SPRING MILLS — Penns Valley was 10-for-12 at the foul line and outscored Clearfield 16-12 in the fourth quarter to edge the Bison 38-36 in Mountain League schoolboy basketball action Thursday night.
The Rams led 9-6 after one quarter, but the Bison inched ahead 15-14 at intermission and took a 24-22 advantage into the final eight minutes of the defensive duel.
Sophomore Logan Snyder netted five of his six free throws in the decisive fourth period to finish 9-for-11 at the charity stripe with a pair of three-pointers for a game-high 15 points.
Foul shots made the difference with the Rams making 18 to the Bison’s eight.
Jon Gates topped Clearfield with eight points in the makeup of last week’s postponement.
“I thought our kids played a solid basketball game,” Bison coach Nate Glunt said. “Anytime you play Penns Valley, the score is going to be low because of their style of play.
“Saying that, I thought we played fundamentally sound defense and held a good team under 40 points.
“Offensively, we didn’t have many turnovers and took good shots. We were one or two made shots away from winning.”
The Bison, who rallied to beat the Rams 40-28 at home Jan. 12, closed the regular season 13-9 and wound up in fourth place in the league at 8-6.
They’ll play in Bison Gym one more time when they host a District 9 Class AAAA semifinal next week, with the opponent, date and time to be announced by the District 9 Basketball Committee this weekend.
Penns Valley (11-11) also is playoff bound as the No. 7 seed in District 6 Class AAA. The Rams will play at No. 2 Ligonier Valley Wednesday.
Three other Mountain League teams are entered in the District 6 Class AAAA Playoffs, with champion Huntingdon the No. 1 seed, Tyrone No. 2 and Central No. 4.
Mountain League final standings —– Huntingdon 13-1, Tyrone 11-3 , Central 9-5, Clearfield 8-6, Penns Valley 6-8, Bald Eagle Area 4-10, Bellefonte 4-10, Philipsburg-Osceola 1-13.
CLEARFIELD — 36
Ryan Chew 2 0-1 4, Reese Wilson 3 0-0 6, Jon Gates 3 1-1 8, Wyatt Porter 1 0-0 2, Cade Walker 1 3-4 6, Taye Lynch 1 0-0 2, Jake Lezzer 1 3-3 5, Keagan Hess 1 1-2 3. TOTALS: 13 8-11 36.
PENNS VALLEY —38
Logan Snyder 2 9-11 15, Charlie Romig 0 1-2 1, Hunter Zimmerman 1 0-0 2, Aaron Tobias 1 2-6 4, Matt Tobias 2 2-3 6, Cole Breon 1 0-0 2, Cameron Shaffer 2 4-6 8. TOTALS: 9 18-28 38.
Three-Point Field Goals — Clearfield 2 (Gates 1, Walker 1); Penns Valley 2 (Snyder 2).
Score by Quarters
Clearfield 6 9 9 12 – 36
Penns Valley 9 5 8 16 – 38
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 | 42 – 35 ot | 10 – 6 |
| 01/30 | @ Tyrone | 43 – 75 | 10 – 7 |
| 02/01 | BROOKVILLE | 38 – 40 | 10 – 8 |
| 02/02 | BALD EAGLE AREA | 64 – 46 | 11 – 8 |
| 02/07 | @ Penns Valley | ppd. | 11 – 8 |
| 02/09 | PHILIPSBURG-OSCEOLA | 51 – 42 | 12 – 8 |
| 02/12 | @ Curwensville | 49 – 29 | 13 – 8 |
| 02/15 | @ Penns Valley | 36 – 38 | 13 – 9 |
| TBD | District 9 AAAA Playoffs |