HYDE — The large contingent of home fans on hand for the rematch between the backyard rival Clearfield and Curwensville schoolboy basketball teams in the Bison Gymnasium were hoping Bison senior Will Myers would make Monday night’s game extra special.
He didn’t disappoint.
Two minutes into the second half of the once-beaten Bison’s 85-37 victory, Myers flipped in a soft three-footer in the lane that made him Clearfield Area High School’s all-time boys scoring record-holder.
The 6-3 forward had tied the record of 1,382 set by 1991 graduate Chris Moore just 38 seconds earlier with his fourth three-pointer, eliciting loud cheers from both sides of the hardwood.
When his 19th and 20th points of the night nestled into the nets, the Bison faithful rose in unison and were joined by the Curwensville fans to salute the new scoring king with a lengthy standing ovation.
They continued to stand when play was halted so Moore could come out of the bleachers to congratulate Myers near mid-court.
Both coaches praised the player who is the most prolific long-range shooter in Clearfield history with 204 three-pointers, and counting, and the young man he has become.
“Basketball is just a portion of his personality,” Bison coach Nate Glunt said. “His work ethic is second to none in everything he does.
“He’s such a good person in that he treats everybody the right way.
“And basketball, having the success he’s had, is a trait of everything that he does. He‘s got a chance to be top five in his class. He wants to be an engineer.
“He’s so humble that I know this has been challenging to him. He’s had to deal with this pretty much since the end of last season, people asking, ‘Are you gonna get the record? Are you gonna get the record?’
“That’s a lot of stress on a person to have to constantly answer that question. And he’s handled it so well, so graciously. He’s done just a fantastic job.”
Curwensville coach Matt Wassil, who was on the Clearfield staff before returning for his second stint with the Golden Tide, added, “Will’s a great kid. Always had a strong worth ethic.
“I just know from the few years I was with them, the kid would listen to everything you had to say, so I’m glad for him. He deserves it.”
Glunt wasn’t sure what to expect from Myers, though, after watching him during the after-school shootaround, at halftime of the junior varsity game and prior to tipoff.
“He made one shot,” Glunt proclaimed. “He literally missed every other shot. He definitely was nervous.
“But once the game started his natural ability came out and just took over.”
Unselfish to a fault sometimes, like his teammates, Myers didn’t seem to be in a hurry to look for his shots while his fellow starters tallied the first seven points and built a 12-4 lead through three minutes.
“Will didn’t come out and try to force it,” Glunt said. “He just played basketball.”
Myers contributed a pair of treys to an 18-0 run that had the Golden Tide reeling, 27-8, at the end of the first quarter.
He scored the last six points of a 15-0 run early in the second period and added a deep three with time winding down in the half, which ended with him having 15 points in the book and the Bison well on their way to a Mercy Rule win with a 52-17 bulge.
Myers’ record-breaking basket proved to be his final points as the running clock started 24 seconds later on a field goal by Evan Brown that were the last of his 13 points.
Tommy Hazel, who leapfrogged Mark Crossan (Class of 1981) into sixth place on Clearfield’s all-time scoring list Friday night at Penns Valley, turned in another outstanding all-around game with 16 points, a team-high seven rebounds, four steals and two assists.
Brown and Myers grabbed six rebounds apiece and were credited with four and two steals, respectively.
Jon Gates, one of six reserves to dent the scoring column, chipped in 10 points, including two of Clearfield’s 11 baskets from behind the arc.
The Bison shot a red-hot 51.5 percent (34-for-66) from the field for a season-high in points, doubled up the Golden Tide in rebounds, 40-20, and were guilty of only five turnovers in stretching their second long winning streak to 11 for a 20-1 record.
“We played almost flawlessly,” Glunt said. “When you play that unselfishly, the game is so easy. And all of our kids played so well, crashing the boards, not settling for threes, attacking the basket.
“The challenge now will be to continue to play like this.”
Only three players scored for the 3-15 Golden Tide, who were without one of their top scorers, Zach Marshall, because of illness.
Josh Terry topped the visitors with 14 points, Devan Barrett had 13 and Christian Bakaysa added 10.
“Individually, I thought we had some solid play, and those three played well at times,” Wassil said.
“It’s just a matter of us being a more cohesive unit and kind of working all those things together so it’s more consistent play.”
Wassil acknowledged the way the Bison go at it, moving all the time on both ends of the floor and especially making it difficult for opponents to get many open looks, should be a goal for his team.
“”Our kids played hard, but there’s a definite difference right now in our programs,” he said. “They’re at a different end of the spectrum than we are. Their four senior starters have logged so many valuable varsity minutes and they work together so well. And defensively, they’re a unit. They play five as one.
“I just told our guys this is a good high water mark to look at. I’m not saying our program can get there in a year, but I said to them that’s what happens when you get a group of guys in the gym and they work together as a team over and over again.
“We have choices to make. We can keep doing what we’re doing and stay where we’re at, or we can make some changes in the offseason and work to get at a high level of play and have higher expectations.”
Curwensville had an all-underclassmen lineup, and Glunt believes the Golden Tide can be much-improved next season.
“Matt does such a good job with them, and if they put in the work during the offseason, I think they’ve got a really good chance to have a really good team,” Glunt said.
Clearfield will bring down the curtain on their regular schedule Wednesday when they host Philipsburg-Osceola in the Mountain League finale.
Curwensville swings back into Allegheny Mountain League South Division Tuesday with a home game against DuBois Central Catholic.
In the prelim that was tied late in the third quarter, the Clearfield junior varsity pulled away to a 45-31 win with Ryan Chew’s 10 points leading the way. Avery Francisco scored 13 for Curwensville.
CURWENSVILLE — 37
Devan Barrett 5 3-3 13, Noah Von Gunden 0 0-0 0, Avery Francisco 0 0-0 0, Christian Bakaysa 5 0-0 10, Josh Terry 7 0-0 14, Dakota Bloom 0 0-0 0, Nate McKenrick 0 0-0 0, Jeremy Irwin 0 0-0 0, Jordan Demko 0 0-0 0. TOTALS: 17 3-3 17.
CLEARFIELD — 85
Evan Brown 6 0-0 13, Reese Wilson 3 1-1 7, Dave McKenzie 1 3-4 5, Tommy Hazel 6 2-3 16, Will Myers 8 0-0 20, Jon Gates 4 0-0 10, Ethan McGinnis 1 0-0 2, Keegan Hess 1 0-0 3, Ryan Chew 0 0-0 0, Taye Lynch 0 0-0 0, Wyatt Porter 1 0-0 3, Jarrit Wagner 0 0-0 0, Cade Walker 1 0-0 2. TOTALS: 34 6-8 85.
Three-Point Field Goals – Clearfield 11 (Brown 1, Hazel 2, Myers 4, Gates 2, Hess 1, Porter 1).
Score by Quarters
Curwensville 8 9 10 10 – 37
Clearfield 27 25 14 19 – 85
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 |
| 02/01 | BALD EAGLE AREA | 68 – 36 | 18 – 1 |
| 02/03 | @ Penns Valley | 66 – 55 | 19 – 1 |
| 02/06 | CURWENSVILLE | 85 – 37 | 20 – 1 |
| 02/08 | PHILIPSBURG-OSCEOLA |
