Lady Bison Show Improvement But Fall to Punxsutawney

HYDE — There was little rest for the Lady Bison basketball squad of Clearfield (1-4), who just three days ago were on the court against Huntingdon.  With very little time to practice and prepare, head coach Joey Castagnolo had to get his team ready for one of its toughest opponents of the year, as it would be the Lady Chucks of Punxsutawney coming to the Bison Gymnasium for battle.

The home team came out swinging, and stayed tough for 32 minutes of play.  But, it was still not enough as the visiting squad was going hard and fast from the opening tip, making less mistakes, and capitalizing on the ones that Clearfield made, leading to a 57-43 victory for Punxsutawney.

“All those kids, even from the bench, they played their hearts out.  We played the best team and we only lost by 14, but I’m real pleased,” Castagnolo said afterward.

Early on, both teams were keeping within a couple baskets of one another, with Clearfield being down just two after one quarter, and only eight at halftime.  However, coming out of the break, it’s like the Lady Bison suddenly pulled a parachute.  In the third quarter, the team came out flat, with only one basket coming in eight minutes of play.  On the opposing side of the court, Punxsutawney capitalized on 10 turnovers by Clearfield, leading to 13 points.

To Castagnolo, much like Friday night’s game against Huntingdon, it was that one quarter that caused the team to lose steam.

“Last game it was the first quarter, this one was the third quarter,” Castagnolo said.  “Things got a little haywire in the third quarter with Maggie (Sopic) getting hurt.  Then we had some mental lapses, cost us some turnovers.”

Sopic going down in the third quarter hurt Clearfield as she is one of their starters, and it was tough to replace the size and mobility she gave the team.  Emily Ryan did her part to make up for it in the final quarter, scoring nine of her team-high 13 points in the frame, while also accounting for five assists.

Rachel Glenny would lead the team in rebounds with nine.

Punxsutawney would have a strong run in the first half, scoring 16 points in each of the first two quarters, and then started playing the clock in the second half when they were up by double digits.  Their biggest success was behind the arc as Alyssa Reitz, Anna Horner, Nicole Dipietro and Shaina Painter all hit three-point shots.  Jensen Constantino would lead all scoring with 15 points, while Emma White and Allie Fye tied with the most rebounds on the Lady Chucks with six each.

“The little things added up.  But we played hard, and left it all on the floor,” Castagnolo said.  “We’re playing really good teams.  We’ve played the best, and we’re giving everyone a game.”

In the opening junior varsity contest, it was a low-scoring affair that saw Punxustawney win, 20-13.

Despite dropping their last two games, Castagnolo feels that his team is improving.  The only thing the Lady Bison have not gotten a lot of in the beginning of the season is time to rest, and practice.

“I wish we had a break, but we got Bellefonte tomorrow,” Castagnolo said.

That game against the Lady Red Raiders will begin at 6 p.m. with the jayvee game, with the varsity contest to immediately follow.

SCORE BY QUARTER

Punxsutawney   16   16   13   12   –   57

Clearfield   14   10   2   17   –   43

Punxsutawney 57

Reitz 1 0-1 3, Ferko 0 0-0 0, Painter 2 0-0 5, Horner 5 0-0 12, Dipietro 3 0-0 9, Vanleer 0 0-0 0, Douverspike 0 0-0 0, WHite 2 0-0 4, Lunger 0 0-0 0, Constantino 6 3-6 15, Bridge 0 2-4 2, Fye 3 2-4 8.  TOTALS 22 7-15 57

Clearfield 43

Castagnolo 1 0-0 2, Cline 0 0-0 0, Ryan 3 7-8 13, Lindstrom 0 0-0 0, Waring 1 0-0 2, Riddell 0 0-0 0, Rockmore 2 0-0 4, Aveni 2 3-6 7, Sopic 1 0-0 2, Glenny 1 2-2 4, Ishman 4 1-2 9, Boal 0 0-0 0.  TOTALS 15 13-18 43

GAME STATISTICS
Punxsutawney/Clearfield

Field Goals Made-Attempted:  22-60/15-42

Team Fouls:  21/13

Rebounds:  21/30

Turnovers:  19/27

Three-Point Shots:  Reitz, Horner (2), Dipietro (3), Painter/NONE

Lady Bison Scoreboard: