WINGATE — With Reese Wilson leading the way, the Clearfield Area High School boys basketball team got back on the winning track by defeating host Bald Eagle Area 53-45 in Mountain League action Wednesday night.
Wilson registered a double-double with a career-high 16 points and 11 rebounds in the Bison’s much-needed win that snapped a three-game skid.
“It’s big, especially a conference win on the road,” Bison coach Nate Glunt said. “Wilson stepped up. He set the tone by the way he practiced (Tuesday) night. He gave us that senior leadership.”
Wilson rounded out his effort with two assists and two steals.
Jon Gates and Taye Lynch contributed 10 points apiece, while Ryan Chew was credited with four assists to go with a pair of three-pointers in the second quarter that, coupled with Wilson’s five points, enabled the Bison to maintain most of the 9-2 lead they established in the first period.
Ahead 24-18 at intermission, Clearfield (4-5, 2-3 ML) came out and stretched the margin with a 15-10 third quarter, including five points by Gates, that was a welcome sight for Glunt.
“That was so good to see, because we’ve been struggling in third quarters,” he noted. “We had only one turnover and pushed the lead out to 11 going into the fourth quarter. Then, we were able to make foul shots down the stretch.”
The Bison were 6-for-8 at the charity stripe in the final eight minutes with Wilson netting half of their 14 points.
“It was a great team win,” Glunt said . “We played 10 players and showed so much improvement from Monday (a 68-54 loss at Punxsutawney) when we had only 11 rebounds. We had 29 tonight.
“Our kids showed a lot of character and resilience. I know it’s a different team, but we played a lot better. I‘m very proud of them.”
Glunt also made it a point to cite the valuable minutes logged by the five reserves, led by Lynch with his second double-figure game in a row.
“Give credit to BEA, too,” he added. “Coach (Bill) Butterworth does a great job. And the older Jones made two big threes to keep them in the game in the fourth quarter.”
Jordan Jones, who had a pair of treys earlier, paced the Eagles (3-6, 2-3 ML) with 17 points.
After playing six of the last seven games on the road, Clearfield will be back in Bison Gym Friday night to go against Penns Valley.
Mountain League Standings — Huntingdon 5-0, Tyrone 4-1, Central 4-1, Clearfield 2-3, Bald Eagle Area 2-3, Bellefonte 1-3, Penns Valley 1-4, Philipsburg-Osceola 0-4.
CLEARFIELD — 53
Ryan Chew 2 0-0 6, Reese Wilson 6 3-4 16, Jon Gates 3 2-2 10, Wyatt Porter 1 0-0 2, Cade Walker 2 3-6 7, Taye Lynch 3 4-4 10, Karson Rumsky 0 0-0 0, Jake Lezzer 0 0-0 0, Keegan Hess 1 0-0 2, Andrew Lopez 0 0-0 0. TOTALS: 18 12-16 53.
BALD EAGLE AREA — 45
Jaden Jones 2 0-0 5, Jordan Jones 5 3-4 17, Garrett Barnhart 1 3-3 5, Drew Bucha 1 4-6 6, Mark Eminhizer 2 0-0 4, Andrew Dubbs 2 2-7 6, Mike Habovick 0 0-0 0, Logan Fetzer 1 0-0 2. TOTALS: 14 12-20 45.
Three-Point Field Goals — Clearfield 5 (Chew 2, Wilson 1, Gates 2); Bald Eagle Area 5 (Ja. Jones 1, Jo. Jones 4).
Score by Quarters
Clearfield 9 15 15 14 – 53
Bald Eagle Area 2 16 10 17 – 45
| 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 | 56 – 45 | 4 – 5 |
| 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 |