Dominant Second Quarter Allows Clearfield to Pull Away for Win Over Bald Eagle

HYDE — One night ago the Bison cagers of Clearfield were able to follow up their Purchase Line Tournament victory with their ninth win of the season.  But there was no time to enjoy the victory, as it was only 24 hours until the next contest.  This time, the team on the opposite side of the court was the Bald Eagle Area Eagles.

No matter the opponent, the Bison seemed poised for the challenge, and on this night they would bring everything they had in their arsenal to the court.  It started early, and continued for 32 minutes.  Offensive rebounds, defensive rebounds, capitalizing on turnovers; no matter the situation, Clearfield had their opposition covered.  When all was said and done, the home squad showed dominance and strength as they achieved the 89-56 victory.

“It was a good game.  I thought our kids played really well,” head coach Nate Glunt said afterwards.  “”I have to give it to Bald Eagle, they are an excellent team, and the win tonight was a team effort.

“I thought Cody (Spaid) played probably his best game since early in the year.  Will (Myers) and Evan (Brown) both shot excellent from outside, and David McKenzie came out and played awesome.”

Myers had a big night, scoring a game-high 27 points, while shooting 10-for-14 from the floor, including five buckets from three-point range.  Not to be outdone, Brown added 21 of his own, 15 of which came from behind the arc.  McKenzie would add another 12 points, going 5-for-6 from the floor.

Clearfield would start the game quickly with an 8-2 run thanks to a pair of three’s from Brown and McKenzie, but as the game progressed it became an inside game where Spaid began to get the ball to the basket.  Despite only going 3-for-9 from the floor, he was getting inside looks and seemed to be back in form.

After spending some time away from the court before the holiday break, Glunt was glad to have his tall senior back in time for the tournament, and is starting to see him get back into form.

“It gives Cody a lot of confidence.  Cody is back in a rhythm, get him back playing to the way he was early on,” Glunt said.

After one quarter, Clearfield held a 19-12 advantage, but the second quarter is when the home squad exploded on the scoreboard.  Myers, Spaid, Brown and Caleb Strouse all would lend a hand in extending the lead.  Brown and Myers would combine for 21 of Clearfield’s 30 points in the frame, while limiting the Eagles to only 11 points to take a 49-23 lead to the break.

While the shooting was key, it didn’t come without some great floor work from Tommy Hazel.  On this night, he wasn’t having much luck shooting, going 1-for-7 on the night and 1-for-2 at the charity stripe, accounting for only three points.

However, while the points weren’t there, the rest of his game was something to remember.  Hazel would lead the team in both rebounds, 11, along with assists, 13, the latter of which caught Glunt by surprise, but he was just as impressed with how even though Hazel wasn’t getting the shots, he was contributing in many other ways.

“Tommy was really active, all over the floor with steals, rebounds, offensive rebounds, just making plays.  He did awesome,” Glunt said.  “If he can play with that much activity, if he makes a couple shots, he is going to be tough to contend with too.”

Bald Eagle was able to make a small run in the third quarter, but never found it’s footing despite a 16-point effort from both Trey Butterworth and A.J. Onder.

When the fourth quarter began, the Bison had established a comfortable 71-39 cushion, and as the clock wound down the starters would come off the floor while the jayvee squad got some playing experience.  They too would contribute to the final score as Ethan McGinnis, Sam Evans and Taye Lynch all added points to the scoreboard.

The jayvee squad would start the night out with a 49-40 victory as well over Bald Eagle.

One final game is left this week for Clearfield (10-1), but it is going to be their toughest challenge.  It comes this Friday night on the road against the Penns Valley Rams.  Glunt made it clear his team would be ready for the game, but also emphasized that it won’t be easy, saying that it would be a battle, just like every game is this season.

Tip off is at 6 p.m. for the jayvee game, then the varsity game will follow.

SCORE BY QUARTERS

Bald Eagle   12   11   16   17   –   56
Clearfield   19   30   22   18   –   89

Bald Eagle 56

Barnyak 1 0-0 2, Butterworth 4 6-8 16, Hockenbury 1 0-0 3, Barnett 0 0-0 0, Jenkins 1 0-1 2, Dubes 1 0-0 2, Habouick 0 0-0 0, Onder 5 5-8 16, Jones 1 0-1 2, Hilderbrand 3 0-2 6, Freidline 0 0-0 0, Burkett 0 0-0 0, Eminhizer 0 0-0 0, Chambers 3 0-0 7.  TOTALS 19 11-20 56.

Clearfield 89

McGinnis 1 0-0 2, Evans 2 0-0 6, Lezzer 1 0-0 2, Gates 0 0-0 0, Brown 8 0-0 21, Lynch 1 0-0 2, Strouse 2 1-4 5, Porter 0 0-0 0, McKenzie 5 0-2 12, Hazel 1 1-2 3, Sorbera 0 0-0 0, Spaid 4 1-2 9, Myers 11 0-0 27.  TOTALS 36 3-10 89.

GAME STATISTICS
Bald Eagle/Clearfield

Team Rebounds:  25/32

Turnovers:  18/12

Team Fouls:  12/16

Shooting:  19-57/36-64

Three-Point Shots:  Butterworth (2), Hockenbury, Onder, Chambers; Myers (5), McKenzie (2), Brown (5), Evans (2)

Bison Scoreboard:

Date Opponent Score Record
12/07 CURWENSVILLE 76 – 35 1 – 0
12/09 @ Central ppd. 1 – 0
12/11 HUNTINGDON 77 – 64 2 – 0
12/15 BELLEFONTE 44 – 30 3 – 0
12/16 ST. MARYS 68 – 59 4 – 0
12/18 @ Tyrone 59 – 50 5 – 0
12/21 @ Punxsutawney 48 – 66 5 – 1
12/23 @ Bellefonte 56 – 39 6 – 1
12/29&30 Purchase Line Christmas Tourney
12/29 vs. Harmony 60 – 30 7 – 1
12/30 vs. Purchase Line 63 – 24 8 – 1
01/05 BROOKVILLE 64 – 48 9 – 1
01/06 BALD EAGLE AREA 89 – 56 10 – 1
01/08 @ Penns Valley
01/12 PHILIPSBURG-OSCEOLA
01/15 CENTRAL
01/18 DUBOIS
01/20 @ Huntingdon
01/26 TYRONE
01/29 @ Bald Eage Area
02/01 @ Central
02/03 PENNS VALLEY
02/05 @ Philipsburg-Osceola
02/08 @ Curwensville