SPRING MILLS — At the beginning of the season, the Clearfield Lady Bisons were able to string together four consecutive wins after opening the 2011-2012 season with a loss. Suddenly, they found themselves suffering some struggles on the court as they would lose the first two contests in January.
All the while, Coach Joey Castagnolo had the confidence in his team that they would get back on a streak to open the second half of the year.
He was right, as Clearfield picked up wins over Brookville and Philipsburg-Osceola at home, followed by a road victory against DuBois. Saturday night, the Lady Bisons had the opportunity to tie the win streak they had to open the season as they made the trip to Spring Mills to take on the Lady Rams of Penns Valley.
After 32 minutes of game play, a streak that began at the beginning of the week was kept intact. The Lady Bisons jumped out to an early lead and from that point never looked back. Castagnolo and his team left Spring Mills with their fourth consecutive victory as they defeated Penns Valley by a final of 59-45.
Clearfield jumped out to a 21-9 lead after the first quarter of play. The second quarter saw Penns Valley close the gap to within seven early, however smart passing and inside looks for the Bisons gave the team a 13-point advantage heading into the break, putting a smile on the face of Castagnolo and the assistant coaches.
In the second half, the Rams found themselves in early foul trouble as in the third quarter alone the team had eight team fouls. The Lady Bisons took advantage at the foul line. Once the Lady Rams hit the point where all fouls meant free throws, Clearfield put the game away to finish with a 14-point margin at the final whistle.
Clearfield (8-3) has a road game to start the week as they will travel to take on Central Mountain this coming Tuesday in a Mountain League matchup. They will then return home for a three-game stretch beginning on Friday when they host the Lady Eagles of Bald Eagle.
See photos of the game here: http://www.ladybisonsports.org/lbsbball011412.html
SCORE BY QUARTER
Clearfield 21 12 12 14 – 59
Penns Valley 9 11 13 12 – 45
Lady Bison Scoreboard:
| Date | Opponent | Score | Record |
| 12/14 | @ Huntingdon | 68 – 89 | 0 – 1 |
| 12/19 | PUNXSUTAWNEY | 60-55 2ot | 1 – 1 |
| 12/21 | @ Central | 46 – 37 | 2 – 1 |
| 12/23 | @ Bellefonte | 55 – 30 | 3 – 1 |
| 12/28 | @ Curwensville | 57 – 38 | 4 – 1 |
| 01/04 | TYRONE | 38 – 47 | 4 – 2 |
| 01/06 | @ Punxsutawney | 55 – 68 | 4 – 3 |
| 01/09 | BROOKVILLE | 63 – 55 | 5 – 3 |
| 01/10 | PHILIPSBURG-OSCEOLA | 71 – 37 | 6 – 3 |
| 01/12 | @ DuBois | 57 – 45 | 7 – 3 |
| 01/14 | @ Penns Valley | 59 – 45 | 8 – 3 |
| 01/17 | @ Central Mountain | ||
| 01/20 | BALD EAGLE AREA |