CLEARFIELD – After losing its first game of the season Monday night at Central, 57-46, the Clearfield Area High School boys basketball team was chomping at the bit to get back into action and take care of business.
Unfortunately for Penns Valley they were next in line for the Bison and the Rams paid the price as Clearfield, now 10-1 overall, took down the boys from Spring Mills 51-34 Thursday night on the Bison home court in a Mountain League game.
The Bison also own a 6-1 record in the Mountain League.
In the first quarter Clearfield and Penns Valley found themselves all tied at 6-6 with 4:01 to play when the Bison went on a 12-4 run to end the first up by eight, 18-10.
Seniors Tommy Hazel and Will Myers netted 15 of the 18 points for Clearfield in the first eight minutes as Hazel scored nine and Myers added six.
Keith Butts opened the second frame for the Rams with a bucket that cut the Clearfield margin to 18-12 before another Bison run of 9-0 gave them a more comfortable edge at 27-12 mid-way through the second.
The run was fueled by back to back baskets by senior Evan Brown.
Both squads traded field goals before halftime as Clearfield took a 30-17 bulge into the intermission.
Penns Valley cut the Bison lead to 12 points three different times in the third quarter, but each time the home team would come back and extended the margin, ultimately taking a 16 point lead into the final eight minutes, 45-29.
And it was a huge third quarter for Hazel who added 13 points to his game high total of 24 while acquiring a double-double with 10 rebounds and adding three steals.
The fourth quarter offense was just downright ugly for both teams with the Rams outscoring the Bison 5-4 as the two Mountain League foes combined for just two of nine from the charity stripe. Both free throws came from Penns Valley.
Bison head coach Nate Glunt spoke after the win, saying, “I thought it was a good game for us. I was happy with how everyone played. We responded better tonight than we did on Monday when we lost to Central.”
Then Glunt added, “I felt we did a lot better job tonight in our shot selection, but I just wish we would have finished the game on a stronger note.”
Helping Hazel on offense for the Bison were Myers with 12 points, 7 rebounds, 2 assists, and 3 steals while Brown just missed a double-double with 10 points, 9 rebounds and led the team with 5 steals.
Myers now has a career total of 1,194 points and trails by five points former Bison Mike McCorkle who netted 1,199 and currently is in third place on the all-time Clearfield scoring list.
Luke Snyder, a 6’ 5” senior for Penns Valley, paced his squad with 13 tallies.
The Bison also won the opening game in junior varsity action, beating the Rams by a score of 49-29.
Ryan Lazauskas had 12 for Clearfield, with Wyatt Porter adding 10
Clearfield is back in action on the road Friday night when they battle Philipsburg-Osceola with JV action starting at 6 pm and the varsity to immediately follow.
Listen to the Bison-Mounties game Friday night on WOKW-FM, 102.9, with the pre-game show beginning at approximately 7:20 pm.
PENNS VALLEY – 34
Keith Butts 3 0-0 8, Andrew Tobias 2 0-0 4, Aaron Tobias 2 1-2 5, Cameron Shaffer 0 0-0 0, Luke Snyder 6 0-0 13, Logan Snyder 1 0-0 2, Jared Kines 0 0-0 0, Charlie Romig 0 2-2 2, Marcus Woodford 0 0-0 0, Justin Sands 0 0-0 0, Nic Kubalak 0 0-0 0, Matthew Tobias 0 0-0 0, Garrett Fleck 0 0-0 0, Cole Breon 0 0-0 0,Brandon Stodart 0 0-2 0, TOTALS – 14 3-6 34
CLEARFIELD – 51
Evan Brown 4 2-3 10, Reese Wilson 0 0-0 0, David McKenzie 1 0-2 2, Tommy Hazel 10 3-6 24, Will Myers 4 3-4 12, Ryan Chew 0 0-0 0, Ethan McGinnis 1 0-0 2, Jon Gates 0 1-2 1, Jake Sorbera 0 0-0 0, Keegan Hess 0 0-0 0, TOTALS – 20 9-17 51
THREE-POINTERS: PV (4): Butts 2, Luke Snyder. Clfd (2): Hazel, Myers
SCORE BY QUARTERS:
PENNS VALLEY 10 7 12 5 34
CLEARFIELD 18 12 17 4 51
THREE-POINTERS: Butts 2, Luke Snyder, Hazel, Myers
OFFICIALS: Chuck Pasternak, Bill Barton, Chris Sherkel
Bison Scoreboard:
| Date | Opponent | Score | Record |
| 12/09 | @ Curwensville | 81 – 38 | 1 – 0 |
| 12/13 | CENTRAL | 53 – 41 | 2 – 0 |
| 12/16 | @ Huntingdon | 68 – 51 | 3 – 0 |
| 12/19 | @ Bellefonte | 56 – 33 | 4 – 0 |
| 12/22 | TYRONE | 65 – 40 | 5 – 0 |
| 12/29&30 | Purchase Line Christmas Tourney | ||
| 12/29 | vs. Northern Cambria | 82 – 23 | 6 – 0 |
| 12/30 | vs. Purchase Line | 65 – 45 | 7 – 0 |
| 01/03 | @ Brookville | 83 – 59 | 8 – 0 |
| 01/06 | @ Bald Eagle Area | 73 – 30 | 9 – 0 |
| 01/09 | @ Central | 46 – 57 | 9 – 1 |
| 01/11 | PENNS VALLEY | ppd. | 9 – 1 |
| 01/12 | PENNS VALLEY | 51 – 34 | 10 – 1 |
| 01/13 | @ Philipsburg-Osceola | ||
| 01/19 | CLARION-LIMESTONE | ||
| 01/20 | HUNTINGDON | ||
| 01/23 | @ DuBois | ||
| 01/25 | BELLEFONTE | ||
| 01/27 | @ Tyrone | ||
| 01/30 | PUNXSUTAWNEY | ||
| 01/31 | BALD EAGLE AREA | ||
| 02/03 | @ Penns Valley | ||
| 02/06 | CURWENSVILLE | ||
| 02/08 | PHILIPSBURG-OSCEOLA |