BROOKVILLE — A very poor start proved costly for the Clearfield Area High School girls basketball team in the 24th annual Brookville Tip-Off Tournament championship game Saturday evening as North Clarion reigned for the first time with a 51-39 win.
Turnovers, poor shooting and foul trouble in the first quarter left the Lady Bison in a deep hole.
Their only points were two free throws by Niki Chew, while point guard Alayna Ryan and post Nikki Brossard wound up with three personal fouls apiece, prompting coach Joey Castagnolo to go to his bench much earlier than he had planned.
“I felt we were nervous at the start,” Lady Bison coach Joey Castagnolo said. “We had 10 turnovers.
“And they’re pretty good. They’re big, too.”
Two of North Clarion’s three 5-10 starters fueled a 15-2 getaway.
Tourney Most Valuable Player Tori Obenrader, D9sports.com’s Rookie of the Year as a freshman and first-team all-star last season, scored eight for her 24 points and Cassie Wagner chipped in five of her 13.
The Wolves’ charge slowed somewhat midway through the second period when Obenrader, who also corralled 18 rebounds, sat down for almost three minutes.
“We didn’t cut into the score when she went out, but that gave us momentum, and the kids really battled hard in the second half.
“Luckily, Ally (Lindstrom) and Brooke (Cline) didn’t have that many fouls, so I changed some things. And the three in foul trouble played smart.
“If we wouldn’t have gotten into such a predicament, I think we would have been all right.”
The Lady Bison played the Wolves on even terms over the final 24 minutes and shaved their deficit into single figures late in the third quarter but couldn’t mount a serious threat, although the final would have been more respectable were it not for the winners putting up the last four points.
Cline led Clearfield with 16 points and was rewarded with a berth on the all-tourney team with Ryan. Lindstrom added 10, including a pair of three-pointers.
North Clarion’s Wagner and Michaela Higgins and Brookville’s Brooke Shattenberg were the other all-tourney selections.
Brookville defeated Clarion-Limestone 40-12 in the consolation game.
The Lady Bison begin Mountain League play against Central at Martinsburg Wednesday.
CLEARFIELD — 39
Nikki Brossard 2 0-1 4, Niki Chew 0 2-2 2, Brooke Cline 8 0-0 16, Alayna Ryan 3 1-5 7, Ally Lindstrom 4 0-0 10, Tesa Miller 0 0-0 0, Karlie Gisewhite 0 0-0 0. TOTALS: 17 3-8 39.
NORTH CLARION — 51
Michaela Higgins 1 4-4 7, Cassie Wagner 6 1-2 13, Abby Gatesman 1 1-4 3, Tori Obenrader 8 1-8 24, Ally Carll 0 0-0 0, Gaby Carll 0 2-2 2, Lindsay Zacherl 1 0-0 2. TOTALS: 18 13-20 51.
Three-Point Field Goals – Clearfield 2 (Lindstrom 2); Brookville 2 (Higgins, Obenrader).
Score by Quarters
Clearfield 2 13 13 11 – 39
North Clarion 15 12 14 10 – 51
Lady Bison Scoreboard:
| 12/09&10 | @ Brookville Tip-off Tourney | ||
| 12/09 | vs. Clarion-Limestone | 64 – 22 | 1 – 0 |
| 12/10 | vs. North Clarion | 39 – 51 | 1 – 1 |
| 12/14 | @ Central | ||
| 12/16 | HUNTINGDON | ||
| 12/19 | BELLEFONTE | ||
| 12/21 | @ Tyrone | ||
| 12/23 | DUBOIS | ||
| 12/28 | CURWENSVILLE | ||
| 01/03 | @ Punxsutawney | ||
| 01/06 | BALD EAGLE AREA | ||
| 01/09 | BROOKVILLE | ||
| 01/10 | @ Penns Valley | ||
| 01/13 | PHILIPSBURG-OSCEOLA | ||
| 01/16 | ST. MARYS | ||
| 01/18 | CENTRAL | ||
| 01/20 | @ Huntingdon | ||
| 01/23 | @ Bellefonte | ||
| 01/27 | TYRONE | ||
| 02/01 | @ Penns Valley | ||
| 02/03 | PENNS VALLEY | ||
| 02/07 | PHILIPSBURG-OSCEOLA | ||
| 02/08 | @ Curwensville |