 4 13-17 21, Koleno 0 2-2 2, Bryan Greene 0 0-0 0, Cingle 2 3-3 7, Crowley 2 3-4 7, Dyke 1 0-0 2, Long 1 0-0 2, Turner 0 0-0 0, Frost 0 0-0 0, Bryce Greene 0 0-0 0, J. Bennett 0 0-0 0. Totals 11 23-28 45
CLEARFIELD 59
Frye 6 0-0 13, Redden 2 1-2 5, Mellgard 4 5-6 13, Morgan 1 0-0 2, Myers 8 4-6 20, Lezzer 1 0-1 2, Swales 1 0-1 2, Metz 1 0-0 2. Totals 24 10-16 59
THREE-POINT SHOTS: BEA-None; CF-Frye
| Date | Opponent | Score | Record |
| 12/13 | @ Huntingdon | 38 – 73 | 0 – 1 |
| 12/16 | @ Central | 35 – 50 | 0 – 2 |
| 12/17 | @ DuBois | 31 – 48 | 0 – 3 |
| 12/21 | TYRONE | 39 – 65 | 0 – 4 |
| 12/27 | Lions Club Invitational | ||
| vs. Somerset | 38 – 61 | 0 – 5 | |
| 12/28 | Lions Club Invitational | ||
| vs. Harmony | 40 – 52 | 0 – 6 | |
| 01/05 | PHILIPSBURG | 44 – 31 | 1 – 6 |
| 01/07 | @ Central Mountain | 48 – 45 ot | 2 – 6 |
| 01/10 | INDIAN VALLEY | 26 – 44 | 2 – 7 |
| 01/12 | @ Bellefonte | 40 – 52 | 2 – 8 |
| 01/14 | LEWISTOWN | 25 – 35 | 2 – 9 |
| 01/19 | @ Penns Valley | 33 – 50 | 2 – 10 |
| 01/21 | BALD EAGLE AREA | 59 – 45 | 3 – 10 |
| 01/25 | @ Juniata |
