If one remembers, Huntingdon swarmed the Lady Bisons in Clearfield’s first game of the year on December 14 by a score of 89-68 as the Lady Bearcats connected on 19 three-pointers out of 53 attempts.
Clearfield head coach Joey Castagnolo preached defense to his girls leading up to the Huntingdon game and it really paid off as the Lady Bisons held the Lady Bearcats to 17 points under their average.
“We put a note on the bulletin board in the locker room reminding the girls that defense wins ballgames,” Castagnolo said afterwards. “We made some adjustments for this game after the first time we played them. We couldn’t just let them stand out past the three point line and take shot after shot.”
The Lady Bearcats did attempt unofficially 35 treys, but this time they only made nine of them in an offense that is basically void of X’s and O’s. It is run and gun…sometimes it works and sometimes it doesn’t.
Huntingdon started out hitting five first quarter three’s, three of them by Tara Smith who had 10 points in the first eight minutes. Clearfield, however, had an answer in the name of senior guard Lisa Ambuski who scored nine first quarter points, all on shots from beyond the arc.
With a 22-18 lead going into the second stanza the defense for Clearfield came alive as they held the Bearcats to seven points while scoring 14 themselves. Ambuski again lead the charge with two more three-pointers for a total of 15 first half tallies. At the half it was Clearfield out in front by 11, 36-25.
The Lady Bearcats would cut the Clearfield margin to seven a few times in the third quarter but the Lady Bisons staved off the rally and when Rachel Thompson stroked a three-pointer with 10 seconds left in the third it gave Clearfield a 49-39 lead heading into the final eight minutes.
Clearfield put the game away early in the fourth quarter and after Ambuski hit a two pointer midway through the period Clearfield held a 60-39 bulge. The Lady Bisons never looked back as they picked up win number 10 on the season against four defeats. Clearfield has now won six of it’s last seven games.
Ambuski had 17 for Clearfield as Dakota Farmery added 15, Kristen Butler netted 14, Thompson had 12 and Breanna Peters scored 11 in a very balanced Clearfield offense.
Castagnolo closed with, “It’s great to have the five starters hit for double figures. I am really proud of the girls. But, again, it was a different ballgame tonight thanks to the girls picking it up on the defensive end of the floor.”
Huntingdon won the junior varsity game over Clearfield 35-32.
The Lady Bison entertain St. Marys on Thursday night with the JV game starting at 6 pm and the varsity contest to immediately follow.
Listen to Lady Bison basketball Thursday on WOKW-FM, 102.9, with the pre-game show beginning at 7:15 pm.
See photos of the game here: http://www.ladybisonsports.org/lbsbball012412.html
HUNTINGDON – 48
Tara Smith 7 2-4 21, Kathryn Marter 2 0-0 5, Aaren Sellers 1 1-2 3, Brianna Rivello 3 0-0 6, Cheyanne Snyder 3 0-0 8, Casey Baird 1 0-0 2, Becca Sellers 0 0-0 0, Jordan Shaffer 1 0-0 3, Katie Kurtz 0 0-0 0, Shannon Henney 0 0-0 0, Sierra Shoemaker 0 0-0 0, TOTALS – 18 3-6 48.
CLEARFIELD – 72
Kristen Butler 7 0-2 14, Dakota Farmery 7 1-2 15, Lisa Ambuski 6 0-0 17, Rachel Thompson 4 2-2 12, Breanna Peters 5 1-2 11, Brittany Renaud 0 0-0 0, Brianna Spencer 0 0-0 0, Tessa Munshower 0 0-0 0, Janelle Mumma 0 0-0 0, Kate Sheeder 0 1-2 1, Maggie Sopic 1 0-2 2, TOTALS – 30 5-12 72.
SCORE BY QUARTERS:
HUNTINGDON 18 7 14 9 48
CLEARFIELD 22 14 13 23 72
THREE-POINTERS: Ambuski 5,Thompson 2, Smith 5, Snyder 2, Marter, Shaffer
OFFICIALS: Marvin Martell, Lee Martell, Greg Posteraro
| 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 | 37 – 50 | 8 – 4 |
| 01/20 | BALD EAGLE AREA | 61 – 55 | 9 – 4 |
| 01/24 | HUNTINGDON | 72 – 48 | 10 – 4 |
| 01/26 | ST. MARYS | ||
| 01/27 | @ Juniata |