HYDE — Punxsutawney concentrated on containing two of once-beaten Clearfield’s three big guns, Tommy Hazel and Will Myers, for more than two quarters before the Bison amped up their switching, man defense to pull away to a 65-41 win in schoolboy basketball action in Bison Gym Monday night.
What might have been a preview for the upcoming District 9 Class AAAA Playoffs in the PIAA’s new six-class tournament was low-scoring and close through the first half with the Chucks limiting Hazel to four free throws and Myers to a pair of field goals.
“Give Punxsutawney credit,” Clearfield coach Nate Glunt said. “They went to that triangle and two, and every time Will and Tommy got the ball they had two guys on them. They were face guarding, which opened it up for Evan (Brown) and the other kids. I that our other kids did a really good job of adjusting.”
Brown made the Chucks pay by rising up for a trio of soft three-pointers and a foul-line jumper to fuel the Bison’s 26-22 advantage at intermission.
Punxsy (12-5) got points from five players in the second period, including five from Brandon Matthews, to keep it very interesting after Clearfield opened nine-point leads on three occasions.
The Bison regained that same edge in the first minute of the third quarter on Reese Wilson’s reverse layup off one of Brown’s three assists, Myers’ steal for a layup and Dave McKenzie’s free throw.
Once again, the Chucks answered with back-to-back baskets by Devin Kelly and Jacob Horner to shave their deficit to 31-26.
That’s when the Bison captured all of the momentum, primarily because of their defense.
“It was huge,” Glunt said. “We were able to get stops. That created opportunities for offense. Got out in transition. Now, we get up the floor, try to have one-on-one opportunities instead of one versus two, and they were still able to get to the basket.”
Brown posted up down low and spun around for a layup and Myers sank the second of his three treys to make it a 10-point spread.
Hazel took over at that point.
Still sporting only the four foul shots he cashed in the first period, he went off with the next 10 points to not only cap off the Bison’s 15-5 run that stretched their lead to 46-31 but also move past the late Fred Riley (Class of 1968, 1,033 points) into eight place on Clearfield’s all-time scoring list.
Fouled on two of his three power moves to the hoop, Hazel converted the old-time three-pointers and also tipped in a Bison miss for one of his eight rebounds.
“He went strong to the basket and was able to get some rebounds and second chance opportunities,” Glunt said. “And he had a couple and-ones. He did a great job.”
The Chucks’ last six possessions of the third quarter were short-circuited by Bison steals.
“That’s just a credit to our kids and their effort to play as hard as they can on defense,” Glunt said.
Six Bison contributed to a 15-6 surge that ended with Myers’ three-pointed from the top of the key that made it 61-37 with 2:47 and ended the night for the starters.
Hazel was high with 16 points — pushing his career total to 1,042 — while Myers and Brown were right behind with 15 apiece as Clearfield (17-1) extended its second long winning streak of the season to eight games.
Myers shook off early foul trouble on two charging calls to collect eight rebounds and record six steals.
Brown and McKenzie had seven and six boards, respectively, as the Bison outrebounded the Chucks 36-29.
Clearfield shot 43.6 percent (24-for-55) from the floor in ending Punxsy’s five-game winning streak.
The Chucks, who got 14 points from Kelly, hit 36.7 percent (18-for-49).
The Bison will return to Mountain League action Tuesday with the opportunity to clinch at least a share of the 2017 championship with a win over visiting Bald Eagle Area. (Editor’s note – Game has since been postponed due to no school on Tuesday)
The Clearfield junior varsity set the table for a sweep with a 46-30 win behind 15 points from Josh Geppert and 11 from Jonny Gates.
PUNXSUTAWNEY — 41
Jacob Weaver 0 0-0 0, Jacob Horner 1 0-0 2, Devin Kelly 7 0-0 14, Ethan Riley 0 0-0 0, Brandon Matthews 3 0-0 7, Tyler Richardson 2 0-1 5, Ethan Blose 2 0-0 5, Tanner Zimmerman 0 0-0 0, Kevin Constant 2 0-0 5, Patrick Fedigan 0 1-6 1, Matt Wehrle 0 0-0 0, Isaac Stouffer 1 0-0 2. TOTALS: 18 1-7 41.
CLEARFIELD — 65
Evan Brown 5 2-2 15, Reese Wilson 2 0-0 4, Dave McKenzie 0 1-3 1, Tommy Hazel 5 6-6 16, Will Myers 6 0-0 15, Jon Gates 2 1-4 6, Ryan Chew 0 0-0 0, Ethan McGinnis 2 0-0 4, Ryan Lazauskas 0 0-0 0, Taye Lynch 1 0-0 2, Keegan Hess 1 0-0 2, Cade Walker 0 0-0 0, Jarrit Wagner 0 0-0 0. TOTALS: 24 10-15 65.
Three-Point Field Goals – Punxsutawney 4 (Matthews 1, Blose 1, Richardson 1, Constant 1); Clearfield 7 (Brown 3, Myers 3, Gates 1).
Score by Quarters
Punxsutawney 9 13 9 10 – 41
Clearfield 12 14 20 19 – 65
Officials – Roddy Hartle, Roger Walter and Scott Reffner.
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 | 75 – 28 | 11 – 1 |
| 01/19 | CLARION-LIMESTONE | 82 – 48 | 12 – 1 |
| 01/20 | HUNTINGDON | 67 – 54 | 13 – 1 |
| 01/23 | @ DuBois | 62 – 47 | 14 – 1 |
| 01/25 | BELLEFONTE | 73 – 40 | 15 – 1 |
| 01/27 | @ Tyrone | 79 – 45 | 16 – 1 |
| 01/30 | PUNXSUTAWNEY | 65 – 41 | 17 – 1 |
| 01/31 | BALD EAGLE AREA | ppd. | 17 – 1 |
| 02/03 | @ Penns Valley | ||
| 02/06 | CURWENSVILLE | ||
| 02/08 | PHILIPSBURG-OSCEOLA |