HYDE — There has been no question that the Lady Bison of Clearfield have not experienced the best season for the 2014-2015 campaign. It has not been due to lack of effort, or passion; but it has been for the most part the difficulty of their schedule. Entering Wednesday night’s contest against the Lady Eagles of Bald Eagle Area, Clearfield had two wins on the season with just one in Mountain League play.
To say a win was needed was a mild understatement, unlike the temperatures outside the Bison Gymnasium.
On a frigid winter’s night, the Lady Bison fulfilled that need. At times it wasn’t the most glorious of efforts, but Clearfield was able to put together a complete game, and would look to the scoreboard at the end of 32 minutes and see them achieve victory with a 45-31 triumph over Bald Eagle.
Afterward, head coach Joey Castagnolo was both relieved and proud to see his team on the winning side of the score.
“We’ve played some tough teams. We had Punxsutawney twice, Brookville, Tyrone; to be 2-3 in our league right now, I’m happy,” he said. “It was needed.”
It was not the most glorious game for either side of the ball, as the turnovers would mount up early and often. Combined, the Lady Eagles and Lady Bison had 56 turnovers on the night. However, a major factor that hampered Bald Eagle Area’s effort was shooting.
All night long the Lady Eagles had difficult looks, but even some of the better shots would not go in the basket. Bald Eagle would end the night with just nine field goals as a team, only shooting 20 percent from the floor. The Lady Bison almost doubled that amount as a team, but to Castagnolo, the big shot difference came when one of his girls went to the line.
“The difference was, we made foul shots. This year, we’ve only been shooting 43 percent from the foul line as a team, and I’ve been pretty upset about that. Tonight, we concentrated, and in the first half that was the big difference.
“I thought we played some nice defense too.”
Clearfield would go 11-for-16 at the line.
Leading all scoring was Clearfield’s Rachel Glenny, who would finish the night with a double-double, putting down 15 points and grabbing 10 rebounds, many of which were on the offensive side of the court and led to some put-back points. Mary Ishman and Emily Ryan each would add nine points, while Emily Aveni accounted for eight boards as well.
Bald Eagle’s highest scorers, Julia Cingle, Morgan Chambers and Alyssa Ward, each accounted for six points a piece.
For Clearfield, the first half was strong despite having turnovers. Entering halftime, the Lady Bison held a 26-11 advantage, and were in high spirits, especially with Ishman hitting a quick jump shot just before the buzzer. Despite the lead, Castagnolo still wanted to keep the team focused and not simply play not to lose, but instead play to win.
“Everyone was upbeat. I said to them we still have two quarters, and we always seem to have that bad quarter. We just need to play four balanced quarters, and we’ll be fine,” he said. “When we started the third, I had to call a couple time outs, get ourselves straightened out. We only had six points, but it was not as bad as it could have been.”
The Lady Eagles came out strong from the break, scoring seven straight points to cut down the lead, but the home squad was not to be denied as they would not lose the lead at any point on the night, the first time they would lead from the opening tip to the final horn.
To open the night, the jayvee squad picked up the victory in a low-scoring 28-17 contest.
In the end for Castagnolo, it may not have been the best performance for his team this year, but one thing mattered after it was over: they got the victory.
“This year, it hasn’t been as much the turnovers as it has been the missed shots,” he said. “Overall, it’s a win. I know we did not play well, but we still won.”
Clearfield (3-8) is on the road this upcoming Friday night as they travel to face Penns Valley. They return to their home court next Tuesday to face off with rival Philipsburg-Osceola.
SCORE BY QUARTERS
Bald Eagle Area 6 5 9 11 – 31
Clearfield 12 14 6 13 – 45
Bald Eagle Area 31
Griedroc 0 2-4 2, J. Cingle 2 0-0 6, M. Cingle 2 1-2 5, Weller 1 0-0 2, Watkins 0 0-0 0, Chambers 0 6-10 6, McCaslin 0 0-0 0, Ward 2 2-4 6, Bucha 0 0-0 0, McCauley 0 0-0 0, 2 0-1 4. TOTALS 9 11-23 31
Clearfield 45
Castagnolo 2 0-0 4, Cline 0 0-0 0, Ryan 4 1-3 9, Lindstrom 1 0-0 2, Waring 0 0-1 0, Riddell 0 0-0 0, Rockmore 3 0-0 6, Aveni 0 0-0 0, Glenny 5 5-6 15, Ishman 2 5-6 9, Boal 0 0-0 0. TOTALS 17 11-16 45
GAME STATISTICS
Bald Eagle Area/Clearfield
Field Goals Made-Attempted: 9-45/17-59
Team Fouls: 18/15
Rebounds: 26/32
Turnovers: 32/24
Three-Point Shots: J. Cingle (2)/None
Lady Bison Scoreboard:
| Date | Opponent | Score | Record |
| @ Brookville Tip-off Tourney | |||
| 12/05 | vs. Northern Clarion | 25 – 43 | 0 – 1 |
| 12/06 | Clarion-Limestone | 63 – 40 | 1 – 1 |
| 12/10 | @ Central | 38 – 57 | 1 – 2 |
| 12/12 | HUNTINGDON | 25 – 37 | 1 – 3 |
| 12/15 | PUNXSUTAWNEY | 43 – 57 | 1 – 4 |
| 12/16 | BELLEFONTE | 49-47 2ot | 2 – 4 |
| 12/19 | @ Tyrone | 45 – 73 | 2 – 5 |
| 12/22 | @ Brookville | 31 – 70 | 2 – 6 |
| 12/29 | CURWENSVILLE | 40 – 66 | 2 – 7 |
| 01/05 | @ Punxsutawney | 34 – 63 | 2 – 8 |
| 01/07 | BALD EAGLE AREA | 45 – 31 | 3 – 8 |
| 01/09 | @ Penns Valley | ||
| 01/13 | PHILIPSBURG-OSCEOLA | ||
| 01/16 | ST. MARYS | ||
| 01/21 | CENTRAL | ||
| 01/23 | @ Huntingdon | ||
| 01/27 | @ Bellefonte | ||
| 01/30 | TYRONE | ||
| 02/04 | @ Bald Eagle Area | ||
| 02/06 | PENNS VALLEY | ||
| 02/10 | @ Philipsburg-Osceola | ||
| 02/13 | @ Curwensville |