BROOKVILLE — Clearfield Area High School girls basketball coach Joey Castagnolo should ask to attend the 2018 North Clarion graduation and hand Tori Obenrader her diploma.
He’s seen way too much of her shooting and board work in four consecutive Brookville Tip-Off Tournament losses, including last year when she was named Most Valuable Player after scoring 24 points and snaring 18 rebounds while propelling the She-Wolves to a 51-39 win over the Lady Bison in the championship game.
“She was the difference,” Castagnolo conceded again Friday afternoon when a spirited effort by his Lady Bison fell short in the opener of the 24th Brookville tourney, 58-51, because of the 5-11 senior’s 25-point, 18-point rebound performance.
The Gannon University commit, an All-State Class A First Team selection for her junior season when she averaged 23.5 points and 15.8 rebounds, ballooned her totals to 91 points and 69 rebounds against Clearfield.
She was effective both posting up inside and wheeling to the hoop for left-handed layups and spotting up on the left side for picture-perfect three-point jumpers, sinking three of five attempts in the first half en route to 19 points.
The Lady Bison didn’t back down, though.
In fact, they led twice.
With less than two minutes gone, they went up 7-2 when freshman Megan Durandetta swished her first three-point try, Alayna Ryan found fast-breaking Brooke Cline with a pinpoint pass and Nikki Brossard flipped in a putback.
Early in the second period, Ryan drained a pair of shots just inside the arc out front to put the Lady Bison in the lead 15-13,
The She-Wolves responded with the next nine points, Obenrader banking in a three to cap the run.
North Clarion took a 32-25 into the halftime break and came to expand that to 48-32 with 1:26 remaining in the third period with a 12-0 run during which Clearfield was guilty of turnovers on four possessions in a row.
Abby Gatesman, a 5-11 sophomore, accounted for the first six of those points on her way to backing Obenrader with 14 tallies.
“The Gatesman girl is a lot better than last year,” Castagnolo said. “She surprised me.”
The Lady Bison didn’t quit, though and began what could be a season-altering charge with the last six points of the period.
“We could have rolled over and went through the motions, and I’m just so proud of the way we came back behind the will to win from our leaders,” Castagnolo said.
The rally, with Ryan and Cline the catalysts, continued through the first half of the fourth quarter as the spread was chopped to five, 54-49, with 3:26 on the clock after Ryan made two free throws and then converted a steal into a layup.
However, the Lady Bison managed only two more points, Ryan cashing two free throws with 52.3 seconds that made it 56-51.
They had several opportunities to put the pressure on the She-Wolves but couldn’t take advantage of forcing turnovers with hawking defense.
“We have to capitalize on those,” Castagnolo said. “Against good teams like that, you can’t have a bad turnover or take a bad shot.”
Obenrader, who was D9Sports.com District 9 Rookie of the Year as a freshman and Player of the Year last season, had stopped Clearfield’s 17-6 run on a key putback with 2:21 left for only her fifth and six points of the final 16 minutes.
“We couldn’t stop her in the first half, but we neutralized her in the second half,” Castagnolo said. “We battled right with them. I saw a lot of positive things out there.”
Ryan and Cline netted 17 and 16 points, respectively, for the bulk of the Clearfield points, while Brossard and Durandetta chipped in nine apiece.
The Lady Bison shot just 32.3 percent from the field and were outrebounded 40-31 but, with 19 turnovers, committed five less than the She-Wolves.
Clearfield will play Clarion-Limestone in the 2 p.m. consolation game Saturday. Brookville defeated the Lady Lions 68-22 and will test North Clarion for the championship at 5.
NORTH CLARION — 58
Cierah Manross 2 0-0 r, Gabby Schmader 0 0-0 0, Gabby Carll 3 1-2 8, Abby Gatesman 6 2-4 14, Tori Obenrader 11 0-0 25, McKenzie Bauer 1 1-2 3, Haley Sherman 2 0-0 4. TOTALS: 25 4-12 58.
CLEARFIELD — 51
Tesa Miller 0 0-0 0, Megan Durandetta 3 0-0 9, Alayna Ryan 6 5-5 17, Nikki Brossard 3 3-4 9, Brooke Cline 8 0-2 16, Paige Rhine 0 0-0 0, Karlie Gisewhite 0 0-0 0, McClain Alt 0 0-0 0, Adrian Rowles 0 0-0 0, Kylie VanTassel 0 0-0 0. TOTALS: 20 8-11 51.
Three-Point Field Goals – North Clarion 4 (Carll 1, Obenrader 3); Clearfield 3 (Durandetta 3).
Score by Quarters
North Clarion 11 21 16 10 – 58
Clearfield 9 16 14 12 – 51
Officials – Rich Rhoades, John Fricker and Ron Dolby.