HYDE — The Clearfield Area High School girls basketball team goes into Thursday evening’s District 9 Class AAAA championship game against top-seeded Punxsutawney with a couple of extra incentives in addition to avenging a regular season loss.
The Lady Bison, who have not played since Feb. 8, will be seeking to halt a long losing streak in what has become a one-sided series with their district rivals as well as end a district title drought that stretches back to 2000, when coach Joey Castagnolo’s first team won the Class AAAA crown.
Castagnolo’s major concerns for the 6 p.m. tip-off at DuBois High School, though, are the way the Lady Bison (11-11) played down the stretch, losing five of their last six games, and how they’ll perform following the extra-long layoff.
“We were banged up a little bit after the last regular season game and the whole team got the flu, so the layoff was good for about a week and a half,” he said. “Then, last week was good. We had a scrimmage week just to get in some running.
“Now, we have to worry about Punxsy. We‘ll need a quick start, confidence-wise.”
Clearfield teams have really struggled against Punxsy since a 60-55 double-overtime win Dec. 19, 2011.
The last 10 games have resulted in defeats by double-digit margins, including 50-33 Jan. 3.
Leah Miller, a junior center averaging 16.9 points and 14.8 rebounds, was a one-player wrecking crew with 32 points, 10 in each of the first two periods as the Lady Chucks built a 26-14 lead, and 21 rebounds.
“She’s big and she’s a nice player,” Castagnolo said. “We have to be concerned where she is at all times.”
That strategy backfired somewhat with sophomore Kate Horner (13.3 ppg) getting open looks outside and hitting a trio of three-pointers for the bulk of her 15 points.
“That was a strange game, because their other guards can score, too, not just those two girls,” Castagnolo said.
Seniors Allie Lunger and Morgan VanLeer join Horner in the backcourt.
The Lady Bison were able to cut their deficit to single digits midway through the third period.
“Then, we had turnovers against their press that really bothered us,” Castagnolo said. “They’ll zone trap you with Miller, and when she’s out, they’ll go man.
“We turned the ball over so much we were always playing catch-up.”
Horner was credited with seven steals for the District 9 League champion Lady Chucks (17-4), who have won five games in a row and 15 of their last 16.
They’ll will be seeking their third consecutive title as they defeated Bradford 36-28 last year after ousting the Lady Bison 55-38 in the semifinals for the final AAA championship before the PIAA went to a six-classification format.
A very good shooting percentage and avoiding foul trouble will be important for the Lady Bison, according to Castagnolo.
The season-long starters have been playmaker Alayna Ryan (15.0 ppg), wings Brooke Cline (11.7 ppg) and Ally Lindstrom (8.2 ppg) and forwards Nikki Brossard (5.1 ppg) and Niki Chew (3.2 ppg.), and they have accounted for all but 36 of the Lady Bison points.
Freshman Tessa Miller has 27 as the first player off the bench.
Clearfield is making its first championship game appearance since a 56-28 loss to St. Marys in 2009.
The winner will advance to the PIAA Class AAAA Playoffs against District 7’s No. 5 seed Friday, March 10.
Lady Bison Scoreboard:
| Date | Opponent | Score | Record |
| 12/09&10 | @ Brookville Tip-off Tourney | ||
| 12/09 | vs. Clarion-Limestone | 64 – 22 | 1 – 0 |
| 12/10 | vs. North Clarion | 39 – 51 | 1 – 1 |
| 12/14 | @ Central | 24 – 64 | 1 – 2 |
| 12/16 | HUNTINGDON | 43 – 35 | 2 – 2 |
| 12/19 | BELLEFONTE | 52 – 55 | 2 – 3 |
| 12/21 | @ Tyrone | 47 – 65 | 2 – 4 |
| 12/23 | DUBOIS | 52 – 45 | 3 – 4 |
| 12/28 | CURWENSVILLE | 52 – 51 | 4 – 4 |
| 01/03 | @ Punxsutawney | 33 – 50 | 4 – 5 |
| 01/06 | BALD EAGLE AREA | 46 – 27 | 5 – 5 |
| 01/09 | BROOKVILLE | 45 – 25 | 6 – 5 |
| 01/10 | @ Penns Valley | ppd. | 6 – 5 |
| 01/13 | PHILIPSBURG-OSCEOLA | 58 – 55 | 7 – 5 |
| 01/16 | ST. MARYS | 34 – 27 | 8 – 5 |
| 01/18 | CENTRAL | 23 – 36 | 8 – 6 |
| 01/20 | @ Huntingdon | 55 – 52 | 9 – 6 |
| 01/23 | @ Bellefonte | 39 – 34 | 10 – 6 |
| 01/25 | @ Penns Valley | 38 – 53 | 10 – 7 |
| 01/27 | TYRONE | 48 – 71 | 10 – 8 |
| 02/01 | @ Bald Eagle Area | 49 – 42 | 11 – 8 |
| 02/03 | PENNS VALLEY | 31 – 42 | 11 – 9 |
| 02/07 | @ Philipsburg-Osceola | 57 – 73 | 11 – 10 |
| 02/08 | @ Curwensville | 54 – 57 ot | 11 – 11 |
| 03/02 | District 9-AAAA Finals | ||
| 03/02 | vs. Punxsutawney |