HYDE — Two nights after the Clearfield Lady Bison had trouble on defense with the outside shooting of Tyrone, head coach Joey Castagnolo and his girls returned home hoping to forget the loss that lingered in their minds. On the opposite side of the court were the blue and white colors of the visiting Lady Rams of Penns Valley.
From the opening tip, the Lady Bison seemed to be in sync with one another. Passes were hitting their marks, and their strength in the paint was evident.
It didn’t hurt that two of their starters ended the night in double figures. Both Dakota Farmery and Brianna Peters hit double digits in points and rebounds as at the end of the game, the Lady Bison were on the better side of the scoreboard in a 49-39 triumph.
Castagnolo afterward was extremely happy of his senior center.
“Dakota played great inside tonight. She had a nice jump shot, she used the glass nicely…she dominated offensively and defensively,” Castagnolo said.
It was evident as Farmery led all scoring with 27 points, but made it a stronger night by pulling down 12 rebounds. Not to be outdone, Peters herself had a strong night, putting up 10 points and 10 rebounds, despite having some difficulty down the stretch.
Castagnolo made a big point about being calm, and having his team take their time when they had the ball.
“At Tyrone, I think we got too quick, and that led them to do some outside shooting. Tonight, we took our time, made good passes, and made the shots,” Castagnolo said.
Clearfield started the night strong, as after just one quarter of play the Lady Bison held a 15-5 advantage. The Lady Rams were in foul trouble early entering the second quarter, as the team had seven fouls and would give Clearfield the chance to go to the line at each opportunity in the eight minutes before halftime. But Penns Valley began coming back in the second quarter, pulling to within one midway in the period.
“In the second quarter, they started to make some shots and we got lazy on defense. So, at halftime, I changed my defense and you saw in the second half, #3 (Ashley Struble) couldn’t get a shot off,” Castagnolo said.
Struble would score nine of her team-high 14 points in the second quarter, but went 0-for-5 in the second half, scoring her final three points from the line.
“Really, the turning point to me was the fact that they didn’t score their first points of the second half till four minutes into the third quarter. When you can hold a team scoreless for that long, it’s a game changer,” Castagnolo said.
In fact, Penns Valley would only hit six total field goals in the entire second half, with three coming from Kelsey Boone in the fourth quarter, all in the paint.
In the end, Castagnolo was proud of his girls, and didn’t want to give credit to just Farmery and Peters. Instead, he gave credit to the team for understanding that it’s a team effort.
“It doesn’t matter who scores, and the girls know that. You know, last game, Brianna’s stats were high, while Dakota didn’t have as many. Then you come to tonight, where everyone contributed. And that’s teamwork, and that’s what I was proud about tonight,” Castagnolo said.
The Lady Bison did not fair as well in the junior varsity game that opened the night as they fell 27-17.
Next week, Clearfield (4-7) will play at Central Mountain on Monday, then travel to rival Philipsburg-Osceola on Wednesday, and host St. Marys on Friday. All games are a 6 p.m. tip for the junior varsity game, with the varsity contest to follow.
See photos of the game here: http://www.ladybisonsports.org/lbsbball011113.html
SCORE BY QUARTERS
Penns Valley 5 15 8 11 – 39
Clearfield 15 13 12 9 – 49
Penns Valley — 39
Ripka 1 1-2 4, Struble 5 2-6 14, Jones 0 0-0 0, Wasson 0 0-0 0, Swartz 1 1-2 3, Kocher 1 0-0 2, M. Ironside 0 0-0 0, Emel 2 0-0 4, Houser 0 2-4 2, Boone 4 0-2 8, C. Ironside 1 0-0 2. Totals 15 6-16 39.
Clearfield — 49
Castagnolo 0 0-0 0, Ryan 0 0-0 0, Renaud 2 2-3 6, Munshower 1 0-1 2, Farmery 12 3-4 27, Aveni 1 0-1 2, D. Ireland 0 0-0 0, Peters 3 4-6 10, Ishman 0 0-1 0, V. Ireland 0 0-0 0. Totals 20 9-16 49
Field Goal Shooting: PV-15/49 CF-20/43
Team Rebounds: PV-21 CF-30
Turnovers: PV-20 CF-22
Team Fouls: PV-18 CF-16
Three-Point Shots: PV-Struble, Ripka; CF-None
Lady Bison Scoreboard:
| Date | Opponent | Score | Record |
| @ Brookville Tip-Off Tourney | |||
| 12/07 | Clarion-Limestone | 36-54 | 0 – 1 |
| 12/08 | North Clarion | 41 – 36 | 1 – 1 |
| 12/12 | CENTRAL | 25 – 57 | 1 – 2 |
| 12/14 | @ Huntingdon | 34 – 51 | 1 – 3 |
| 12/17 | PUNXSUTAWNEY | 29 – 39 | 1 – 4 |
| 12/19 | BALD EAGLE AREA | 38 – 67 | 1 – 5 |
| 12/21 | BELLEFONTE | 44 – 39 | 2 – 5 |
| 12/27 | CURWENSVILLE | 60 – 52 | 3 – 5 |
| 01/04 | @ Punxsutawney | 30 – 46 | 3 – 6 |
| 01/09 | @ Tyrone | 49 – 60 | 3 – 7 |
| 01/11 | PENNS VALLEY | 49 – 39 | 4 – 7 |
| 01/14 | @ Central Mountain |