HYDE – Back-to-back games proved to be no problem for the Clearfield Area High School girls basketball team Tuesday night as the Lady Bisons came out of the locker room running and raced past Philipsburg-Osceola 71-37 in Weiss Gym.
Domination under the glass against the undersized Lady Mounties enabled the Lady Bisons, coming off a 63-55 victory over Brookville Monday night, to set their fast break in motion early and often, resulting in a 12-0 start and a 22-8 lead after one quarter.
“What I was real happy with, we jumped out to the lead and we ran the floor.” coach Joey Castagnolo said. “That’s the way we practice.“
With Dakota Farmery and Breanna Peters gobbling up 31 missed shots, the hosts went on to amass a season-high 51 rebounds and never led by less than 10 points in evening their Mountain League Allegheny Division record at 2-2 while climbing to 6-3 overall.
Farmery outrebounded the entire P-O team by herself, pulling down 21 misses.
The big junior center also was the beneficiary of several excellent entry passes from guard Lisa Ambuski and wings Kristen Butler and Rachel Thompson and flipped in a game-high 20 points.
“I thought she played real smart inside,” said Castagnolo, who couldn’t recall the last time a Lady Bison had that many rebounds. “Instead of forcing some things, she kicked it back out.”
Peters had a double-double, too, with 10 points and a like number of rebounds.
Thompson provided the outside firepower with 14 points, including a pair of three-pointers from the right wing, and Butler keyed the fast break with 10 points, making it two nights in a row that four Lady Bisons scored in double figures.
Castagnolo was pleased with the scoring balance and even more so with the way the Lady Bisons took control of the game while the Lady Mounties missed their first eight shots.
He told his team, “Isn’t it a lot more fun to get a lead instead of always fighting from behind.”
He said, “We always get off to a little sluggish start. And we just took care of business right from the locker room out to the court.”
Clearfield’s fast getaway featured fast-break layups by Ambuski and Butler and the pair of three-pointers by Thompson.
The Lady Bisons also tallied the last six points of the period on a long set shot by Ambuski, another layup by Butler and two free throws by Peters.
Farmery, who pulled down nine misses in that first quarter, began to exert her presence on the other end in the next eight minutes.
Two putbacks early and a conventional three-pointer on an assist by Butler accounted for seven of her 10 points in the quarter as Clearfield extended its lead to 17 points, 36-19.
The Lady Bisons widened the spread to 49-28 after three quarters with Peters, working the opposite side in the low post from Farmery, contributing six points.
Farmery and Thompson tallied six points apiece as the Lady Bisons finished strong, pushing their advantage to 60-35 midway through the fourth quarter before turning it over to the reserves.
“It was nice to have a game like that to play a lot of players, because those kids come to practice just like the starters,” Castagnolo said. “I‘m happy with all 11 who played.
“We knew we were going to control the board. And we played really nice defense.”
The Lady Bisons held the Lady Mounties to 20.1 percent shooting (14-for-67).
P-O (2-9) relied on two players for the bulk of its offense.
Scrappy point guard Lauren Simcox made four shots from behind the arc in a 19-point effort, and Abby Showers chipped in with 11 points.
The Lady Mounties wound up with 20 rebounds and 21 turnovers.
Clearfield, which had 25 turnovers, maintained its excellent shooting percentage for this turnaround week, targeting 30 of 66 attempts for 45.4 percent.
The Lady Bisons will travel to DuBois Thursday for a non-league game.
“Our motto is to go 8-0 this week, four jayvee wins and four varsity wins, and we’re halfway home,” Castagnolo said.
Emily Aveni scored 11 points as Clearfield‘s junior varsity prevailed, 28-25, for a 4-5 record.
PHILIPSBURG-OSCEOLA — 37
Abby Showers 4 2-4 11, Chelsea Brown 0 1-2 1, Cassidy Bauman 0 0-0 0, Brianna Rusnak 2 0-0 4, Lauren Simcox 7 1-7 19, Mackenzie Burge 0 0-0 0, Katie Meersand 0 0-0 0, Lindsey Knepp 0 0-0 0, Jordyn Miller 0 0-0 0, Callie Peck 0 0-0 0. TOTALS: 14 4-13 37.
CLEARFIELD — 71
Lisa Ambuski 2 0-0 4, Rachel Thompson 6 0-0 14, Kristen Butler 5 0-0 10, Breanna Peters 2 6-8 10, Dakota Farmery 9 2-3 20, Brittany Renaud 3 0-0 6, Sheeder 3 0-0 6, Janelle Mumma 0 0-0 0, Maggie Sopic 0 1-2 1, Tess Munshower 0 0-0 0, Emily Aveni 0 0-0 0. TOTALS: 30 9-13 71.
Three-Point Field Goals – Philipsburg-Osceola 5 (Showers, Simcox 4); Clearfield 2 (Thompson 2).
SCORE BY QUARTERS
Philipsburg-Osceola 8 11 9 9 – 37
Clearfield 22 14 13 22 – 71
Officials – Bud Brennan, Kenny Knepp and George Schneider.
