DUBOIS — Nobody said it would be easy, but the Clearfield Area High School boys basketball team found a way to extend the program’s record for consecutive District 9 championships to four by defeating Bradford 42-36 in the Class AAAA title game on the DuBois Area High School hardwood Wednesday night.
It was a four-peat for the Bison, who came into the season with one returning starter and a new-look, youthful bench and a three-year run, two in Class AAA and 2017 in Class AAAA, behind a quartet of players who left behind an unprecedented, great legacy.
And the Bison had their share of doubters.
“It means so much to me that the kids got to experience this,” Clearfield coach Nate Glunt said. “They work so hard. We had so much participation in the offseason. The kids put in the time in. They battled in practice.
“People came up to me after the year we had last year and said, ‘I don’t know what’s going to happen next year,’ and we had some guys, our seniors, who led us, and our young guys stepped up.
“I’m so happy for them.”
The large contingent of Bison fans in the near-capacity crowd didn’t have much to cheer about during an ugly first half, though.
Hard-nosed, in-your-face man defense by both teams dominated, and the Bison managed only six points in each of the first two quarters, shooting 6-for-21 from the field.
“That was the worst our offense played all season,” Glunt said. “Coach (Brian) Hobbs does a good job with their kids. He came out with a good game plan. They played solid defense that forced us to take tough shots.”
Only a highlight-reel play by Ryan Chew kept the No. 1-seeded Owls in sight, 17-12.
With time running out, the gritty Bison senior received the ball on the left wing, drove all the way across the lane and flipped in a two-pointer while falling as the halftime buzzer sounded.
“Being down five instead of seven in such a low-scoring game, it was a huge play,” Glunt said. “I didn’t think we’d get a shot off. And it was a contested shot, too.”
Whether that was a momentum changer or not, the Bison came out of the locker room and, sparked by Reese Wilson, turned the game around in the third quarter, scoring the last 11 points after Tyler Gigliotti had pushed Bradford’s lead to 19-12.
Scoreless in the first half, Wilson canned a foul line jumper to trigger what would be an 18-0 run into the fourth period that had the Bison in front 30-19 with 5:41 remaining.
The senior guard, a member of all four title squads, followed up with two free throws and then a three-pointer from the right corner that knotted the score at 19 five minutes into the third period.
“Reese came up to me at the half and said, ‘Coach Glunt, if they give me a little space, can I shoot the three? I said, ‘Go ahead Reese. Stick it.’
“He had a good drive to score the first one and then made a three off the dribble which just got all the momentum going, and we were able to carry that on the rest of the game.”
Cade Walker put the Bison ahead to stay with a drive and short fadeaway jumper a little over a minute later, and Chew added two free throws to make it 23-19 going to the final eight minutes.
Wilson hit one of two foul shots, Taye Lynch netted four of his eight points and Jon Gates had a putback before Steven Knowlton drove for the Owls’ first points in 10 minutes and 14 seconds.
“Lynch made some big plays on the fast break and on the offensive boards,” Glunt said. “It was a great effort by Taye.”
Walker offset Knowlton’s bucket on an amazing dish from Wilson, who was sitting on the floor after coming down with an offensive rebound, but Bradford (14-9) immediately began a charge with a Gigliotti trey that sliced Clearfield’s lead to 32-29 with 2:20 to go.
Wilson answered with a driving layup and cashed four of the Bison’s eight made foul shots in the final 1:30 that prevented the Owls from making it a one-possession game.
“Our defense won the game,” Glunt said. “We held them to two points for the first 10 minutes of the second half. That was the difference.”
Wilson finished with a double-double, 14 points and 10 rebounds, both game-highs. He had eight boards in the second half.
Hard-earned and well-deserved, the win sends the 15-9 Bison, who were seeded No. 2, into the PIAA Tournament against the No. 5 District 7 (WPIAL) seed, Valley or South Fayette, next Friday, March 9, at a site and time to be determined.
For the Owls, guards Deondre Terwilliger and Gigliotti both were held under their 15-point averages, winding up with 12 and 11, respectively.
CLEARFIELD — 42
Ryan Chew 2 3-4 7, Reese Wilson 3 7-10, Jon Gates 1 2-4 4, Wyatt Porter 1 0-1 2, Cade Walker 3 1-5 7, Taye Lynch 3 2-3 8, Karson Rumsky 0 0-0 0, Jake Lezzer 0 0-0 0, Keegan Hess 0 0-0 0. TOTALS: 13 15-27 42.
BRADFORD — 36
Alec Kuzmeskas 0 0-0 0, Donny Pattison 1 0-2 3, Tyler Gigliotti 5 1-1 11, Deondre Terwilliger 4 2-4 11, Dan Manion 0 0-0 0, Adam Boyer 1 5-6 7, Brice Whelan 0 0-1 0, Steven Knowlton 2 0-0 4, Caleb Nuzzo 0 0-0 0. TOTALS: 13 8-14 36.
Three-Point Field Goals — Clearfield 1 (Wilson); Bradford 2 (Gigliotti, Terwilliger).
Score by Quarters
Clearfield 6 6 11 19 – 42
Bradford 9 8 2 17 – 36
Officials — Colin Gaiser, Kevin Mortimer and Kevin Dauber.