PHILIPSBURG – We have all heard the phrase, “Are you kidding me” !
That certainly fits what happened Wednesday night at Philipsburg-Osceola Area High School as the Clearfield Lady Bison went on an 18-0 run to end the game and defeat the Lady Mounties 42-38.
Asked about the amazing comeback, Bison head coach Joey Castagnolo, a little lost for words in all the excitement, said, “When we were down I told the girls I believe, and I could see it in them that they believed too. They listened to what we told them to do and they executed it perfectly. This is the boost we needed.”
It was all Lady Bison Rachel Glenny in the first quarter. Literally. The Clearfield senior scored all seven points as the Lady Mounties took the opening period 9-7.
Philipsburg-Osceola held a 9-3 edge before Glenny hit the final two buckets before the game moved into the second eight minutes.
Lacey Potter and Cheyanne Cowfer each scored five second quarter points that fueled the Mounties to a 25-16 margin going into the intermission.
Both teams seemed to leave the offensive part of the game in the locker room as Philipsburg-Osceola outscored Clearfield just 5-3 in the third quarter.
But after three it was now the Lady Mounties up by eight, 30-22.
Then came the crazy final eight minutes of action.
It appeared that Philipsburg-Osceola had put the game on ice as it went on an 8-2 run to begin the final frame and take what seemed like an insurmountable lead of 14 points, 38-24.
Senior Haylee Hayward had five of the eight Mountie tallies, including a three-pointer. The other three points came on a basket from beyond the arc by freshman Halle Harrington.
Hayward and Harrington each had two three-pointers on the night with Hayward being the leading scorer for Philipsburg-Osceola with 13.
Now the fun begins. That is, if you are a Lady Bison fan who made the long frigid trip to Philipsburg.
With 5:04 remaining in the Mountain League battle, Emily Ryan took the Lady Bison on her shoulders, scoring 10 of her game high 16.
Ryan hit the first bucket at that point and a minute later Ally Lindstrom’s basket cut the Mountie lead to 38-28 with still half a quarter to play.
Hitting one of two from the free throw line Ryan cut the Philipsburg-Osceola edge to nine, 38-29.
Then another Ryan, Alyana, freshman sister of Emily, decided to make it a family affair scoring a basket with 2:41 to go.
A basket and a free throw to complete the three point play and then another basket with 1:53 left and Emily Ryan pulled Clearfield to within just two, 38-36.
Sophomore Brooke Cline brought the Bison fans up off their seats, tying the game with a two-pointer at the 1:20 mark.
Now it was Alyana Ryan’s turn, once again, knocking down a shot for two, sending Clearfield out in front 40-38 with still 65 seconds remaining.
But the only one who would score the rest of the way was Emily Ryan, hitting both ends of free throws with 30 ticks to go. Final, 42-38 Lady Bison.
Clearfield moves to 4-3 in Mountain League play and 6-7 overall.
Philipsburg-Osceola falls to 4-7 on the season and 1-5 in league action.
The junior varsity contest was won by Clearfield over the Lady Mounties by a score of 41-7. Nikki Brossard was high scorer with 16 points while Alyana Ryan chipped in with 15.
Clearfield travels to Central on Friday night for its next game. Junior varsity starts at 6 pm with the varsity game to immediately follow.
Finding a few more words, Castagnolo commented, “I know it sounds crazy, but we like going on the road. We are 6-2 in road games.”
CLEARFIELD – 42
Margo Castagnolo 1 0-0 3, Brooke Cline 3 0-0 6, Emily Ryan 5 5-7 16, Ally Lindstrom 2 0-2 4, Rachel Glenny 4 1-3 9, Niki Chew 0 0-0 0, Alyana Ryan 2 0-0 4, Nikki Brossard 0 0-0 0, TOTALS – 17 6-12 42
PHILIPSBURG-OSCEOLA – 38
Halle Harrington 3 0-0 8, Lacey Potter 2 0-0 5, Cheyenne Bone 2 0-2 4, Haylee Hayward 5 1-2 13, Cheyanne Cowfer 3 1-2 8, Megan Winters 0 0-0 0, TOTALS – 15 2-6 38
SCORE BY QUARTERS:
CLEARFIELD 7 12 3 20 42
PHILIPSBURG-OSCEOLA 9 16 5 8 38
THREE-POINTERS: CLEARFIELD – 2 Castagnolo, E. Ryan PHILIPSBURG-OSCEOLA – 6 Hayward 2, Harrington 2, Potter, Cowfer
OFFICIALS: Jim Cushion, Brock Kaughman, Keith Redfoot
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 42 – 38 6 – 7
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