TYRONE – With sole possession of first place in the Mountain League on the line, the Tyrone boys basketball squad took down the Clearfield Bison Friday night, 47-42, on the Golden Eagles’ home court.
Tyrone is now 14-2 overall and 9-1 in league play while Clearfield stands at 16-2 on the season and 9-2 in Mountain League action.
The Bison had defeated Tyrone in their first encounter, back on December 19 at Clearfield, 79-61.
Clearfield jumped out to a 3-0 lead on a Will Myers three-pointer that came at 5:38 of the first period after a scoreless start for almost two and half minutes.
Tyrone didn’t get its first points of the opening period until Tristan Lingafelt also drained a three-pointer with just 2:57 to go before period number two.
Clearfield would close out the first eight minutes on a 7-0 run to take a 10-5 margin into the second frame.
The Golden Eagles would cut the lead at the half by one, to trail 25-21,as they outscored Clearfield 16-15 in the second period.
Myers did all he could do in the second eight minutes as the sophomore connected on three treys and dumped in 12 points in the period overall.
The second half didn’t start well for the visiting Bison, as 6’ 7” junior, Cody Spaid, went to the Clearfield bench very early in the third period with four personals. Spaid picked up his third personal at the 7:43 mark, and just 16 seconds later, added his fourth.
With no big man presence in the middle without Spaid, Clearfield was outscored in the third stanza by their hosts 16-7 which gave the Golden Eagles a 37-32 lead heading into the final period. Tyrone started the second half on a 10-0 run.
Evan Brown hit a three-point shot at the buzzer at the end of the third period to keep Clearfield to within five points.
Tyrone scored the first bucket in the fourth period to go in front 39-32, but Clearfield would answer with seven straight points thanks to five, including a trey, from Tommy Hazel and a basket by Erik Sellers that knotted the score at 39-39.
Sellers would tie the game at 40-40 with a free throw and just 2:12 left in the battle for first place.
It would be the last time Clearfield would be tied or lead in the game.
Golden Eagle Nathan Soellner fired in a three-pointer with 1:45 left and that was followed by a basket from Preston Mitchell to push Tyrone in front for good at 45-40.
Myers hit two free throws for Clearfield to make it 45-42 Tyrone with 19 ticks left on the clock before the Eagles would ice the game at the line with two free throws of their own.
Myers lead all scorers with 21 points, which included four buckets from beyond the arc.
Tyrone had three players in double figures in Anthony Politza leading the way with 13 tallies followed by Lingafelt scoring 11 and Nathan Soellner adding 10.
The Tyrone JV squad won the first game of the evening, beating the Bison 41-35.
Clearfield will be at home for its next game, on Tuesday night, against Bald Eagle Area, with junior varsity action starting at 6 pm and the varsity to immediately follow.
The Bison have beaten Bald Eagle Area twice this season, 77-72, in the Purchase Line Christmas Tournament and 79-56 on January 6.
CLEARFIELD – 42
Erik Sellers 2 1-3 5, David McKenzie 0 0-0 0, Tommy Hazel 3 0-1 7, Cody Spaid 1 1-2 3, Will Myers 4 9-13 21, Evan Brown 2 0-0 6, Caleb Strouse 0 0-0 0, TOTALS 12 11-19 42
TYRONE – 47
Blake Brooks 2 3-4 7, Shane Geis 0 0-1 0, Nathaniel Soellner 4 0-1 10, Tristan Lingafelt 3 4-7 11, Anthony Politza 6 1-2 13, Preston Mitchell 3 0-2 6, Dylan Thomas 0 0-0 0, Zach Soellner 0 0-0 0, Parker Mitchell 0 0-0 0, Michael Lewis 0 0-0 0, Noel Politza 0 0-0 0, TOTALS – 18 8-17 47
SCORE BY QUARTERS:
CLEARFIELD 10 15 7 10 42
TYRONE 5 16 16 10 47
THREE-POINTERS: Myers 4, Brown 2, Hazel; N. Soellner 2, Lingafelt
OFFICIALS: Tim Hite, Larry Stitt, Doug Moore
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 |
| 12/29&30 | 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 | 79 – 56 | 9 – 0 |
| 01/07 | @ Brookville | 53 – 45 | 10 – 0 |
| 01/09 | PENNS VALLEY | ppd. | 10 – 0 |
| 01/12 | PENNS VALLEY | 49 – 61 | 10 – 1 |
| 01/14 | @ Philipsburg-Osceola | 64 – 27 | 11 – 1 |
| 01/16 | @ St. Marys | 66 – 62 | 12 – 1 |
| 01/19 | @ DuBois | 53 – 49 | 13 – 1 |
| 01/21 | @ Central | ppd. | 13 – 1 |
| 01/22 | @ Central | 44 – 25 | 14 – 1 |
| 01/23 | HUNTINGDON | 59 – 41 | 15 – 1 |
| 01/28 | BELLEFONTE | 53 – 28 | 16 – 1 |
| 01/30 | @ Tyrone | 42 – 47 | 16 – 2 |
| 02/03 | BALD EAGLE AREA | ||
| 02/06 | @ Penns Valley | ||
| 02/09 | CURWENSVILLE | ||
| 02/11 | PHILIPSBURG-OSCEOLA |