PHILIPSBURG — Breanna Peters and Dakota Farmery combined for 47 of the 56 points the Clearfield Lady Bison girls basketball team needed to defeat Philipsburg-Osceola Wednesday night, 56-54, on the Lady Mounties’ home court.
With the two Bison inside players having their way, the Lady Mounties still put up an inspiring fight with three players hitting for double figures in the Philipsburg-Osceola loss, its first in six games.
For Clearfield, Peters dumped in 24 points while Farmery added 23. And for the Lady Mounties, Briana Rusnak had 17 with sophomore Abby Showers scoring 12, and freshman Haley Hayward adding 10.
The win gives Clearfield a 5-8 overall record and leaves the Lady Mounties, dropping one game below 500, at 6-7.
After the Mountain League battle Clearfield and Philipsburg-Osceola each now stand at 3-4 in league action.
The first eight minutes had both squads up by three points while fighting for the early upper hand, but it was Lady Mountie senior Briana Rusnak scoring the last two buckets of the opening quarter, giving her squad the lead, 16-14, going into the second period.
Rusnak and Peters each hit for six tallies for their respective teams in the opening frame.
The Lady Bison played their best quarter, the second, outscoring Philipsburg-Osceola 18-7 to take a 32-23 lead into the intermission. And it was Farmery becoming the focal point of the Clearfield offense, as the 6’3” senior dumped in 11 points in the second.
Clearfield guard Brittany Renuad drained a three pointer with 6:42 remaining in the second quarter to knot the score at 17-17, and when sophomore Emily Aveni scored with just a few seconds left in the third quarter, Farmery and Peters had scored the last 23 points for the victorious Lady Bison.
Philipsburg-Osceola would only cut the margin by one point at the end of third quarter, trailing 42-34 with just eight minutes left to play.
The biggest lead of the night for Clearfield was in the third when they pushed its margin to 11 points, two times (34-23 and 36-25), before the Lady Mounties started a comeback that would fall two tallies short.
A big fourth quarter would be what the home team needed, and the Lady Mounties delivered, outscoring Clearfield 20-14 to make for a very exciting finish. A finish that would be decided at the free throw line.
With Clearfield leading 52-49, and only 29 ticks left on the clock, Peters hit both ends of a one and one to give the Bison a five point edge, 54-49.
However a three point bomb off of the glass by Hayward gave the Mounties new life, and with just 14 seconds remaining the Clearfield lead was cut to 54-52.
Then came Farmery’s turn to stand at the charity stripe in a one and one situation. No problem, as the senior hit both shots to have Clearfield go back out in front, 56-52, with 11.2 seconds left in regulation.
Hayward would inch the Lady Mounties closer with two free throws of her own, with six seconds to go, but that would be it as the ball would not come to Philipsburg-Osceola again.
Clearfield was 13 of 16 from the free throw line. Peters was six of six, and Farmery was seven of eight.
“We beat a good Philipsburg-Osceola team tonight on its home court. They really scrap as a team and just keep coming at you,” said Clearfield head coach Joe Castagnolo afterwards.
The Bison coach continued, saying, “We played as a team this evening, and we played hard. Bri (Breanna Peters) and Dakota (Farmery) really made some clutch free throws in the finals seconds. I also thought we showed good defense, stopping Philipsburg from driving down the lane a lot, which they like to do.”
The Clearfield junior varsity team was victorious in the evening’s first game, beating the Lady Mounties 39-30. Victoria Ireland had 14 points and Emily Ryan 11 for the Lady Bison while Kate Nartatez scored 12 for Philipsburg-Osceola.
The Lady Bison are home on Friday when they scuffle with St. Marys. Junior Varsity action starts at 6 pm with the varsity to immediately follow.
See photos of the thriller here: http://www.ladybisonsports.org/lbsbball011613.html
CLEARFIELD — 56
Brittany Renaud 2 0-0 5, Tessa Munshower 1 0-2 2, Dakota Farmery 8 7-8 23, Maggie Sopic 0 0-0 0, Breanna Peters 9 6-6 24, Emily Aveni 1 0-0 2, Devynn Ireland 0 0-0 0, Victoria Ireland 0 0-0 0, Emily Ryan 0 0-0 0, TOTALS – 21 13-16 56.
PHILIPSBURG-OSCEOLA — 54
Alyssa Myers 3 0-0 6, Haley Hayward 3 2-3 10, McKenzie Burge 3 0-0 6, Abby Showers 4 2-4 12, Briana Rusnak 7 3-6 17, Katie Meersand 0 0-0 0, Cassidy Bauman 1 1-3 3, TOTALS – 21 8-16 54.
SCORE BY QUARTERS:
CLEARFIELD 14 18 10 14 56
PHILIPSBURG-OSCEOLA 16 7 11 20 54
THREE POINTERS: CLEARFIELD – 1, Renaud PHILIPSBURG-OSCEOLA – 4 Hayward 2, Showers 2
OFFICIALS: Jim Klausman, Brian Smith, Lynn Smith
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 | 41 – 45 | 4 – 8 |
| 01/16 | @ Philipsburg-Osceola | 56 – 54 | 5 – 8 |
| 01/18 | ST. MARYS |