HYDE – After being blown out in mid-December in Huntingdon, 85-62, the Clearfield Bison boys basketball team returned the favor Wednesday night on the Bison home floor, knocking off the previously once beaten Bearcats, 70-53, in Mountain League action..
The upset by Clearfield was fueled greatly at the free throw line where the Bison hit on 20 of 28, with 16 finding the bottom of the net in the final eight minutes.
Clearfield Head Coach Nate Glunt commented afterwards, “I am so proud of these guys for the effort tonight. Our guys kept battling, and battling all night. This was a huge victory for us, so now we will see how we handle success.”
Huntingdon did win the first period, 16 to 12. But it was the only period the Bearcats would come out on top off.
Clearfield trailed by one point three times in the first, (9-8, 11-10 and 13-12) and never did have a first half lead against the top team in the Mountain League.
The Bison did cut in to the Huntingdon lead in the second stanza as it outscored the Bearcats 12-11 to trail by just three at the break, 27-24, thanks to Taye Lynch and Reese Wilson hitting buckets right before the half.
Wilson’s two pointer came right at the buzzer and perhaps it was that score that spurred Clearfield in the second 16 minutes.
Whatever gave Clearfield the energy at the half worked like a charm in the third and fourth quarters.
It was a second half where the Bison truly dominated Huntingdon 46-26 to run away with the best victory of the season for Clearfield.
Wyatt Porter gave Clearfield its first lead of the evening, 31-29, on a three-pointer at the 6:04 mark of the third period. It was a lead they would not give up.
The Bearcats did tie the game at 31-31, but then Clearfield went on a 12-3 run to finish the third and take a nine point edge into the final eight minutes at 43-34. Bison senior Jon Gates had five tallies during the big run.
Then came the final act, the fourth period, and it was Reese Wilson, another senior for Clearfield, who picked up 10 points to keep Huntingdon from having any thoughts of a comeback. Not on this night.
Clearfield put up 27 fourth quarter points and, as mentioned earlier, 16 came from the charity stripe.
Senior Ryan Chew was a perfect six for six from the line in the fourth.
Huntingdon took 31 free throw attempts in the first game in December, but on this night could get to the line only six times.
Wilson, Clearfield’s season point leader, drove the Bison offense with 20 points while Jon Gates dumped in 12 as the Bison improved to 9-6 on the year and 5-4 in the Mountain league.
For Huntingdon, they dropped to 13-2 overall and 8-1 in league play.
Glunt further commented, “We can celebrate this win tonight, but it’s back to work tomorrow. This game shows when you can correct your mistakes (from the first game against Huntingdon) good things will happen. We want to push the ball, but also be able to stay in control, and tonight we did just that.”
In junior varsity action it was Clearfield beating the Bearcats by a score of 47-40. High scorer for the Bison was Andrew Lopez with 20.
Clearfield is at home again on Friday, playing Bellefonte, a team it defeated earlier this season, 50-41. The JV game tips off at 6 pm with the varsity to immediately follow.
HUNTINGDON – 53
Jayton Smith 1 0-0 3, Jonathan Price 4 1-1 11, Owen Lane 6 0-2 12, Will Sulisky 2 0-0 4, Nick Rigby
6 1-1 13, Andrew Miller 1 0-0 3, Jackson Ritchey 1 1-2 4, Nick Gearhart 1 0-0 3
TOTALS – 22 3-6 53
CLEARFIELD – 70
Cade Walker 2 5-6 9, Jon Gates 5 1-4 12, Reese Wilson 7 5-8 20, Ryan Chew 1 6-6 8, Wyatt Porter
3 0-0 8, Jake Lezzer 1 0-0 2, Taye Lynch 3 3-4 9, Keegan Hess 1 0-0 2
TOTALS – 23 20-28 70
SCORE BY QUARTERS:
HUNTINGDON 16 11 7 19 53
CLEARFIELD 12 12 19 27 70
THREE-POINTERS: HUNTINGDON – 6; Price 2, Smith, Miller, Ritchey, Gearhart
CLEARFIELD – 4; Porter 2, Gates, Wilson
OFFICIALS: Barry Abbott, Dave Blair, Chuck Pasternak
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 | 56 – 45 | 4 – 5 |
| 01/12 | PENNS VALLEY | 40 – 28 | 5 – 5 |
| 01/15 | @ Clarion-Limestone | 57 – 41 | 6 – 5 |
| 01/16 | @ Philipsburg-Osceola | 49 – 42 | 7 – 5 |
| 01/19 | @ Central | 46 – 50 | 7 – 6 |
| 01/22 | DUBOIS | 69 – 60 ot | 8 – 6 |
| 01/24 | HUNTINGDON | 70 – 53 | 9 – 6 |
| 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 |