Brown, Hazel and Myers Lead Charge as Bison down Tyrone

HYDE — With the holiday season in full swing, the Clearfield Bison basketball squad looked to continue the season of giving by giving their fans yet another victory on the young season.  Having started the season undefeated, head coach Nate Glunt and his team took to the Bison Gym on Thursday night for a big early-season contest.  The opposition, the one-loss Tyrone Golden Eagles, but a team that was still undefeated in Mountain League play.

Fans brought the holiday spirit inside the packed gym, with Santa hats and ugly sweaters galore.  But the real reason the fans rolled in was the hardwood, anticipating a game that could go either way, and be decided by a narrow margin.

No one anticipated the game that came about.

Tyrone got the opening basket of the game to take the lead, but it became the only time the Golden Eagles can say they had the lead.  It took mere seconds afterwards for the Bison to take their first lead of the game, and never look back.  At the final buzzer, the Clearfield faithful were overjoyed as Glunt’s squad remained undefeated on the season with a 65-40 triumph.

Immediately before even discussing the game, Glunt took a moment to reflect on his now third year as head coach, and the support his team has received once again from the Clearfield area.

“We are so fortunate to have this support from our community,” he said.  “The radio team did the wrestling match, then came down to do our game in the second half.  We are just so grateful for this support.”

When it came to the game itself that the packed crowd witnessed, from an early standpoint it was clear that Clearfield was showing their will to shoot the ball deep.  After the initial 2-0 deficit, the Bison took the ensuing possession and went to town.  Working the perimeter, Will Myers found a spot at the post behind the arc, and let up his shot.  It went in, and Clearfield was up by a point.  That would be the final lead change of the night, as Clearfield then went on a tear in that first quarter.

Myers had a pair of three’s in the frame, but it was Tommy Hazel that was putting on a clinic.

The senior was draining buckets from deep range, two feet behind the three-point line, and finished the quarter with 11 points, nine coming from the outside.

“He (Hazel) puts so much work into his shot; it’s not an accident.  He’s worked on his shooting so much in his career, and tonight he shot the ball well,” Glunt said.

Hazel finished the night with 18 points, as did teammates Myers and Evan Brown.  Hazel possibly could have broken the 20-point mark, but he exited the game in the fourth quarter due to a bloody nose that came from a hard foul from Tyrone.  By that point in the game, Clearfield was at a comfortable lead.  Hazel added in nine rebounds, five assists, and a pair of blocks to his stellar night of work.

With Hazel, Brown and Myers all equaling point totals, Glunt said that his team played as a cohesive unit both when they had the possession and on the opposite end of the court when defending the basket.

“Our whole team played together.  We were attacking, finding the open man, and the shots we were making were good shots,” he said.  “We have guys that know their role (on the team).  Dave McKenzie does so many little things that nobody recognizes.  He’s the key to the defense.  Reese Wilson will push the ball down the floor.

“Even with Evan, Tommy, and Will scoring a lot of points, they don’t relax on defense.  They are still playing as hard as they can.  There was a 12-minute span where we held Tyrone to three points.  That is team defense.”

That 12-minute span that Glunt spoke of came during most of the second quarter and part of the third.  The lone basket that Tyrone put up during that point came on a whim when Jacob Meredith heaved the ball from approximately 75-feet back from the net at the end of the first half.  In a fit of either brilliance or luck, or a combination of both, his prayer shot went right in the hoop.

The shot made the score 35-26 heading into the locker room, but even Glunt was impressed by both the shot itself, and the young man who made it.

“That 3/4-court shot, wow!  Meredith is a nice kid.  I know his dad, and known him since he was in third grade.  He’s become a real nice ball player,” Glunt said.

Meredith was the only Golden Eagle player to get into double digits, finishing the night with 11 points.

In the fourth quarter, many of the starting rotation got a rest to let the second team of players take to the court, with the likes of Taye Lynch, Ryan Chew, and Ethan McGinnis all adding in a few baskets, showing the future of Clearfield basketball is very bright.

Tyrone did have better luck in the junior varsity game, topping the Bison by a final of 51-37.

At 5-0, Clearfield has nearly a week until they hit the court again, this time coming as part of the Purchase Line Christmas Tournament.  Glunt’s team is the defending champion of the tournament, and he knows the challenge is always a tough one.  But, he also knows that his team has worked hard to get to this point.  Following the game, Glunt explained that the tournament is a big deal for the squad, but so is the holiday.  So, he opted to reward the team with an early Christmas gift, before shifting focus back to the hardwood.

“We’re going to take a couple days off,” he explained.  “The kids have been grinding, and doing everything we’ve asked them to do.  We’re going to take a few days off, then we’re back at it on Monday to prepare for the tournament.”

Still, Glunt knows the effort from the team was being recognized, and to see the turnout heading into the holiday break from the crowd, he felt so humbled.

“It’s a credit to our kids, the community, and all my assistant coaches.  We’re just so thankful for the position we are in,” Glunt said with an ear-to-ear smile.

Clearfield begins play in the Purchase Line Christmas Tournament on Thursday December 29.

SCORE BY QUARTER

Tyrone   11   15   3   11  –  40
Clearfield   18   17   15   15  –  65

Tyrone – 40

Z. Kohler 1 0-0 2, J. Kohler 0 0-0 0, Mitchell 1 3-4 5, Meredith 4 2-2 11, Weaver 1 2-4 4, Ferguson 1 1-2 3, Lewis 2 0-0 4, Thomas 3 0-0 7, Politza 0 4-6 4.  TOTALS 13 12-18 40.

Clearfield – 65

Lynch 2 0-0 4, Brown 6 5-6 18, Wilson 0 0-0 0, Lazauskas 0 0-2 0, Hess 0 0-2 0, Porter 0 0-0 0, McKenzie 1 0-0 2, Hazel 6 3-3 18, Sorbera 0 0-0 0, Wagner 0 0-2 0, Myers 6 3-3 18, Chew 1 0-0 3.  TOTALS 23 11-19 65.

GAME STATISTICS
Tyrone/Clearfield

Shooting:  13-53/23-47

Rebounds:  17/30

Fouls:  19/13

Turnovers:  12/12

Three-Point Shots:  Meredith, Thomas/Brown, Hazel (3), Myers (3), Chew

Technical Fouls:  Politza

Bison Scoreboard: