Late Rally Falls Short as Bison Cagers Fall to St. Marys, 36-29

HYDE — It was a case of day and night in terms of how the Clearfield Bison basketball team played compared to their first game on Tuesday night.  Although the momentum from the opening tip-off was slow, it was the same for the visiting St. Marys Flying Dutchmen, inside a very rowdy Arthur J. Weiss Gymnasium.

The two teams only combined for 19 points in the first 16 minutes of play, but the momentum quickly went in favor of the Dutchmen in the third quarter, building up at it’s peak a 12-point lead.

But Clearfield began coming on strong in the fourth quarter thanks to some quick steals and even faster points.  The shift in pace brought the Bisons to within two points, but ultimately that would be as close as they would get.  Due to some late fouls and free throws, the Dutchmen were able to hold on for the 36-29 victory.

Still, head coach Forrest Campman was smiling at the end of the night, even though his team lost, and praising the effort put on compared to the first game of the season on Tuesday.

“I thought our effort tonight was 10,000-times better than our first game,” Campman said.  “If you’re watching the game you can say the effort was there, but we were just inadequate on the offensive-side of the ball.  When you hold a team to 36 points, and they’re getting most of their shots from the foul line at the end of the game, you’re just not going to win many games.”

The game was a tale of two halves, as the slow pace in the beginning seemed to hinder both teams, as neither were able to put up many shots.  However, the third quarter started out quickly for the Bisons as they got in an early three-point play from Curtis Frye.  Unfortunately, at least in Campman’s eyes, what kept the Bisons from possibly taking the lead and holding onto it, was much like Tuesday, Clearfield has only one true ball-handler, Frye.

“I have a team with good athletes but not great basketball skills, and that hurts us,” Campman said.  “When we’re strong enough to get to the basket, we can make something happen.  But, there’s a dribble in between there.”

The second half saw a shift in defense for the Bisons to combat the play of the Dutchmen, as they went from a zone to a press to force more shots.  However, St. Marys found a way around the swap and managed to get their lead scorer, Justin Quiggle, into the game.  In the third quarter alone, Quiggle hit three of his five field goals.  Quiggle ended the night with a game-high 15 points, along with two rebounds.

Teammate Brandon Vollmer, despite fouling out, led the team in both assists (6) and rebounds (7) for the victors.

With the self-admitted struggles on offense, the Bisons were limited in scoring, but had strong play on defense and offense in terms of getting to the ball.  Robbie Myers had a great night as he ended with his first double-double of the season, ending with 10 points and 10 rebounds.

Possibly the biggest plays of the night came from sophomore Christian Lezzer as he was able to pull the Bisons within two points in the last minute and a half of play, as he scored his four points at the foul line, but also had three steals.  He also added three assists as Trey Jordan assisted in the scoring with six of his eight points in the final frame.

But late fouls by Jordan and Seth Beardsley were what ultimately made the difference, as the final four points of the night for the Dutchmen came because of fouls on Clearfield.

At the end of the night, Campman was still pleased with his team, but knew work had to be done.  After discussing some strategy with his assistant coaches, he felt that his team had to go into a “No-offense offense” type of play.

“When we try to execute our offensive plays, we don’t move the ball well enough,” Campman said.  “So, we have to almost beat people off the ball on the in-bounds.  We learned how to play at the right speed, but now we have to learn how to execute at that right speed.  The effort they gave tonight was enough to win, but we didn’t execute enough to win.”

The Bisons were able to win the opening junior-varsity game by a final of 38-35.

Clearfield (0-2) will be back in action on Tuesday night as they will continue their four-game homestand to open the season as they host the Central Dragons.  Tip off once again will be at 6 p.m. for the junior varsity game, with the varsity contest set for approximately 7:30.

SCORE BY QUARTERS

St. Marys     6     6     13     11     –     36

Clearfield     2     5     6     16     –     29

St. Marys  36

Vollmer 2 0-0 4, Bennett 1 0-0 2, Guido 1 0-2 2, Fox 1 0-0 3, Cunningham 0 0-0 0, Diaz 0 0-0 0, Ganon 0 0-0 0, Quiggle 2 1-3 5, Werner 5 5-6 15, Carrero 2 1-4 5.  TOTALS 13 7-14 36.

Clearfield  29

Lezzer 0 4-4 4, Swales 0 0-0 0, Gaylor 0 0-0 0, Frye 3 1-3 7, Beardsley 0 0-0 0, McCracken 0 0-0 0, Woomer 0 0-0 0, Lord 0 0-0 0, Bell 0 0-0 0, Jordan 3 2-5 8, Hertlein 0 0-0 0, Wood 0 0-0 0, Janocko 0 0-0 0, Myers 5 0-2 10.  TOTALS 11 7-12 29.

FIELD GOALS MADE/ATTEMPTED:  SM-13/42  CF-11/31
TEAM FOULS:  SM-15  CF-17
TEAM REBOUNDS:  SM-18  CF-24
TURNOVERS:  SM-12  CF-19

Foul-Outs:  SM-Voller, CF-None

Bison Scoreboard: