HYDE –The Clearfield Bison basketball team hit the hardwood Friday evening for their fourth game in eight days. They were looking to rebound from their road loss to Penns Valley on Wednesday, but the task was a difficult one as coming in to do battle was the one-loss Central Dragons for this Mountain League contest.
Through the first half, Clearfield had the opposition confused, struggling, and even mystified. For nearly one whole quarter, Central found itself with a goose egg on the scoreboard as Clearfield held the vistors scoreless for seven minutes and 59 seconds. But, that one final second gave the Dragons all the momentum they needed, and it fueled a second half run to take down Clearfield, 53-44.
Both teams were trying early to set themselves up with planned plays to break through the man defense, with Central finding the early success, pushing to a 12-8 advantage before head coach Nate Glunt called timeout to settle his team down.
That decision proved major as the first shot on basket following the time out came from Karson Rumsky when he drained a three-pointer from the post to pull within one. But, the biggest momentum swing for Clearfield came as the quarter came to a close. The Bison worked into the paint, and got the ball to Cade Walker, and he went to work.
As the clock struck zeroes, he managed to barely get a shot off, but it banked off the backboard into the net and after one, Clearfield held the one-point advantage, and also had possession to start the second quarter.
That second quarter was from a defensive perspective, everything one could hope for. The Bison boxed out on rebounds, caused difficult shots, but played smart and held the Dragons scoreless.
It was almost perfect…almost.
The final opportunity for Central came in the closing seconds, as Hunter Klotz found a look on the right side behind the arc, and let the shot fly. In doing so, the horn went off, but so did the whistle. The shot…went in. It added three points to the total, meaning the Dragons avoided being shut out for one quarter of action, and also got a bonus opportunity as Klotz went to the line for a foul shot, which met nothing but the net for a four-point play.
Clearfield held a 20-16 lead at that point, but when the third quarter got going, Central used that momentum from that final shot and made it lopsided.
Klotz found his groove at the base line, draining a pair of three pointers, part of his 12-point effort in the quarter.
Clearfield had no answer, and dropped the quarter by a gap of 19-9, and failed to hold the lead at any point after that.
Klotz led all scorers on the night with 24, while teammate Braden Kitt accounted for an additional 14. All five starters for the Dragons scored, while it was Nate Muthler leading on the boards with nine. Klotz added in an additional five assists.
For Clearfield, only three players had points on the night, with Rumsky leading the team with 21 thanks to five shots behind the arc, while Walker added in another 16. Andrew Lopez scored seven points and led on the boards with seven, and assists with five.
Clearfield also dropped the opening junior varsity contest, 47-36.
The Bison begin a stretch of four consecutive road games on Tuesday when they travel for another Mountain League contest against the Bellefonte Red Raiders. Tip off will be at 6 p.m. for junior varsity, and varsity to follow.
SCORE BY QUARTER
Central 12 4 19 18 – 53
Clearfield 13 7 9 15 – 44
Central – 53
Muthler 1 3-4 5, Kitt 6 0-0 14, Albright 1 2-2 4, Kling 3 0-1 6, Klotz 9 3-5 24, Eberlin 0 0-0 0. TOTALS 20 8-12 53.
Clearfield – 44
Hess 0 0-0 0, Walker 6 4-9 16, Rumsky 8 0-0 21, Lopez 2 2-2 7, Kline 0 0-0 0, Pallo 0 0-0 0, Hudson 0 0-0 0, Winters 0 0-0 0. TOTALS 16 6-11 44.
GAME STATISTICS
Central/Clearfield
Shooting: 20-39/16-47
Rebounds: 24/24
Fouls: 11/14
Turnovers: 12/10
Three-Point Shots: Kitt (2), Klotz (3)/Rumsky (5), Lopez
Bison Scoreboard:
Date Opponent Score Record
12/07 CURWENSVILLE 77 – 32 1 – 0
12/10 WEST BRANCH 57 – 33 2 – 0
12/12 BALD EAGLE AREA 73 – 48 3 – 0
12/14 HUNTINGDON 53 – 63 3 – 1
12/17 @ Philipsburg-Osceola 64 – 47 4 – 1
12/21 TYRONE 42 – 50 4 – 2
12/27 @ Purchase Line Tourney
12/27 vs. Ligonier Valley 78 – 80 4 – 3
12/28 vs. Harmony 83 – 56 5 – 3
01/04 @ Brookville 48 – 53 5 – 4
01/07 PUNXSUTAWNEY 56 – 50 6 – 4
01/09 @ Penns Valley 47 – 59 6 – 5
01/11 CENTRAL 44 – 53 6 – 6
01/15 @ Bellefonte
01/18 @ Bald Eagle Area
01/21 @ DuBois
01/23 @ Huntingdon
01/25 PHILIPSBURG-OSCEOLA
01/29 @ Tyrone
02/01 PENNS VALLEY
02/06 @ Central
02/08 BELLEFONTE
02/13 @ Curwensville