HYDE — Knowing they had an opportunity to erase the less-than stellar second half on Wednesday night against Huntingdon, the Lady Bison came back home to their own Bison Gymnasium ready to get back to work. It was an earlier tip off with no junior varsity contest against the Philipsburg-Osceola Lady Mounties that would close out the week.
Clearfield was having a shooting fest, as they would take 80 shots from the floor. But, it was capitalizing on turnovers from the visitors that gave them a triumphant 67-42 victory, their first on their home court this season.
Bison Head Coach Joey Castagnolo was crediting his team with their defense and creating opportunities, especially in the second half.
“I switched to a 1:3:1, and it threw them (P-O) off guard, and it pressured their point guards,” he said. “I think that was key in the third quarter because it got them out of sync.
“You could see the girls wanting the ball, and shooting the ball, because they had so much confidence. That’s what I enjoy the most about coaching and watching these girls, because when we get that confidence, we’re a really good basketball team.
Clearfield got out to an early 5-0 lead in the first quarter, but P-O came storming back to take the lead, fueled by Kyleigh Kennedy’s eight points in the quarter. But Clearfield held a six-point advantage after the first stanza, and came out on defense to start the next quarter. It was another strong quarter for Kennedy, who added in six more points to what would become her game-high 21. At the same time, she was crashing the boards both on offense and defense, finishing off with 11 boards.
P-O would pull to within five points, 27-22, heading into the halftime break, but the third quarter set the tone for how the remainder of the night would go.
Clearfield’s change in defensive scheme opened up many opportunities on the perimeter, and in the paint, as they would double up the Mounties in the final two quarters.
The one that had the best night for the Lady Bison also had the best night of her career, junior Kylie VanTassel. She would lead all Clearfield scorers with 17 points, a career-high, with six assists. Tesa Miller had a double-double with 15 points and 12 boards.
Castagnolo was happy for his two high-scorers, but also was proud of one of his toughest players on the night, Emma Hipps. Although she only added five points, she was tough in the paint, bringing down 11 boards.
“She and Tesa, they love to scrap, and that makes it fun to watch,” Castagnolo said.
As the second half continued, the Lady Bison saw their younger players get a lot more playing time, and they were still scoring at will. Of the 12 players on the roster, only two failed to add points to the tally. Clearfield did take more shots from beyond the three-point range than Castagnolo admittedly wanted, 34 in all, but nine of those shots were through the rim, including four from VanTassel and another three from Megan Durandetta.
Cleafield (4-13) stays on their home court this coming Monday when they host non-league competition against the Lady Tide of Curwensville. Tip off is at 6 p.m. for junior varsity, with varsity action to follow.
SCORE BY QUARTER
Philipsburg-Osceola 12 10 7 13 – 42
Clearfield 18 9 18 22 – 67
Philipsburg-Osceola – 42
Bainey 2 2-4 7, Bordas 3 1-2 8, Potter 1 0-0 2, Thorp 1 0-0 2, Kennedy 7 7-14 21, Reed 1 0-0 2, Butterworth 0 0-0 0, Pinto 0 0-0 0, Sinclair 0 0-0 0.
Clearfield – 67
Durandetta 3 0-0 9, Ky. VanTassel 6 1-2 17, Hipps 2 1-5 5, Bender 2 2-4 6, Miller 5 5-6 15, Alt 1 0-2 2, Ryan 0 1-2 1, Ryen 2 0-0 6, Kitchen 0 0-0 0, Ki. VanTassel 1 0-0 2, Gaines 0 0-0 0, Fedder 2 0-0 4. TOTALS 24 10-21 67.
GAME STATISTICS
Philipsburg-Osceola/Clearfield
Shooting: 15-59/24-80
Rebounds: 28/36
Fouls: 13/10
Turnovers: 31/15
Three-Point Shots: Bainey, Bordas/Durandetta-3, Ky. VanTassel-4, Ryen-2
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 | 31 – 43 | 2 – 10 |
| 01/15 | @ Bellefonte | 38 – 60 | 2 – 11 |
| 01/17 | @ Bald Eagle Area | 53 – 40 | 3 – 11 |
| 01/21 | @ St. Marys | 23 – 59 | 3 – 12 |
| 01/22 | @ Huntingdon | 31 – 37 | 3 – 13 |
| 01/24 | PHILIPSBURG-OSCEOLA | 67 – 42 | 4 – 13 |
| 01/27 | CURWENSVILLE | ||
| 01/28 | @ Tyrone | ||
| 01/31 | PENNS VALLEY | ||
| 02/05 | @ Central | ||
| 02/07 | BELLEFONTE |