PUNXSUTAWNEY – For the second game in a row the Clearfield Area High School boys basketball team faltered in the second half losing to Punxsutawney 68-54 Monday night on the Chucks’ home court.
Clearfield, which trailed by only four at intermission, 30-26, was outscored by Punxsutawney 38-28 in the second 16 minutes and most importantly being outscored 21-9 in the third quarter.
The Bison trailed the Chucks 7-2 early in the first quarter but baskets by Cade Walker and Taye Lynch along with two Reese Wilson free throws had Clearfield in front 8-7 with a little over four minutes left to play in the first eight minutes.
Punxsy finished the opening frame on a 6-4 run, giving the home team a 13-12 margin heading into the second quarter.
Lynch gave Clearfield its final lead at 18-17 on a bucket and foul shot at the 6:05 point of the second.
A 7-0 run gave the Chucks a 24-18 edge with half of the second period remaining, that would then be stretched to eight, 28-20 less than a minute later.
Clearfield hung tough with field goals by Lynch and Walker and with two foul shots by Ryan Chew to cut the lead to 30-26 at the half.
Then came the fatal third quarter when Punxsy outscored Clearfield 21-9 to bolt to a commanding 51-35 lead heading into the final eight minutes.
Clearfield never did get much closer in the fourth as the loss dropped the Bison to 3-5 on the 2017-18 campaign.
Three players hit for double figures for the Bison with Wilson scoring 11 and Walker and Lynch each chipping in with 10 tallies.
Lynch’s points came off of the bench for the junior.
The Chucks had four players in double figures with Brandon Matthews leading all scorers with 19, followed by Issac Stouffer with 13, Kevin Constant with 12 and Tyler Richardson adding 10 as the Chucks improved to 4-3 on the season.
Punxsutawney was eight of 12 from the foul line while Clearfield did well, going 16 of 22 from the charity stripe.
Clearfield did win the junior varsity game, beating the Chucks by a score of 48-41.
The Bison will try to stop a three game losing streak as it hits the road again on Wednesday night, traveling to battle Bald Eagle Area in a Mountain League game with JV action starting at 6 pm and the varsity to immediately follow.
CLEARFIELD – 54
Cade Walker 4 2-2 10, Johnny Gates 3 1-2 8, Reese Wilson 4 3-5 11, Ryan Chew 1 2-2 4, Wyatt
Porter 0 2-2 2, Taye Lynch 3 4-7 10, Keagan Hess 0 0-0 0, Jake Lezzer 1 2-2 4, Karson Rumsky 2 0-0 5, Barrett Kline 0 0-0 0, Andy Lopez 0 0-0 0, Jake Billotte 0 0-0 0
TOTALS – 18 16-22 54
PUNXSUTAWNEY – 68
Tyler Richardson 5 0-1 10, Kevin Constant 4 1-2 12, Issac Stouffer 5 3-5 13, Brandon Matthews 7 4-4 19, Ethan Blose 3 0-0 6, Willie Hoover 1 0-0 2, Tyler Getch 0 0-0 0, Micah Kriebel 1 0-0 2, Daren
Byers 1 0-0 2, Andrew Wehrle 0 0-0 0, Mark Hanley 0 0-0 0, Cameron Smith 1 0-0 2, Evan
Humble 0 0-0 0
TOTALS – 28 8-12 68
SCORE BY QUARTERS:
CLEARFIELD 12 14 9 19 54
PUNXSUTAWNEY 13 17 21 17 68
THREE-POINTERS: CLEARFIELD – 2 Gates, Lynch PUNXSUTAWNEY – 4 Constant 3, Matthews
OFFICIALS: Emery Faith, Chuck Pasternak, Scott Sullivan
Bison Scoreboard:
| Date | Opponent | Score | Record |
| 12/08 | CURWENSVILLE | 54 – 52 | 1 – 0 |
| 12/13 | CENTRAL | 45 – 56 | 1 – 1 |
| 12/15 | @ Huntingdon | 62 – 85 | 1 – 2 |
| 12/20 | @ Bellefonte | 50 – 41 | 2 – 2 |
| 12/28 | @ Purchase Line Christmas Tourney | ||
| 12/28 | vs. Harmony | 73-31 | 3 – 2 |
| 12/29 | @ Purchase Line Christmas Tourney | ||
| 12/29 | vs. Purchase Line | 45 – 56 | 3 – 3 |
| 01/05 | TYRONE | 56 – 63 | 3 – 4 |
| 01/08 | @ Punxsutawney | 54 – 68 | 3 – 5 |
| 01/10 | @ Bald Eagle Area | ||
| 01/12 | PENNS VALLEY | ||
| 01/15 | @ Clarion-Limestone | ||
| 01/16 | @ Philipsburg-Osceola | ||
| 01/19 | @ Central | ||
| 01/22 | DUBOIS | ||
| 01/24 | HUNTINGDON | ||
| 01/26 | BELLEFONTE | ||
| 01/30 | @ Tyrone | ||
| 02/01 | BROOKVILLE | ||
| 02/02 | BALD EAGLE AREA | ||
| 02/07 | @ Penns Valley | ||
| 02/09 | PHILIPSBURG-OSCEOLA | ||
| 02/12 | @ Curwensville |