Mountain League Thriller: Fourth Quarter Push Gives Bison Victory over Penns Valley

HYDE — The song that is often played and heard around December 24 is “Up on the House Top.”  In a sense, that title could be changed to “Up on the Hill Top” because it seemed that the place to be on Wednesday night was up on the hill at the Bison Gymnasium.  With the Mountain League lead on the line, the Clearfield Bison came to their home court to not only honor their seniors, but to possibly lock up the Mountain League title.

The opposing Penns Valley Rams came into the game only a half game back, and could put a huge kink in the standings with a victory.

The entire crowd was into the game from the opening tip off.  Neither team was giving in, with a lead that would go back and forth multiple times.  Late in the going, the Bison were down, needing a lift to get back into it.  When it mattered the most, they dug deep, and found a way.  A key late basket, plus foul shooting, were what gave Clearfield the 44-37 victory in spectacular fashion.

Head coach Nate Glunt was jubilant, as high-fives went to every player and coach, and afterwards he felt proud of the feeling inside the gym that the fans brought in.

“This was an incredible atmosphere.  This was like a playoff atmosphere, it was packed.  We had a great student section, we thank the fans so much for coming out and supporting us,” Glunt said.  “Both sides were packed, and into it.  Our student section was having fun, and being loud, and doing what a good student section does.

“Penns Valley brought a lot of people too.  I saw people from the community here that just wanted to watch a game, to support the kids.  Fantastic.”

The huge crowd was not disappointed, as both teams would not let each other get away very easily.  In the first quarter both squads would go basket-for-basket, ending similar to how the game started, all knotted up.  The 11-11 score was broke early in the second quarter, but Clearfield would not go away.

In the first half, the Rams were kept in the game thanks to Ben Alexander, who would score seven and six points in the first and second quarters, respectively.  He would be the fuel to give the Rams the 22-18 halftime lead.  But in the second half, his shooting went cold.  He would end with 16 points plus four rebounds, only going 1-for-8 in the second half.

Clearfield would end the third quarter still down 33-28, but were not out of it by far.

What kept them going through three quarters was the unselfish play of Tommy Hazel, along with the rebounding ability of Cody Spaid.  Hazel got hot in the final quarter of play, scoring eight of his game-high 18 points.  His play was key considering teammate Will Myers was struggling.  Entering the latter part of the final quarter, Myers was 0-for-7 from the floor.

He went for a pull-up jumper just inside the arc, and would be fouled on the play, but he witnessed the ball hit the net, giving him the chance for a three-point play.  He would then make the ensuing free throw, bringing the score to a tie at 33.

Both squads would continue to feed one another, but then Myers finally got his chance to make his mark.  With four minutes left in the game, on a feed from Spaid, he went to the hoop, but missed the layup.  Not wanting to be denied, Myers pulled in the rebound, and then the put-back shot would fall, bringing the game to a tie at 37 with 2:21 left in the game.

“He kept playing, kept battling.  He never hung his head,” Glunt said of Myers.

Spaid would follow the next possession with another rebound, something he was doing often on the night.  Spaid would have a monster double-double, scoring 12 points and adding in 18 boards.

But his biggest play would come following a Clearfield timeout with just over a minute to play.

Spaid would get a good look to Hazel on the wing, beyond the arc.  Hazel’s shot would find nothing but net, and gave Clearfield the 40-37 advantage.

Both teams were playing hard, but Glunt was crediting the officiating crew with letting both teams simply play the game rather than call fouls at every possession, possibly costing momentum from either side and maybe being a deciding factor in the game.

“I thought they did a great job.  They let them play, but not to a point where it got out of hand.  It was an extremely physical game, but they let them play,” Glunt said.

The long field goal from Hazel was the winning shot, but the most important baskets on the night would come at the very end from Evan Brown.  The sophomore would find himself at the foul line on four occasions, which were rare for the Bison on this night as they would only go to the line five times.

Brown hit his first one-plus to give Clearfield the two-possession lead.  With just over 10 seconds remaining in the game, he would go to the line again.  His first basket went right in the net, and he followed up with a repeat, icing the game and ensuring the victory for the home crowd.

“He concentrates every day in practice to make those shots.  He’s just a great kid.  When we need someone at the line, we’re going to Evan,” Glunt said.

The junior varsity squad had just as an incredible game.  After being down 11 points at halftime, they would hold Penns Valley to just four second-half points for the 40-32 victory.

At 18-2, the Bison now hold the ultimate lead in the Mountain League, and seem to have the title locked up after having beaten both Penns Valley and Tyrone on two occasions.  Tyrone and Penns Valley play back-to-back games against each other on Friday and Saturday, one each at their respective schools.

Glunt was quick to point out that the game on Monday against Central that they lost was a big learning opportunity for the team.

“That was my biggest thing.  It’s never a loss, like we had on Monday night, unless you don’t learn from it,” Glunt said.  “We had the best practice we had all season yesterday, and we just wanted to keep playing.”

While looking ahead in the regular season, Glunt saw that his next game was still going to be a challenge, as they will travel to play Philipsburg-Osceola on Friday night.  In describing the kind of situation they were facing with the schedule, he used a famous moment in Olympic history.

“It’s like the movie ‘Miracle,” you beat Russia then you face the Czech Republic.  We win tonight, but we have to come out and play well on Friday,” Glunt said.  “Philipsburg is an improved team, and we have to be getting better for the playoffs.”

But the one thing Glunt simply could not get over was the sight he witnessed inside the Bison Gym, and the crowd that came out to just watch the game.  Glunt noted he saw coaches from nearby schools, including West Branch’s Danny Clark, along with others that just wanted to come out and watch.  He knew from the beginning of the night, it was going to be a special game.

“This atmosphere was awesome.  I was standing there during the National Anthem and started getting chills.  I’m thinking, ‘I hope they didn’t show up for nothing.’  It’s just awesome to have this kind of support,” Glunt said.

The Philipsburg contest will tip-off at 6 p.m. for the jayvee game, with varsity to follow.  Clearfield will close out the regular season next Monday when they travel to Curwensville.

SCORE BY QUARTER

Penns Valley  11   11   11   4  –  37
Clearfield  11   7   10   16  –  44

Penns Valley 37

Alexander 6 3-4 16, Butts 0 0-0 0, Collison 1 0-0 2, Pearce 3 4-5 11, Tobias 0 0-0 0, Snyder 0 0-0 0, Engle 4 0-0 8.  TOTALS 14 7-9 37.

Clearfield 44

Lezzer 0 0-0 0, Brown 3 4-4 12, Strouse 0 0-0 0, McKenzie 0 0-0 0, Hazel 7 1-1 18, Spaid 6 0-0 12, Myers 1 0-0 2.  TOTALS 17 5-5 44.

GAME STATISTICS
Penns Valley/Clearfield

Rebounds:  15/40

Fouls:  11/10

Turnovers:  5/11

Shooting:  14-46/17-51

Three-Point Shots:  Alexander, Pearce/Hazel (3), Brown (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 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 92 – 48 15 – 1
01/26 TYRONE 57 – 47 16 – 1
01/29 @ Bald Eage Area 97 – 57 17 – 1
02/01 @ Central 57 – 64 17 – 2
02/03 PENNS VALLEY 44 – 37 18 – 2
02/05 @ Philipsburg-Osceola
02/08 @ Curwensville