HYDE — The once-beaten and top-seeded Clearfield Area High School boys basketball team, riding a 12-game winning streak and seeking to three-peat as District 9 champion, will get to play in front of the hometown fans one more time with Bradford a late entry into the Class AAAA playoffs.
A win over Punxsutawney Friday night was a must in order for the Owls to advance to the postseason, and they came through with a 58-57 upset in overtime to set up a rematch of last year’s Class AAA semifinal that the Bison dominated.
The Owls were 3-11 in late January before winning five of their last seven games to bring an 8-13 record into Bison Gym Wednesday for the 7 p.m. tip-off.
Clearfield, No. 6 in this week’s Harrisburg PennLive’s state rankings, is 21-1 with a 57-46 loss at Central Jan. 9 the lone hiccup during another outstanding season under coach Nate Glunt, whose three Bison teams have accumulated 64 wins in 72 games.
The Mountain League champions averaged 69.3 points to outscored their opponents by exactly 27 points, allowing more than 48 in only five games.
The veteran Bison lineup that claimed District 9 Class AAA titles the last two years features three high-scoring seniors in Tommy Hazel (417 points, 18.96 ppg), Will Myers (403, 18.32 ppg) and Evan Brown (321, 14.59 ppg) who are complemented by two role players in senior Dave McKenzie, a fourth three-year starter, and junior Reese Wilson.
Myers, who broke into the starting lineup early in his freshman season, has soared to the top of Clearfield’s all-time boys scoring list with 1,405 points, and Hazel joined him in the Bison 1,000-Point Club, currently sixth with 1,098 points.
The Bison have bombarded their foes with 160 three-pointers from 13 players, including 55 by Myers that padded his career total to 209, 34 by Hazel that increased his total to 132 and 30 by Brown, who is four away from triple figures.
The bulk of the bench points have come from sophomore Jon Gates, who has hit 13 treys, senior Ethan McGinnis and junior Ryan Chew.
For Glunt, playing solid man defense and rebounding are the keys for the Bison.
“When we do those things well, we give ourselves the opportunity for success,” he said.
With only one senior starter in Nate Higbie, Bradford is much younger than last year’s team Clearfield defeated 59-34 by limiting the Owls to 20 points until midway through the fourth quarter and outrebounding them 38-12.
“They have a lot of underclassmen playing, including a freshman guard, but they’ve improved a lot,” said Glunt, who saw the Owls beat Punxsy. “They’re a well-coached team, disciplined in what they do.
“They have three excellent guards. They don‘t turn the ball over, and they do a lot of good things. When you have good guard play, you have a chance to beat anybody.”
Joining the 6-1 Higbie in the backcourt are 5-9 junior Deondre Terwilliger and 5-10 freshman Tyler Gigliotti.
Bradford’s big men are junior Dan Manion and sophomore Donny Pattison, both 6-2.
In last year’s game, Terwilliger was second in scoring for the Owls with nine points. Manion had two off the bench. Higbie started but didn’t score.
The Owls will run when they get the opportunity but will work good shots most of the time, according to Glunt.
He added, “Defensively, they’re half man and half zone, and they’ll mix it up.”
Bradford was 2-4 against three of the District 9 League teams that Clearfield, defeating Punxsutawney 65-41, DuBois 62-47 and Brookville 83-59, swept.
The Owls split with Punxsy, losing 56-47 in the first game, and Brookville, winning 53-38 after losing 61-48. They dropped both games to DuBois, 53-47 and 67-47.
Punxsy (14-8) is the No. 2 seed and will host No. 3 St. Marys (13-9) in the other semifinal Wednesday.
The district title game will be scheduled for next week.
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 | 78 – 47 | 21 – 1 |
| 02/22 | District 9 Semifinals | ||
| 02/22 | vs. BRADFORD |