HYDE — After holding on for a huge win this past Friday night, the Lady Bison felt confident and were energized heading into the last few days of January. The Bison Gym welcomed the white and red squad back to the home court ready to face off with another Mountain League foe in the Golden Lady Eagles of Tyrone, a team that Clearfield lost to 60-37 nearly two weeks prior.
The first three minutes, things went all in favor of Clearfield, who broke out to a 12-3 advantage, putting the black and orange visitors on edge, and forcing a time out.
Immediately after, it was as though a concrete wall suddenly went up, because Tyrone began dealing quickly, and often. The final five minutes of the first quarter summed up the remainder of the game, as the Golden Lady Eagles went on a roll that never stopped until the final buzzer when the scoreboard showed Tyrone victorious, 65-41.
Lady Bison head coach Joey Castagnolo could not believe what he witnessed, because when the game began, his team got out to that 12-3 lead thanks to baskets by Brooke Cline, Megan Durandetta and Alayna Ryan. When Tyrone called the timeout at 5:06 left in the first quarter, he saw a lot of confidence in his team.
That confidence began evaporating as Tyrone would finish the quarter on a 20-2 run when Sydney Shaw and Mia Kosoglow combined to go 6-for-10 on the floor, including four shots from deep behind the arc.
“They went on a run, and before you knew it, it (the score) was 20-12,” Castagnolo said. “They are a good team. We came out battling, and just couldn’t keep up with them.”
Even with the lead, Tyrone would not stop pressing the Lady Bison defense, but were not as successful in the second quarter on the floor, hitting only four shots with only one from deep range. But it was Emily Lehman keeping her team with many possessions and second-chance opportunities.
Her night ended with a double-double with 17 points, plus a game-high 16 rebounds. Three other Lady Eagles finished the night in double figures, with Shaw having a game-high 19 points, plus Kosoglow and Payton Wagner accounting for 10 points each. Kosoglow was nearly at a double-double herself, coming up just short with eight assists.
The third quarter, according to Castagnolo, was the one that ultimately did them in, as his team only made two baskets in eight minutes, with most of their attempts being from three-point range. Clearfield was only 2-for-21 in the quarter, and were out-rebound by Tyrone, which gave the Golden Lady Eagles their opportunities on the opposite end of the court.
“We were one-and-done. We took one shot, they boxed out perfect on us, and after about five trips down the court, they went down and scored,” he said.
The pace of the game in the final quarter was slowed down, but both squads still played hard. Ryan had a big final quarter, accounting for three of her eight steals, to go along with her nine points. Cline finished the night with a team-high 12 points, while Nikki Brossard led Clearfield with 13 rebounds.
Clearfield fell in the opening jayvee game as well, 30-20.
Even sitting at 6-12, Castagnolo still has aspirations of making it to the playoffs, but also is aware that with only four games left in the season, it will take a possible upset of another Mountain League team to push them into contention. Three of the four games remaining this season are against Mountain League foes, and the Lady Bison coach feels they could surprise each one with a victory if things fall their way.
“We can do it. But, we came out with so much momentum tonight, and I thought we could do it,” he said. “We just fizzled out. The effort was there, we just couldn’t make the shots like we did against Bellefonte.”
The first of those games comes this Friday night, on the road, against Bald Eagle Area. It’s a 6 p.m. tip for the jayvee game, with varsity action to follow.
SCORE BY QUARTER
Tyrone 23 17 17 8 – 65
Clearfield 14 14 8 5 – 41
Tyrone – 65
Kosoglow 3 2-4 10, Fusco 1 0-0 2, Michenfelder 1 2-2 4, Sh. Shaw 0 0-0 0, Ronan 0 0-0 0, Wagner 3 4-6 10, Jackson 0 0-0 0, Greene 0 0-0 0, Johnson 1 0-0 3, Sy. Shaw 7 2-2 19, Kohler 0 0-0 0, Lehman 4 9-11 17. TOTALS 20 19-25 65.
Clearfield – 41
Durandetta 2 1-2 7, Brossard 2 1-2 5, Cline 5 0-2 12, Ryan 4 0-0 9, Vantassel 1 0-0 3, Gisewhite 0 0-0 0, Rowles 0 0-0 0, Alt 1 0-0 2, Rhine 0 0-0 0, Miller 1 1-2 3. TOTALS 16 3-8 41.
GAME STATISTICS
Tyrone/Clearfield
Shooting: 20-60/16-66
Rebounds: 37/34
Fouls: 10/14
Turnovers: 14/15
Three-Point Field Goals: Kosoglow (2), Sy. Shaw (3), Johnson/Durandetta (2), Cline (2), Ryan, Vantaseel
Fouled Out: Miller
Lady Bison Scoreboard:
| Date | Opponent | Score | Record |
| 12/09 | @ Brookville Tip-off Tourney | ||
| 12/09 | vs. North Clarion | 51 – 58 | 0 – 1 |
| 12/10 | vs. Clarion-Limestone | 60 – 19 | 1 – 1 |
| 12/13 | @ Central | 30 – 46 | 1 – 2 |
| 12/15 | HUNTINGDON | 32 – 54 | 1 – 3 |
| 12/18 | @ Brookville | 48 – 65 | 1 – 4 |
| 12/19 | BELLEFONTE | 51 – 42 | 2 – 4 |
| 12/22 | @ DuBois | 36 – 41 | 2 – 5 |
| 12/28 | @ Curwensville | 45 – 15 | 3 – 5 |
| 01/03 | PUNXSUTAWNEY | 24 – 41 | 3 – 6 |
| 01/05 | @ Tyrone | ppd. | 3 – 6 |
| 01/09 | BALD EAGLE AREA | 45 – 22 | 4 – 6 |
| 01/12 | @ Penns Valley | 30 – 53 | 4 – 7 |
| 01/15 | @ St. Marys | 35 – 53 | 4 – 8 |
| 01/17 | PHILIPSBURG-OSCEOLA | 65 – 58 | 5 – 8 |
| 01/19 | CENTRAL | 26 – 40 | 5 – 9 |
| 01/20 | @ Tyrone | 37 – 60 | 5 – 10 |
| 01/23 | @ Huntingdon | 50 – 55 | 5 – 11 |
| 01/26 | @ Bellefonte | 62 – 60 | 6 – 11 |
| 01/31 | TYRONE | 41 – 65 | 6 – 12 |
| 02/02 | @ Bald Eagle Area | ||
| 02/06 | PENNS VALLEY | ||
| 02/09 | @ Philipsburg-Osceola | ||
| 02/13 | CURWENSVILLE |