HYDE — For the entire season, the Clearfield Bison basketball team had moments where they looked spectacular. Other moments were ones where they couldn’t do anything on the court. It resulted in a frustrating season for players and coaches.
But the Arthur J. Weis Gymnasium hosted one final game for the 2010-2011 season. The senior statisticians, cheerleaders, and four Bison players were honored before any on-court festivities began. The entire team wanted to end the year on a high note with parents, fans and students in attendance. A very poignant, and rowdy crowd packed the seats as the Bisons hosted the Punxsutawney Chucks.
What the fans got was an intense, physical, emotional and competitive game for 32 minutes. Players and coaches alike were vocal, but the players responded on both sides. In the end, the Bisons put together four complete quarters of play and came away with a 50-39 victory on Senior Night.
Head coach Forrest Campman was extremely pleased with the effort and play of his team, especially considering how difficult the season was.
“It was a tough season if you look at wins and losses. But, it’s not if you look at how competitive we’ve been. It’s what we’ve been doing all year,” Campman said. “We’ve had great halves all year, but not a full game. Tonight we put it all together.
“Not everyone had their best game tonight, but nobody had a bad game tonight either.”
Clearfield played it’s best game, and also out-performed Punxsutawney in many aspects of the game. They outscored the Chucks each quarter, and also won the turnover battle. But, Campman pointed out one big difference he saw in this game compared to the entire season. What he saw was a difference in foul shots, especially attempts.
“We were 10 for 16 tonight, and they were 8 for 8. On the year, we were outscored by 250 points from the foul line,” Campman said. “Tonight was the first game where attempts were in our favor.”
At the same time, the Bison defense came up huge in forcing turnovers, while offensively they put together a well-balanced game in both ball movement and shooting. Senior Jack Mellgard had the best game of all the Bisons as he ended the night sevn of 10 on the floor, going for 18 points, five rebounds and four assists.
“Jack had a great game. More importantly, we were able to get him some rest, keep his legs under him,” Campman said. “When we were able to sub in, the kids handled the ball well and I didn’t have to throw him back in right away, forcing him to get tired.”
Defensively, Clearfield was able to take away one of the leading scorers for Punxsutawney, Daniel Triponey, out of the game. In the first meeting, Triponey bucketed 16 points on Clearfield. Wednesday night, he didn’t account for half of that total, finishing with just seven points.
“We took him out of the game since he put on a clinic the last time,” Campman said when referring to the 49-32 setback at Punxsutawney on January 31.
Clearfield added two more players in double figures as both Curtis Frye and Robbie Myers accounted for 11 points each. Frye led the Bisons in assists with seven. The Chucks only had four players put points on the board, with Logan Weaver leading the team with 14.
Campman was glad to send off the seniors on their home court with a victory, but also credited the fans and the students that came out for the game.
“It was great to let the seniors go out with a win on their home floor. But, we had the best crowd we had all season, especially the students. That has been the best student section all year long, and it’s great to see the support,” Campman said.
Clearfield did drop the junior varsity game by a final of 50-43.
Despite their record of 5-17, Clearfield is in the District IX basketball playoffs. Brackets and games will be released in the next week, with play to begin around late-February.
SCORE BY QUARTERS
Punxy 9 9 10 11 39
Clearfield 10 13 15 12 50
PUNXSUTAWNEY 39
Cressley 0 0-0 0, Tibbs 0 0-0 0, Triponey 3 0-0 7, Lombardo 0 0-0 0, L. Weaver 3 6-6 14, Janocha 0 0-0 0, Pearce 0 0-0 0, Pifer 0 0-0 0, Lowmaster 0 0-0 0, I. Weaver 0 0-0 0, Zimmerman 0 0-0 0, Mesoraco 4 0-0 9, Fugate 0 0-0 0, Miller 0 0-0 0, Fedigan 3 2-2 9, Venturini 0 0-0 0, Long 0 0-0 0. Totals 13 8-8 39
CLEARFIELD 50
Hogue 0 0-0 0, Swales 1 0-0 2, Frye 2 7-8 11, Beardsley 0 0-0 0, Metz 0 0-0 0, Redden 1 0-0 2, Mellgard 7 0-1 18, Morgan 1 2-3 4, Lezzer 1 0-2 2, Wagner 0 0-0 0, Lord 0 0-0 0, Myers 5 1-2 11. Totals 18 10-16 50
FIELD GOALS MADE/ATT: PY-13/39 CF-18/42
TEAM REBOUNDS: PY-17 CF-16
TEAM FOULS: PY-15 CF-13
TURNOVERS: PY-16 CF-9
Three-Point Shots: PY-Triponey, Weaver (2), Mesoraco, Fedigan CF-Mellgard (4)
| 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 | 58 – 33 | 4 – 10 |
| 01/27 | HUNTINGDON | 38 – 49 | 4 – 11 |
| 01/31 | @ Punxsutawney | 32 – 49 | 4 – 12 |
| 02/02 | CENTRAL | ppd. | 4 – 12 |
| 02/04 | @ Tyrone | 42 – 43 | 4 – 13 |
| 02/07 | CENTRAL | 52 – 54 | 4 – 14 |
| 02/09 | @ Philipsburg | ppd. | 4 – 14 |
| 02/11 | CENTRAL MOUNTAIN | 49 – 55 | 4 – 15 |
| 02/12 | @ Philipsburg | 57 – 63 | 4 – 16 |
| 02/14 | ST. MARYS | 34 – 42 | 4 – 17 |
| 02/16 | PUNXSUTAWNEY | 50 – 39 | 5 – 17 |
| D9 Playoffs vs. TBD |