HYDE — Many times, records mean nothing when rivals tangle; but the Clearfield Area High School boys basketball team wasn’t about to allow the Curwensville Golden Tide end a disappointing season on a high note Monday night.
The Bison charged out of the chute and stampeded to an 18-3 lead in the first seven minutes and generated two more big runs in the second and third quarters en route to a 64-36 non-league victory in Bison Gym.
“One team came ready to play and one didn’t,” Curwensville coach Shane Pentz stated matter-of- factly. “That was pretty apparent almost from the opening tip.
“We just weren’t ready for their aggressiveness.”
Clearfield coach Nate Glunt, a Curwensville alum, was a bit apprehensive because the Bison were going against their backyard rivals on the heels of a three-week stretch of eight games that included three narrow wins and tough losses in two of their last three outings.
“We’ve had some big games, and to keep your mental focus game after game is a challenge, but I think the kids came out and played pretty well in the first quarter,” he said. “We set the pace. We were running the way we like to run.”
The Golden Tide was unable to cope with the Bison’s in-your-face man defense and transition offense after Alex Hill opened the scoring with a short jumper.
Clearfield recorded the next 18 points with Cody Spaid, Tommy Hazel, Will Myers and Evan Brown knocking down three-pointers. Spaid also powered his way to the hoop twice in logging seven of his game-high and career-high 20 points.
“Cody set the tone,” Glunt said. “He played like he was 6-7. He was physical and got the shots inside he wanted to shoot, not the shots they wanted him to shoot.
“I don’t mind him shooting three-pointers if he’s able to get the shots that he wants inside. When that happens, the whole defense collapses. Now, the other guys get their shots.”
And the Bison never let up until after the Mercy Rule was invoked when Spaid sunk his second trey from outside to make it 60-18 with 3:37 left in the third period.
Glunt credited “excellent ball pressure” as the key factor in limiting Curwensville to just three points in the first and third periods.
The Bison cashed fast breaks and spot-on passes for great looks into runs of 15 points in the second quarter and 16 points in the third quarter en route to the 62-18 cushion that resulted from 50 percent shooting.
“We ran the floor well and played excellent team basketball,” Glunt said. “I thought the kids passed the ball really well. They were really unselfish and found the open man. There’s a reason why you make shots like that, because they’re good shots.”
Glunt emptied the bench early in the fourth quarter, and Curwensville was able to make the final score more respectable with 18 points, Trey Rauckhorst working inside for six of his team-high 10 points.
The Golden Tide, which shot only 29.4 percent from the floor and was outrebounded by a two-to-one margin, finished a disappointing 6-16.
“We had more talent than our record shows,” Pentz said. “We had three overtime losses. We had another one at the buzzer. And we actually had two more where we lost by single digits and we shot less than 25 percent from the foul line.
“Those six games really defined our season.”
Rauckhorst, Alex Hill, Harrison Bloom, Johnathan Miller, Dillon Davis and Foster Cannon played their last game for the Golden Tide.
“They put a lot of time and effort into the program, and I want to thank them and wish them luck in the future,” Pentz said.
Myers had 12 points for the 18-3 Bison, who will be back on their home hardwood Tuesday night for their Mountain League finale against Philipsburg-Osceola.
In the prelim, Carter Wood scored 15 points and Caleb Strouse added 10 as the Clearfield junior varsity notched a 57-38 win. Quamone Newkirk and Zach Marshall tallied 13 and 10 points, respectively, for the Curwensville jayvees.
CURWENSVILLE — 36
Noah Strickland 1 0-0 3, Jake Terry 1 0-0 2, Trey Rauckhorst 4 2-2 10, Harrison Bloom 1 0-0 2, Alex Hill 4 0-0 8, Johnathan Miller 0 0-0 0, Quamone Newkirk 2 1-3 6, Curtis Linsenbigler 1 0-0 3, Foster Cannon 0 0-0 0, Zach Marshall 1 0-0 2, Dillon Davis 0 0-0 0, Alex Opaliski 0 0-0 0, Sawyer Cannon 0 0-0 0. TOTALS: 15 3-5 36.
CLEARFIELD — 64
Eric Sellers 2 2-2 6, Will Myers 4 2-2 12, Cody Spaid 9 0-0 20, Tommy Hazel 4 0-1 9, David McKenzie 2 0-0 4, Evan Brown 3 0-0 8, Caleb Strouse 1 1-1 3, Carter Wood 1 0-0 2, Mason Royer 0 0-2 0, Reese Wilson 0 0-0 0, Micah Heichel 0 0-0 0, Jake Sorbera 0 0-0 0. TOTALS: 26 5-8 64.
Three-Point Field Goals – Curwensville 3 (Strickland, Newkirk, Linsenbigler); Clearfield 7 (Myers 2, Spaid 2, Hazel 1, Brown 2.).
Score by Quarters
Curwensville 3 12 3 18 – 36
Clearfield 18 26 18 2 – 64
Officials – Steve Searer, Jeff Heider and Derek Jones.