HYDE — A fast-paced basketball game usually means that baskets come quickly, the game doesn’t last very long, and there’s not much time to get caught up and catch one’s breath. The Arthur J. Weiss Gymnasium hosted that kind of game on Friday night.
With the crowd at a fever pitch thanks to the weekend beginning, the Clearfield Bison took to the court ready for battle. Their opposition was the Red Raiders of Bellefonte, whom shortly before the Christmas break fell to Clearfield in double-overtime by a single point.
From the opening tip, the pace was fast, as both teams were going back and forth trying to get the upper hand on one another. Clearfield would fall behind early in the game, finding a double-digit gap with minutes left in the first quarter. But they pushed the pace in the second quarter, pulling into the lead, and looked to keep the Red Raiders on their heels.
Unfortunately, with that fast pace, the Bison seemed to become tired rather quickly. In the second half, shots weren’t falling, the players made some untimely turnovers, and the Red Raiders took full advantage. At the end of 32 minutes, Bellefonte would avenge their loss from December, downing Clearfield in a hard-fought 49-41 contest.
“Obviously we started the game, didn’t cover well and they made some shots. I thought we played great defense in the second quarter to get back in it,” Bison head coach Forrest Campman said outside the locker room. “I think all the energy of going across the court, playing basically six guys to cover the ocean out there made it difficult.
“In the second half, we just got tired.”
Bellefonte started the night on an 8-0 run, forcing an early timeout by Campman, but at that time he decided to speed up the game, press the defense and it got the Bison back into it. By the end of the first quarter, the score was cut to 14-9. The second quarter, though, belonged to Clearfield. Not only were they pushing the ball down the court, but when Bellefonte was making shots, the team was right there for the rebounds. The leader in boards was Jon Janocko, ending the night with nine rebounds plus five points.
The Bison were feeding off the energy of two three-point buckets by Seth Beardsley, and by the time the halftime buzzer sounded, the Bison saw their five-point gap become a two-point lead.
But after halftime, it seemed like the energy that was used up to get the lead seemed to fade. Easy shots were not going in and turnovers began costing Clearfield.
Campman saw a similar situation in the first game as well, which led to his game plan for Friday’s contest.
“In the first game, we came out slow and got down 11-2 and battled back. The kid that helped them that did not play that night but was a big contributor here was their point guard (Kashim Buey),” Campman said. “He didn’t get any points, but he didn’t play stupid with the ball. What you saw was we got the pace going fast out there.
“Tonight, we needed the pace to be a little helter-skelter out there because they were trying to keep things slower, and obviously make us work hard defensively. You’re in that dilemma defensively where you have to chase, otherwise they’re going to just hold the ball.”
Beardsley would only get two more shots in the second half, both being threes, and led the team with 12 points. But it was Mike Jabco of Bellefonte that took charge in the scoring department after halftime.
Jabco would not miss a field goal the remainder of the game, going six for six in the second half. His only misses came on two free throws, as he ended the night with a game high 19 points. Buey would nearly get into double digits himself, ending the night with nine assists.
Clearfield lost the lead in the third quarter, but kept the score close into the fourth, but then the tired offense could not keep up, as turnovers and mistakes made up the final eight minutes.
“It was hard for us to keep that pace. We basically have just six guys to put on the varsity floor, and when you’re placing a fast pace like that, it’s hard to do,” Campman said. “We’re not that big, so we try to pack it back in and win it defensively, and we just ran out of gas. When they went to that matchup where they’re double teaming, we just started to panic.”
To start off the night, the jayvee squad had an exciting contest that went into overtime. The Bison would pull out that win via a final of 37-36.
Clearfield (5-12) has two games next week as they will be on the road to face the Golden Eagles of Tyrone on Wednesday night, and then the final home contest of the season is next Friday when Clearfield hosts Penns Valley.
See photos of the game here: http://www.ladybisonsports.org/lbsbball020113.html
SCORE BY QUARTERS
Bellefonte 14 6 14 15 – 49
Clearfield 9 13 9 10 – 41
Bellefonte 49
Leiger 3 1-2 7, Buey 0 0-1 0, Grasser 3 0-0 6, Stover 2 0-0 5, Weaver 0 0-0 0, Light 4 2-3 12, Jabco 8 3-5 19. Totals 20 6-11 49.
Clearfield 41
Lezzer 1 2-2 5, Ford 1 0-0 3, Herrington 0 0-0 0, Beardsley 4 0-0 12, Westen 3 3-3 9, Jordan 3 1-4 7, Janocko 2 1-2 5, Brown 0 0-0 0. Totals 15 7-11 41.
Field Goals: BF-20/36 CF-15/46
Rebounds: BF-17 CF-20
Team Fouls: BF-8 CF-14
Turnovers: BF-19 CF-11
Three-Point Baskets: BF-Stover, Light (2); CF-Lezzer, Ford, Beardsley (4)
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 | 42 – 43 | 3 – 6 |
01/08 | TYRONE | 52 – 61 | 3 – 7 |
01/11 | @ Penns Valley | 23 – 44 | 3 – 8 |
01/15 | PHILIPSBURG-OSCEOLA | 47 – 49 | 3 – 9 |
01/18 | @ St. Marys | 53 – 49 | 4 – 9 |
01/21 | @ DuBois | 21 – 49 | 4 – 10 |
01/23 | CENTRAL | 56 – 43 | 5 – 10 |
01/25 | @ Huntingdon | ppd. | 5 – 10 |
01/28 | @ Huntingdon | ppd. | 5 – 10 |
01/30 | BALD EAGLE AREA | 26 – 68 | 5 – 11 |
02/01 | BELLEFONTE | 41 – 49 | 5 – 12 |
02/06 | @ Tyrone | ||
02/08 | PENNS VALLEY | ||
02/11 | @ Curwensville | ||
02/12 | @ Philipsburg-Osceola | ||
02/14 | @ Huntingdon |