COMMODORE — Spurred by Most Valuable Player Tommy Hazel’s 29 points, the undefeated Clearfield Area High School basketball team continued its best start in years by holding off Bald Eagle Area 77-72 in an exciting championship game for the 36th annual Purchase Line Lions Club Holiday Tournament Tuesday night.
Hazel peppered the Eagles’ zone defense for seven three-pointers and three teammates also cracked double figures as the Bison outlasted their Mountain League rivals for their eighth win after leading by 10 points going to the fourth quarter.
Erik Sellers and Evan Brown contributed 15 points apiece and Cody Spaid added a double-double with 10 points and 15 rebounds for the Bison, compensating for the absence of leading scorer Will Myers due to illness.
“We were up 10 at the half and up, at times, 15 points, and I thought we played well,” Clearfield coach Nate Glunt said. “BEA just played better in the second half and cut the lead to four points.
“It was fast tempo, a fun game to coach and a fun game to watch for a championship game in a Christmas tournament.”
Hazel did most of his damage from the left side of the Bison’s zone offense.
“BEA played a 3-2 in the first half and he was in the corner and they went to a 2-3 in the second half and he was on the wing,” Glunt said. “Tommy shot the ball well and played solid defense.”
Brown kept the Eagles honest out front with a trio of three-pointers.
“At one point, Evan made big back-to-back threes,” Glunt said. “And if they cheated out, we got the ball to Erik or Cody, and they scored inside.”
Sellers and Brown joined Hazel on the all-tournament team as the Bison claimed the championship trophy for the eighth time in 12 appearances.
Bald Eagle Area (4-3) had two all-tourney selections in guards Brandon Gettig and Trey Butterworth, who scored 23 and 21 points, respectively.
Jason Jones had 15 points for the Eagles, who were seeking a three-peat.
The Bison and Eagles will go at it again Tuesday in an important Mountain League duel on BEA’s hardwood.
Rounding out the all-tourney team were Purchase Line‘s Eric and Zach Faught and Harmony‘s Logan Sral. The host Red Dragons defeated the Owls 44-33 in the consolation game.
CLEARFIELD — 77
Erik Sellers 7 1-2 15, Cody Spaid 5 0-1 10, Tommy Hazel 10 2-2 29, David McKenzie 2 2-7 6,
Evan Brown 5 2-2 15, Cory Shimmel 1 0-2 2, Carter Wood 0 0-0 0, Caleb Strouse 0 0-0 0. TOTALS: 30 7-14 77.
BALD EAGLE AREA — 72
Trey Butterworth 8 5-7 21, Brandon Gettig 9 3-3 4 23, Jason Jones 5 2-2 15, Noah Chambers 2 0-0 4, A.J. Onder 3 0-0 6, Josh Wetzel 1 1-2 3. TOTALS: 28 11-14 72.
Three-Point Field Goals – Clearfield 10 (Hazel 7, Brown 3); Bald Eagle Area 5 (Getting 2, Jones 3).
Score by Quarters:
Clearfield 22 19 23 13 – 77
Bald Eagle Area 16 15 23 18 – 72
Bison Scoreboard:
| Date | Opponent | Score | Record |
| 12/09 | CENTRAL | 54 – 50 | 1 – 0 |
| 12/12 | @ Huntingdon | 73 – 64 | 2 – 0 |
| 12/15 | @ Curwensville | 71 – 40 | 3 – 0 |
| 12/17 | @ Bellefonte | 53 – 31 | 4 – 0 |
| 12/19 | TYRONE | 79 – 61 | 5 – 0 |
| 12/22 | PUNXSUTAWNEY | 57 – 47 | 6 – 0 |
| Purchase Line Tourney | |||
| 12/29 | vs. Purchase Line | 67 – 42 | 7 – 0 |
| 12/30 | vs. Bald Eagle Area | 77 – 72 | 8 – 0 |
| 01/06 | @ Bald Eagle Area | ||
| 01/07 | @ Brookville | ||
| 01/09 | PENNS VALLEY | ||
| 01/14 | @ Philipsburg-Osceola | ||
| 01/16 | @ St. Marys | ||
| 01/19 | @ DuBois | ||
| 01/21 | @ Central | ||
| 01/23 | HUNTINGDON | ||
| 01/28 | BELLEFONTE | ||
| 01/30 | @ Tyrone | ||
| 02/03 | BALD EAGLE AREA | ||
| 02/06 | @ Penns Valley | ||
| 02/09 | CURWENSVILLE | ||
| 02/11 | PHILIPSBURG-OSCEOLA |