HYDE – Clearfield Area High School head girls basketball coach Joey Castagnolo has always called the Clearfield – Curwensville game between Christmas and New Years the “Holiday Classic.” And this year it was truly a classic.
Clearfield evened its season record to 4-4 with a 52-51 thriller over the Lady Tide of Curwensville at the Bison Gym Wednesday night.
After the nail biter Castagnolo said, “It sure wasn’t easy out there tonight. This game brings out the best in both teams. It was a scrappy ballgame and we were fortunate to win.”
In a game that saw the two squads tied 10 times, the first quarter was an indication of what was to come.
After the first eight minutes it was 14-14, with both teams having a lead at various times throughout the opening quarter.
The Lady Tide’s Hannah Dixon, a senior, had seven points while Clearfield junior Brooke Cline dumped in eight, and it was Cline hitting a bucket with 10 seconds left that sent the game into the second quarter tied.
Clearfield took the biggest lead of the first half, 18-14, with 4:38 to play before the break on baskets by Ally Lindstrom and Tesa Miller only to see Dixon complete a three point play to knot the score at 18-18 at the 3:21 mark of the second.
The Lady Tide also lead by four, 24-20, with 1:11 to play before intermission on two more buckets by Dixon.
Clearfield answered with a basket from Cline and a three point play by sophomore guard Alayna Ryan with just 10 seconds left in the second frame to take a 25-24 halftime edge.
The third quarter was as tight as the first half as Curwensville held a 34-31 lead after two free throws by Madison Weber. But with 5:08 remaining before the final frame Clearfield went on a 15-0 run to bolt in front by 12 at 46-34 before Lady Tide Maddie McCracken hit a bucket with just eight ticks on the clock to stop the Lady Bison run.
But after three, Clearfield had what looked like a pretty comfortable edge, 46-36, going into the final eight minutes.
However, the Lady Tide had other ideas on this night.
Curwensville was down 49-41 with 5:11 to play when Dixon hit a trey, which was then followed by senior Christine Limbert knocking down three of four from the foul line.
Dixon followed that with another three to put the Tide, amazingly, in the lead at 50-49 with 1:56 to play.
Ryan stopped the 9-0 run by Curwensville with a basket that placed the Lady Bison back in command at 51-50 with the clock now down to 1:43.
Limbert then went one for two from the charity stripe at the 1:23 mark tying the score at 51-51.
Moments later Ryan drew a foul with 57 seconds left and the Lady Bison guard drained one of two from the line, which was enough to seal the deal for Clearfield at 52-51.
Clearfield had just 10 turnovers in the game and coach Castagnolo spoke about how his squad has changed since earlier in the season, saying, “Only 10 turnovers in a game like this is really good offensively for us. We have been playing smarter as of late, especially when we get three or four fouls on one for our players. We want to continue playing aggressive and playing smarter allows us to do that.”
Lady Tide junior varsity coach Emily Warrick filled in for head coach Jocelyn Bash on the Curwensville sideline.
Dixon lead all scores on the night with 23 points while teammate Limbert had a double-double with 13 tallies and a whopping 19 rebounds.
For Clearfield, Cline had 20 and Ryan chipped in with 13.
Both teams pulled down 32 rebounds, while the Lady Tide had more turnovers with 25.
Clearfield also won the junior varsity game, defeating the Lady Tide by a score of 29-20. Tesa Miller led the Lady Bison with 14 points while Tarah Jacobson had eight for Curwensville.
The Lady Bison return to action on Tuesday January 3, at Punxsutawney, while the Lady Tide (2-3), travel to Ridgway on Wednesday January 4. The JV games will start at 6 pm and the varsity contests will immediately follow.
Curwensville was scheduled to play on Monday, January 2 against Moshannon Valley, at Curwensville. That game has now been moved to January 9 at Curwensville.
SCORE BY QUARTERS:
CURWENSVILLE 14 10 12 15 51
CLEARFIELD 14 11 21 6 52
CURWENSVILLE – 51
Nikki Wormuth 0 0-0 0, Hannah Dixon 7 5-5 23, Christine Limbert 4 4-8 13, Madison Weber 2 3-4 8, Mikayla 2 0-0 5, Madison Olson 0 0-0 0, Heidi Rowles 0 0-0 0, Maddie McCracken 1 0-0 2, Tarah Jacobson 0 0-0 0, TOTALS – 16 12-17 51
CLEARFIELD – 52
Nikki Brossard 2 2-4 6, Niki Chew 1 1-2 3, Brooke Cline 10 0-0 20, Alayna Ryan 5 3-5 13, Ally Lindstrom 3 0-2 6, Tesa Miller 2 0-0 4, Karli Gisewhite 0 0-0 0, TOTALS – 23 6-13 52
THREE-POINTERS: Dixon 4, Limbert Weber, Warren
OFFICIALS: Ken Knepp, Chris Sherkel, Rich Gormont,