HYDE — Despite schools not being in session for Martin Luther King Day, the hardwood was going to see some action on top of the hill at the Bison Gymnasium. Fresh off back-to-back victories last Thursday and Friday, the Clearfield Bison took to the court a third time in five days, hoping to keep a 9-game winning streak going.
Coming in to challenge them was a very stacked, very tall DuBois Beavers. All signs were pointing in the direction that this game would be a close encounter between two powerful teams. It turns out, the exact opposite happened.
The biggest hindrance came from the team dressed in black, as the Beavers came to the court without one of their top players, Dante Dawson. With him not dressed for action, it took away a major part of the DuBois offense as Dawson averages over 16 points a game. The Beavers then suddenly were down two players when Josh Solnosky, coming off the bench as a freshman, got hurt in the junior varsity game.
With two of their leading scorers down, the Beavers battled in the first quarter, outscoring the Bison. But the home team turned up the heat for the rest of the game, and in the end it would lead Clearfield to the 71-42 triumph.
Head coach Nate Glunt was glad for the victory, but he also knew that things were a lot different than anticipated for the showdown.
“Look at it from their perspective; they didn’t have Dawson, and he’s such a great athlete. They were a little limited, then their sixth man got hurt in the jayvee game,” Glunt said. “Yes, the score is what it is, but I thought we played a little lapse in the first quarter, but also they were playing guys they didn’t have to.”
That first quarter was a difficult one for the Bison, as they would see themselves down 11-8. The only baskets came from Will Myers, Evan Brown and Cody Spaid.
“They just played better than us in the first quarter,” Glunt said. “There’s no excuse for not playing as hard as we can. It was frustrating.”
One quarter later, things took a big turn. The Bison got hot, both scoring and in defending their own basket. In doing so, DuBois would score a free throw by Bradyn Schwabenbauer, who ended the night with a team-high 12 points plus 10 rebounds. That basket would be the only one scored by the Beavers in the entire eight minutes leading into halftime. In the frame, the team went 0-for-10, ending the half just 4-for-24 from the floor.
On the other hand, the Bison were hitting basket after basket, and getting rebound after rebound, finishing with 21 points, including nine from Myers, who finished the night with 17 points. Tommy Hazel added in another five points, the first of the quarter, which to Glunt was really the key in the game to get things in their favor.
“I thought Tommy had a couple big buckets that got them going, and once we made a couple buckets we got in rhythm defensively, and we outscored them in the second quarter,” Glunt said.
However, the main quarter that stood out for the Bison was the third. Despite the Beavers getting the first seven points of the quarter, the Bison suddenly went on a tear. The reason why is because Hazel suddenly became a conqueror. In a performance that was among his best for the year, he would go 7-for-9 in the quarter, hitting 15 of his game-high 22 points in the frame, and giving the Bison a lead that was insurmountable at that point.
“It was 29-19, so I called timeout. We came back out and Tommy hit five points right there, and it just got us rolling,” Glunt said. “I thought it was a much better job defensively. I think our offense fueled that a little bit. When you make a few shots, it’s a lot easier to play defense.”
With the lead well in hand, many of the younger players got in some minutes for the final quarter, extending the lead and getting some experience.
The jayvee squad had to battle from behind, but erased a 10-point deficit to take the 49-42 victory to open the night.
Now at 14-1, the Bison will have a day to rest and prepare, because they are heading on the road on Wednesday night for their next game against Huntingdon. The Bison won the previous contest back on December 11, 77-64, in the Bison Gym. Glunt already had a plan in place for when they go practice and when the ball is tossed at tip-off.
“We’re getting ready to run,” Glunt said.
Tip off for the jayvee game is at 6 p.m. with varsity to follow.
SCORE BY QUARTER
Dubois 11 1 11 19 – 42
Clearfield 8 21 24 18 – 71
Dubois 42
Mazary 1 1-2 3, Sloan 2 0-0 4, Oberlin 2 0-0 6, Schwabenbauer 5 2-6 12, Labraska 2 2-2 6, Ferra 1 2-2 4, K. Hopson 1 0-0 2, Foley 1 0-1 3, Garvey 1 0-0 2, Hopson 0 0-0 0. TOTALS 16 7-13 42.
Clearfield 71
McGinnis 0 0-0 0, Evans 1 0-0 3, Lezzer 1 0-0 2, Gates 0 1-2 1, Brown 3 0-0 8, Lynch 1 1-2 3, Strouse 0 0-0 0, Porter 0 0-0 0, McKenzie 2 0-0 4, Wood 2 0-0 4, Haze 9 0-0 22, Sorbera 0 0-0 0, Spaid 2 3-4 7, Myers 6 0-0 17. TOTALS 27 5-8 72.
GAME STATISTICS
Dubois/Clearfield
Rebounds: 18/33
Turnovers: 12/16
Fouls: 11/16
Shooting: 16-55/27-56
Three-Point Shots: Oberlin (2), Foley/Myers (5), Hazel (2), Brown (2), Evans
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 58 – 49 11 – 1
01/12 PHILIPSBURG-OSCEOLA ppd. 11 – 1
01/14 PHILIPSBURG-OSCEOLA 80 – 42 12 – 1
01/15 CENTRAL 67 – 50 13 – 1
01/18 DUBOIS 71 – 42 14 – 1
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