HYDE — Sometimes when things don’t go a team’s way, it’s often hard to come back from such odds. The Clearfield Bison basketball team (3-5) had that experience Friday night inside the Arthur J. Weiss Gymnasium when the Punxsutawney Chucks paid them a visit.
From the opening tip, the pace was fast, and both squads were pushing themselves to the limit. But, from the early first quarter until the final buzzer, the Bison found themselves in a deep hole, one that seemed to be getting deeper. Shots that usually would hit the bottom of the net were bouncing off the rim, and rebounds were not coming on either side of the court. Meanwhile, the Chucks used their size to their advantage, putting up points left and right.
At the end of 32 minutes of play, there was never a doubt as to who would be victorious. The Bison simply were out-performed on this night as the Chucks cruised to a 69-31 victory.
“If I thought there were two teams that were really going to be tough on our schedule, it would be Punxsy and Bald Eagle,” head coach Forrest Campman said in the locker room. “They put out there three guys that are over 6′ 2″ and play very well inside. Then, they have (Brandon) Mancuso that is probably the best shooter in class AAA, a very good ball player and started as a sophomore.”
But, Campman, as well, was critical of his squad for their play, especially when it came to rebounds, both offensively and defensively.
“It just seemed like they (Punxsutawney) didn’t shoot very well, however; they were getting every offensive rebound,” Campman said. The Chucks did out-rebound the Bison 19-11, however nearly 70 percent of those rebounds came after their own missed shots, and the put back baskets would go in.
Mancuso had a strong night, leading all scorers with 19 points. He and both Cory Geer and Tyler Young would make double-digits, with each adding 13 points.
Meanwhile, the Bison had one tough night shooting the ball. Each player had the form, whether they were on the floor or in the paint, but the baskets were never going in. Clearfield only shot 28% on the night, and went only 4-9 at the foul line. The team also got into foul trouble in the second half, and very early at that. In the fourth quarter, while going for a rebound, Trey Jordan went down hard on his arm, but got up while teammate John Janocko got the put-back.
However, because he was slow to get up, the referees called a stoppage, wanting him to go out. Unfortunately, Jordan didn’t agree with the call, as the physical play was starting to get the best of him. This led to a “whatever” type gesture and the referee was right there to call the technical foul. It would lead to a couple free throws by Geer, and also would be Jordan’s fifth foul of the game, ending his night. Still, he led the team with 17 points.
“Trey kind of lost his head there late in the game, but leading up to that point I think he played the best game he ever has for me in his two years here,” Campman said.
The problem was, his supporting cast didn’t put up similar numbers. Two of the team’s top scorers on a normal night for Clearfield, Christian Lezzer and Seth Beardsley, were shut out on the night, going 0-14 from the floor.
“You can’t beat anybody when you’re 0-14 from the floor. So we have one kid score 17 of 31, and our next two scorers just didn’t score. You’re gonna have a hard time, especially when Christian put up 20 and 15 in the last tournament, and has double figures in each game, and then tonight puts up a goose egg.
“It’s disappointing because we had a big crowd tonight, and we usually do on Friday nights here, and I knew Punxsy would be half-decent. They played well, we didn’t play well. We were concerned about offensive rebounds, not giving them to them, and we did. We needed to make open shots…we didn’t.”
The Bison also fell in the junior varsity contest, 39-29.
Clearfield has an opportunity to get back on the winning side of things as they will continue their homestand with back-to-back contests next week, something that Campman is happy with.
“The thing about basketball is we have 22 games, and the best way to forget about a bad game is to get back at it, and we have a practice Saturday at 8 a.m. and then two home contests to start the week, and it gets things going when you can turn around and play once more and put the bad game behind you,” Campman said.
The first home contest for Clearfield next week will be against Brookville on Monday night, tip off set at 6 p.m. for the jv contest. The varsity squad will take the hardwood at approximately 7:30.
SCORE BY QUARTERS
Punxsutawney 17 14 18 20 – 69
Clearfield 9 3 10 9 – 31
Punxsutawney 69
Reed 0 0-0 0, Klingsensmith 0 1-2 1, Young 4 3-3 13, Nicholson 3 2-2 8, Dale 0 0-0 0, Matthews 1 0-0 2, Geer 5 3-3 13, Zimmerman 3 1-1 7, Mancuso 5 7-8 19, Burkett 0 0-0 0, Taylor 0 0-0 0, Fedigan 0 1-1 1, Blose 0 0-0 0, Minich 1 0-0 2, Curtis 1 1-1 3. Totals 23 19-21 69.
Clearfield 31
Climie 0 0-0 0, Lezzer 0 0-2 0, Ford 0 0-0 0, Herrington 0 0-0 0, Beardsley 0 0-0 0, Sellers 1 0-0 2, Wester 2 0-0 4, Jordan 7 2-5 17, Janocko 3 2-2 8, Jones 0 0-0 0, Taylor 0 0-0 0, Brown 0 0-0 0, Hryn 0 0-0 0. Totals 12 4-9 31.
Field Goal Shooting: PY-23/50 CF-12/43
Team Rebounds: PY-19 CF-11
Team Fouls: PY-15 CF-22
Turnovers: PY-13 CF-15
Three-Point Shooting: PY-Young (2), Mancuso (3). CF-Jordan
Technical Fouls: Jordan
Foul-Outs: Jordan
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 | 85 – 63 | 3 – 4 |
| 01/04 | PUNXSUTAWNEY | 31 – 69 | 3 – 5 |
| 01/07 | BROOKVILLE | ||
| 01/08 | TYRONE |