BROOKVILLE — The Clearfield Area High School girls basketball team faced a double whammy at the Brookville Tip-Off Tournament Friday afternoon and wound up on the short end of a 54-30 final.
Not only did the Lady Bison encounter a Lady Raider squad with everybody back from a run to the PIAA Class AAA second round after winning the District 9 championship, but they also had to contend with the entire cheering, foot-stomping Brookville Junior-Senior High School student body.
That combination alone made it a difficult assignment for the Lady Bison, but they compounded their troubles with poor shooting, finishing at 17 percent with only 11 field goals, just two in the first half which ended 21-9.
“The biggest thing was we missed a lot of good shots that could have got us back in it and would have changed he game,” Clearfield coach Joey Castagnolo said. “I thought, as a young team, we held our composure with this atmosphere, and I think the kids will learn from this.”
Juniors Tesa Miller and Faith Ogden made two field goals apiece in the fourth quarter to wind up topping the Lady Bison with nine and eight points, respectively.
Point guard Alayna Ryan, one of five players named to the D9Sports.com Preseason All-District 9 Team that includes Lady Raider Marcy Schindler, really struggled on offense against a defense that constantly hounded her with double-teams and triple-teams as soon as she touched the ball.
“It’s gonna happen all year long, so the other girls will have to pick up the slack,” Castagnolo said. “They’ll have to make a few dribbles instead of just Alyana all the time.”
Ryan, who registered six assists, attempted nearly a third of Clearfield’s shots but connected on only one to go with two free throws for one of the lowest outputs of her career.
She never really got a good look as one or more Lady Raiders had a hand in her face every time she shot.
The senior playmaker didn’t let her lack of scoring affect her defense as she recorded nine steals.
Brookville’s pressure took its toll especially in the first 16 minutes as the Lady Bison had just one field in each period while sinking five of nine free throws.
Seven Lady Raiders dented the scoring column to build the 12-point advantage at intermission, and Schindler tallied six of her 10 points as the margin grew to 36-17 by the end of the third quarter.
After Miller scored the first basket of the final period, Schindler scored seven of her game-high 13 points to key a 13-0 run that gave the Lady Raiders their largest lead, 49-19, with 3:11 remaining.
The Lady Bison did answer with 11 consecutive points, including back-to-back three-pointers from the left wing by Ogden, before the Lady Raiders closed it out with five points in the final minute.
Brookville shot 41 percent from the floor, with a large number of the makes in the paint, and dominated under the glass, 50-37.
Clearfield had 19 turnovers, 10 fewer than the hosts.
“With them pressing Alayna all the time and us playing up-tempo, we’re gonna have some turnovers,” Castagnolo said. “I thought we did okay on their press in the first half. We were staying in the middle of the court. As we got more and more tired, they forced us more into the corners. It’s a good philosophy.
“I can’t say I’m too disappointed because I have so many new faces. They’re all gonna have to grow from this.”
The Lady Bison will try to bounce back against Clarion-Limestone in Saturday’s 2 p.m. consolation game. The Lady Lions were beaten by North Clarion, 64-22.
CLEARFIELD — 30
Megan Durandetta 0 0-0 0, Emma Hipps 2 1-2 5, Faith Ogden 3 0-0 8, Tesa Miller 4 1-1 9, Alayna Ryan 1 2-5 4, Olivia Bender 0 2-2 2, McLain Alto 0 0-0 0, Kylie Van Tassel 0 0-0 0, Adrian Rowles 0 0-0 0, Paige Rhine 1 0-0 2. TOTALS: 11 6-10 30.
BROOKVILLE — 54
Lexis Hatzinikolas 2 0-0 4, Madison Johnson 1 0-0 2, Morgan Johnson 4 4-4 13, Kira Powell 2 0-0 6, Marcy Schindler 4 2-4 11, Jillian Taylor 2 0-0 4, Lauren Hergert 4 0-0 8, Jenna Grant 2 0-0 4, Leah Kammerdeiner 0 0-0 0, Sophie Sharp 0 0-0 0, Brooke Ganoe 0 0-0 0, Mikayla Aikens 1 1-2 3. TOTALS: 22 7-10 54.
Three-Point Field Goals – Clearfield 2 (Ogden 2); Brookville 3 (Mo. Johnson 1, Power (2).
Score by Quarters
Clearfield 4 5 8 13 – 30
Brookville 13 8 15 18 – 54
Officials – Ron Dolby, John Fricker and Karen Davis.