TYRONE — State-ranked Tyrone inched closer to a three-peat in the Mountain League by breaking open a tight game with a 15-0 run to start the second half and going on to beat the scrappy Clearfield Area High School girls basketball team 62-48 Wednesday night.
The Lady Bison, who lost 65-40 to the Lady Eagles at home on Dec. 18, matched the No. 7 Class AA team in the PennLive.com rankings point-for-point throughout the first half.
Rachel Glenny tossed in 13 of her season-high 21 points and Margo Castagnolo drained a trio of three-pointers to spur the Lady Bison to a 28-27 edge at intermission.
“We had ’em on the ropes,” Clearfield coach Joey Castagnolo said.
Not for long.
While the combination of unforced turnovers and cold shooting plagued the Lady Bison at the outset of the third quarter, the Lady Eagles got hot and soared to a 42-28 lead before Emily Ryan broke the ice with the first of back-to-back layups.
“We had good looks and couldn’t make ’em, and they didn’t miss,” Castagnolo explained the six-minute stretch that decided the outcome.
Junior Kasey Engle, a two-time all-Mountain League first teamer and last season’s Most Valuable Player, sparked Tyrone’s run and big third quarter with 11 points, including three of her six triples.
She had stepped up when fellow ML All-Star Finnley Christine suffered an injury early in the first period and kept the Lady Eagles close in the first half with 13 points.
Down by 17 going to the fourth quarter, Clearfield (8-10, 6-5 ML) didn’t go away and closed to within 57-46 with 3:49 remaining.
Tyrone (17-1) then went into a slowdown that took away the Lady Bison’s momentum and locked up their 11th consecutive league victory.
Engle poured in 26 points and was backed by Alexis Cannistraci and Emily Lehman with 11 apiece for the Lady Eagles.
For the Lady Bison, Glenny made it a double-double effort with 11 rebounds, while Ryan contributed 10 points and six assists.
“We played well,” Castagnolo said. “This game won’t dull their confidence.”
In the junior varsity game, Tyrone eked out a 33-32 win. Nikki Brossard scored 12 points in the loss.
Clearfield will host Bald Eagle Area Friday.
Mountain League — Tyrone 11-0, Penns Valley 10-1, Central 7-4, Clearfield 6-5, Bellefonte 4-7, Huntingdon 3-7, Philipsburg-Osceola 2-8, Bald Eagle Area 0-11.
CLEARFIELD — 48
Ally Lindstrom 2 0-0 4, Brooke Cline 2 0-0 4, Rachel Glenny 9 3-4 21, Margo Castagnolo 3 0-0 9, Emily Ryan 5 0-0 10, Alayna Ryan 0 0-0 0, Nikki Brossard 0 0-0 0. TOTALS: 21 3-4 48.
TYRONE — 62
Payton Wagner 1 0-0 2, Finnley Christine 0 0-0 0, Kasey Engle 7 6-6 26, Alexis Cannistraci 5 1-1 11, Marissa Sprankle 2 0-0 4, Sydney Shaw 3 0-0 7, Maddie Noll 0 1-2 1, Emily Lehman 5 1-1 11, Cherah Mountz 0 0-0 0. TOTALS: 23 9-10 62.
Three-Point Field Goals – Clearfield 3 (Castagnolo 3); Tyrone 7 (Engle 6, Shaw 1).
Score by Quarters
Clearfield 16 12 6 14 – 48
Tyrone 16 11 24 11 – 62
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 26 – 51 6 – 8
01/18 @ St. Marys 30 – 32 6 – 9
01/19 HUNTINGDON 47 – 34 7 – 9
01/22 BELLEFONTE 52 – 43 8 – 9
01/27 @ Tyrone 48 – 62 8 – 10
01/29 BALD EAGLE AREA
02/02 @ Penns Valley
02/04 CURWENSVILLE
02/05 PHILIPSBURG-OSCEOLA