HYDE — It was best quoted in the movie “The Replacements” where in sports, when you’re playing, you think things are going good, then one thing goes wrong, then another, and another. Unfortunately for the Lady Bison of Clearfield, that statement became a reality Friday night at the Arthur J. Weiss Gymnasium.
From the opening tip, things did not go as planned, and the harder the Lady Bison tried to fight back, it seemed like the hole kept getting bigger. Meanwhile, for the Lady Dutch of St. Marys, they kept pouring it on with each mistake.
At the end of the night, Clearfield would commit 38 turnovers, which would be their undoing at the end of the night in a 59-31 loss.
“I don’t know what it was tonight. I don’t know if we were really into the game, but the turnovers kept mounting, and the kids just kept losing their confidence,” head coach Joey Castagnolo said in a dejected tone. “We played so well against Philipsburg-Osceola and their pressure defense. But tonight, they made us look bad.”
Castagnolo was at a loss for words as St. Marys opened things up in the first quarter, finishing the first eight minutes with a 15-5 gap, and more importantly keeping Clearfield from shooting baskets, and the ones that did get off were not going in.
Brianna Peters would score the first five points for Clearfield, ending the night with nine, but only two coming in the second half. Her biggest teammate, and biggest threat offensively, Dakota Farmery had a team-high 14 points, but was a non-factor in the paint as she only pulled down three rebounds.
On the opposite side of the ball, Adair Gennocro had a spectacular night for St. Marys, putting in a game-high 17 points and adding in seven assists. 10 of her points came in the fourth quarter, all coming off Clearfield turnovers, and each being easy layups.
Castagnolo wasn’t making excuses for the effort, but did credit the Lady Dutch for the speed of which they played, which he said was a key factor in the loss.
“They were quick. I don’t know if we’ve faced that much speed in our league, but we should be able to adjust to that,” Castagnolo said. “The whole team was just flat. It wasn’t just one girl, it was the whole team.
“I just don’t understand it. We’ve been playing really well after the first of the year, and then tonight we came up with a stinker.”
The lone quarter the Lady Bison pulled close was in the third, as they erased a 13-point gap down to nine, but the Lady Dutch answered right back, as both Gennocro and Kiana Ho’ohuli poured on the points. Alongside Gennocro, DeAnna Yost, Rachel Krieg and Jackie Lenze all were in double figures, each with 10 points. Krieg led the team in rebounds with nine.
The Clearfield junior varsity squad did not fair much better as they would lose 30-22 to open the evening.
Clearfield (5-9) has a bit of a break before their next contest as they will travel Wednesday night to face the Lady Dragons of Central.
See photos of the game here: http://www.ladybisonsports.org/lbsbball011813.html
SCORE BY QUARTER
St. Marys 17 14 8 20 – 59
Clearfield 5 8 12 6 – 31
ST. MARYS— 59
Vollmer 0 0-0 0, Barackman 0 1-2 1, Gennocro 6 4-4 17, Yost 5 0-0 10, Daniels 1 0-0 2, Ho’ohuli 2 5-6 9, B. Krieg 0 0-0 0, R. Krieg 4 2-2 10, Bauer 0 0-0 0, Lenze 5 0-0 10. Totals 23 12-14 59.
CLEARFIELD — 31
Castagnolo 0 0-0 0, Ryan 0 0-0 0, Renaud 2 0-0 4, Munshower 0 0-0 0, Farmery 7 0-0 14, Aveni 0 0-0 0, Sopic 2 0-0 4, D. Ireland 0 0-0 0, Peters 4 1-1 9, Ishman 0 0-0 0, V. Ireland 0 0-0 0. Totals 17 1-1 31
Team Fouls: SM-9 CF-13
Rebounds: SM-22 CF-14
Turnovers: SM-30 CF-38
Three-Point Shots: SM-Gennocro
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 | 31 – 59 | 5 – 9 |
| 01/23 | @ Central |