PURCHASE LINE — Clearfield overcame a slow start in the first quarter and poor shooting in the third quarter to claim a two-point lead over Harmony midway through the fourth quarter of the Purchase Line Lions Club Holiday Tournament opener Thursday night, but the Owls finished strong to hand the defending champion Bison a 48-41 setback.
Seven points by Trey Jordan keyed a second period rally that put Clearfield in front 25-23 at halftime after Harmony had jumped out to a 16-10 advantage in the first quarter.
However, the Bison managed only five points in the third period and trailed 34-30 going to the final eight minutes.
The Red and Black regained the upper hand once but couldn’t keep pace with the Owls in the late going and tumbled to 2-4.
Jordan and Christian Lezzer topped Clearfield with 13 points apiece.
Harmony, also 2-4, relied heavily on Nate Young’s standout play in the low blocks. The 6-2 senior tossed in 20 points, with at least four every quarter, in a double-double performance.
“Young played extremely well,” Clearfield coach Forrest Campman said. “We knew he was gonna be a tough player for us to handle, and he killed us on the boards.
“We just missed too many shots. Some were wide-open lay-ups.”
Clearfield will play Purchase Line in Friday’s consolation game with tip-off at 6 p.m.
The Red Dragons were beaten 81-45 by Bald Eagle Area in the other first-round game.
CLEARFIELD — 41
Seth Beardsley 3 0-0 7, Jon Janocko 3 2-4 8, Wyatt Westen 0 0-0 0, Christian Lezzer 5 0-0 13, Trey Jordan 5 2-2 13, Andy Brown 0 0-0 0, Seth Ford 0 0-0 0. TOTALS: 16 4-6 41.
HARMONY — 48
Evan Novella 2 0-0 4, Nate Young 9 2-4 20, Tyler Tiesi 2 5-6 10, Logan Sral 4 1-2 10, Dustin Kurtz 0 0-0 0, Josh Lucas 1 2-2 4 . TOTALS: 18 10-14 48.
Three-Point Field Goals – Clearfield 5 (Beardsley, Lezzer 3, Jordan); Harmony 2 (Tiesi, Sral).
Score by Quarters
Clearfield       10 15  5 11 – 41
Harmony       16  7 11 14 – 48
Bison Scoreboard:
Date | Opponent | Score | Record |
12/07 | CURWENSVILLE | ppd. | 0 – 0 |
12/10 | CURWENSVILLE | 42 – 37 | 1 – 0 |
12/12 | @ Central | 29 – 50 | 1 – 1 |
12/14 | HUNTINGDON | 55 – 61 | 1 – 2 |
12/18 | @ Bald Eagle Area | 50 – 79 | 1 – 3 |
12/21 | @ Bellefonte | 51-50 2ot | 2 – 3 |
@ PL Lions Club Tourney | |||
12/27 | vs. Harmony | 41 – 48 | 2 – 4 |
12/28 | vs. Purchase Line |