HYDE — Hoping to build off of their last win, which eclipsed their total from a season ago, the Lady Bison of Clearfield returned to their home gymnasium ready to get another win on the year. All year long their victories have come away from the Bison Gym, and the girls longed to finally get a victory in front of their peers and family.
The task was going to be a challenge, because coming into town were the Lady Rams of Penns Valley, who entered Friday night’s contest with a 7-3 record, and being undefeated in the Mountain League.
It was clear why Penns Valley had the better record. They would go up-tempo from the outset of the contest, and would push the floor for the majority of the 32 minutes of play. Clearfield, already having a short roster, was without one of their key players in Sam Rockmore, who went down with a knee injury on Monday night against Punxsutawney that ended her season prematurely. Many of the younger players had to fill the void she left on the team, and against Penns Valley it was a monumental task.
At the same time, costly mistakes got some of the Clearfield starters in early foul trouble, and the game quickly became all about the road team. Penns Valley would hold on and take home a 70-42 victory to improve their record to 8-3.
“I underestimated their team speed. They have a nice ball club; they play nice defense. We were right there with them, but then they got on a run and we just couldn’t keep up,” head coach Joey Castagnolo said afterward.
The speed of the Lady Rams was evident in the first quarter when Moci Ilguen got on a roll as she would bucket 10 of her game-high 25 points in the first eight minutes. Teammate Mackenzie Ironside would add in another 10 in the frame, finishing with 19 points. Meanwhile, Clearfield had issues just getting a basket to fall. They would total 19 points in the opening quarter, but lost momentum and saw the ball tease a basket, only to bounce out.
Along with the cold shooting came some costly fouls. Rachel Glenny normally is reliable in the paint for Clearfield, but on this night her defense, although strong, also cost her.
By the end of the first quarter, she had three fouls called on her. By halftime, things were worse as early in the second quarter, she was called for a fourth.
Castagnolo was forced to take her out for most of the second quarter, and only had her play sparingly in the second half, trying to keep her from fouling out. In the end, in his eyes, that is where the game was lost.
“In the first quarter, she had three fouls, and that got her mind out of the game. She just got tentative, and that messed everything up,” he said. “Our two Nikki’s (Chew and Brossard) played their hearts out on the inside, but they just don’t have the experience of how to move against a good team that runs the ball well and passes the ball well.”
Despite not having one of his key starters on the floor, Clearfield tried to keep it close, at some points getting within single digits in the gap. But just as it seemed they would gain momentum, it was lost. The Lady Bison would commit 24 turnovers on the night, and Penns Valley capitalized by turning them into points.
“At one time when I called time out it was 38-30, but it was a lot of bobbles that cost us,” Castagnolo said. “We missed a few buckets, got down, and they hit some back door cuts. Before you knew it, we were down 20 or 25 points.”
Emily Ryan had a strong night with 10 points plus seven assists, but she as well picked up her fourth foul in the fourth quarter, and Castagnolo pulled her out as well to prevent losing two of his starters. Ryan wasn’t the leader in scoring for the Lady Bison as Margo Castagnolo’s four shots from behind the arc gave her the team-high 12 points.
Clearfield lost the junior varsity game to start the night in a 41-25 final.
Castagnolo was still optimistic about his team, especially with them already eclipsing their win total from a year ago and still just over a month left in the schedule. But on the flip side, he knows that his team now must have to make up for losing a key player in Rockmore. Clearfield’s head coach would not say the type of injury, but knows that he would not have Rockmore for likely the remainder of the season. He was quick to point out that even in a losing effort, his team battled, but it was also a learning experience for the team, something he was still working on himself.
“It was a strong night, but our defense had a lot to do with the outcome because of the personnel that I had,” Castagnolo said. “It messes up our rotation and our height inside (talking about Rockmore being out). It’s a trickle-down effect. That is what we are going to work on next week, making up for not having her, and getting those young kids more involved.”
Clearfield (5-7) has a stretch of games away from their home gym beginning next week as they will travel to Philipsburg-Osceola on Wednesday, then to Central on Friday.
SCORE BY QUARTER
Penns Valley 27 11 22 10 – 70
Clearfield 19 9 10 4 – 42
Penns Valley 70
Ripka 2 2-2 6, Ilguen 10 4-5 25, Butler 2 0-0 4, Culver 1 1-2 3, Kubalak 0 0-0 0, Beansderfer 0 1-2 1, Houser 0 0-0 0, Homan 3 0-0 6, Ironside 6 4-6 19, Brown 1 0-0 2, Miller 0 0-0 0, ANdrus 1 2-2 4. TOTALS 26 14-19 70.
Clearfield 42
Castagnolo 4 0-0 12, Glenny 2 6-8 10, E. Ryan 3 1-3 7, Chew 1 0-0 2, Lindstrom 1 1-2 3, Brossard 1 0-1 2, Lansberry 0 0-0 0, A. Ryan 0 0-0 0, Cline 3 0-0 6. TOTALS 15 8-14 42.
GAME STATISTICS
Penns Valley/Clearfield
Team Rebounds: 29/22
Turnovers: 17/24
Team Fouls: 11/14
Shooting: 26-58/15-47
Three-Point Shots: Ilguen, Ironside (3); Castagnolo (4)
Lady Bison Scoreboard:
Date Opponent Score Record
12/04&05 @ Brookville Tip-off Tourney
12/04 vs. North Clarion 45 – 50 0 – 1
12/05 vs. Clarion-Limestone 64 – 24 1 – 1
12/08 CENTRAL 41 – 52 1 – 2
12/11 @ Huntingdon 41 – 28 2 – 2
12/14 @ DuBois 40 – 51 2 – 3
12/16 @ Bellefonte 48 – 47 3 – 3
12/18 TYRONE 40 – 66 3 – 4
12/21 BROOKVILLE 50 – 59 3 – 5
12/29 @ Curwensville 63 – 24 4 – 5
01/04 PUNXSUTAWNEY 43 – 55 4 – 6
01/05 @ Bald Eagle Area 53 – 40 5 – 6
01/08 PENNS VALLEY 42 – 70 5 – 7
01/13 @ Philipsburg-Osceola
01/15 @ Central
01/18 @ St. Marys
01/19 HUNTINGDON
01/22 BELLEFONTE
01/27 @ Tyrone
01/29 BALD EAGLE AREA
02/02 @ Penns Valley
02/04 CURWENSVILLE
02/05 PHILIPSBURG-OSCEOLA