HYDE — The first full week of the new decade meant another opportunity for the Lady Bison of Clearfield to make a statement. Inside the Bison Gymnasium on Friday night, the girls marked the official halfway point of the season as the Lady Dragons of Central made the trip for the Mountain League matchup.
The temperatures outside were slightly chilly, but inside on the hardwood the cold feeling was that of the home squad. All game long the Lady Bison had opportunities for shots at the basket, but could not get the ball to drain. The Lady Dragons took full advantage and cruised to a 49-20 victory, handing Clearfield its ninth loss on the year.
“We’ve had that problem all year, not just tonight,” head coach Joey Castagnolo said afterwards. “We get the looks we want and take the shots, but we just can’t seem to get the ball in the hoop right now. It’s frustrating.”
Clearfield scored the opening point on the night on a free throw from Emma Hipps, then took a 4-2 advantage shortly after on a deep three from the baseline from Megan Durandetta. But, as the first quarter continued on, Central began making basket after basket, while Clearfield was turning the ball over on bad passes, or mishandling the dribble. After one quarter, the visitors were up 15-6. But, when the second quarter started, the Lady Bison found themselves making a bit of a run.
Thanks to Hipps, Durandetta, and Olivia Bender, the Lady Bison went on an 8-0 run that forced the Central bench to call a time out at the 6:16 mark of the quarter.. Coming out of the break, however, it was the Dragons making the charge.
For the remainder of the quarter, Clearfield was kept off the scoreboard, as the next seven points were added on by the visitors to take a 22-14 advantage into the break.
“That there, those first couple minutes, shows how well we can play,” Castagnolo said. “We were confident, and we were taking what was given. It’s just, after that, when we would miss a shot and then had to run all the way back to try and defend, I think it just demoralized us.”
The Dragons would not let up in the second half, as their size advantage and speed caused more turnovers for the Bison, and more missed shots. In total, Clearfield took 39 shots, but only made eight of them, barely over 20 percent from the floor. In the final quarter, the Bison were held to just a pair of free throws, going 0-for-6 in shooting. Hipps led the Bison in scoring with seven points, while Tesa Miller crashed the boards at every opportunity, escaping with a game-high 10 rebounds.
By comparison, the Dragons took 63 shots on the floor, but made 20 of them. Both Kylie Metzger and Madison Eicher finished with a game-high 12 points, while Metzger finished one rebound shy of a double-double.
Clearfield fell as well in the junior varsity game, 52-42.
Despite the loss, Castagnolo knew that there were still another 11 games on the docket for the season, and has seen positive moments from his team. Looking ahead, he knows it’s going to be a tough stretch to start it out, but knew he, his team, and his coaches had to get to work.
“I think we play a great tempo, but we just have to start making shots,” he said. “I just feel that if we start making those shots, we will see our confidence go up and that will motivate us.”
Clearfield (2-9) will not see the hardwood of their home court for over a week as they will start a stretch of five consecutive road games on Tuesday when they travel to DuBois for a non-league contest. Junior varsity begins at 6 p.m. with the varsity to follow.
SCORE BY QUARTER
Central 15 7 15 12 – 49
Clearfield 6 8 4 2 – 20
Central – 49
Oakes 0 1-4 1, Kreider 0 0-0 0, Johnson 2 1-2 5, Dixon 0 0-0 0, T. Longenecker 1 0-0 2, K. Longenecker 0 0-0 0, Metzger 5 2-4 12, Miller 2 0-0 4, Snyder 0 0-0 0, Eicher 5 1-2 12, Heuston 2 0-2 4, Brumbaugh 3 0-0 9, Smith 0 0-0 0, Balliet 0 0-0 0, Sallenberger 0 0-0 0. TOTALS 20 5-14 49.
Clearfield – 20
Durandetta 2 0-0 5, Ky. Van Tassel 0 0-0 0, Hipps 1 5-6 7, Bender 2 0-0 4, Miller 2 0-0 4, Alt 0 0-0 0, Rowles 0 0-0 0, Ryen 0 0-0 0, Kitchen 0 0-0 0, Kr. Van Tassel 0 0-0 0, Fedder 0 0-0 0. 8 5-6 20.
GAME STATISTICS
Central/Clearfield
Shooting: 20-63/8-39
Rebounds: 34/29
Fouls: 9/13
Turnovers: 17/30
Three-Point Shots: Eicher, Brumbaugh-3/Durandetta
Lady Bison Scoreboard:
| Date | Opponent | Score | Record |
| 12/06 & 07 | @ Brookville Tip-off Tourney | ||
| 12/06 | North Clarion | 8 – 44 | 0 – 1 |
| 12/07 | Clarion-Limestone | 37 – 40 | 0 – 2 |
| 12/11 | BALD EAGLE AREA | 38 – 47 | 0 – 3 |
| 12/13 | HUNTINGDON | 20 – 67 | 0 – 4 |
| 12/17 | @ Philipsburg-Osceola | 59 – 40 | 1 – 4 |
| 12/20 | TYRONE | 44 – 61 | 1 – 5 |
| 12/27 | @ Curwensville | 49 – 16 | 2 – 5 |
| 01/03 | PUNXSUTAWNEY | 27 – 48 | 2 – 6 |
| 01/06 | ST. JOSEPH ACADEMY | 31 – 52 | 2 – 7 |
| 01/08 | @ Penns Valley | 55 – 20 | 2 – 8 |
| 01/10 | CENTRAL | 20 – 49 | 2 – 9 |
| 01/14 | @ DuBois | ||
| 01/15 | @ Bellefonte | ||
| 01/17 | @ Bald Eagle Area | ||
| 01/21 | @ St. Marys | ||
| 01/22 | @ Huntingdon | ||
| 01/24 | PHILIPSBURG-OSCEOLA | ||
| 01/27 | CURWENSVILLE | ||
| 01/28 | @ Tyrone | ||
| 01/31 | PENNS VALLEY | ||
| 02/05 | @ Central | ||
| 02/07 | BELLEFONTE |