HYDE – Two very even and similar boys basketball teams battled in Mountain League action Tuesday night at Clearfield High School, and when the dust settled it was the Bison, who led the entire game, coming out on top of Central 52-47.
The Dragons knocked off the Bison back on January 10 in Martinsburg in overtime 51-43.
Clearfield head coach Nate Glunt commented after the game, saying, “We really battled hard tonight for this win. It was back to back nights with tough opponents, West Branch last night and Central tonight, and to pick up wins in both games is big for our team.”
Bison senior Cade Walker paced his team to a 13-6 first quarter edge by scoring eight points while Clearfield played stingy defense allowing the Dragons just those six points.
Clearfield took its biggest lead of the first half on two Cole Miller free throws to make it a 16-8 Bison margin with 6:45 to play before intermission.
The Dragons did battle back before the break, and at the 3:45 point of the second quarter a bucket by Central’s Jacob Eberlin cut the Clearfield lead to 18-15 before the Bison regrouped to go into the half up by six, 25-19.
Clearfield also won the third period, 14-13, thanks to six from Walker and five from Miller, but still kept Central hanging in there down by just seven 39-32 after three.
The Dragons did mount a comeback in the final eight minutes, as many in attendance expected they might.
Clearfield gained its biggest edge, 44-32, with 6:10 left in the game on a basket by Walker. But it was junior Karson Rumsky that kept the heat on the Dragons by scoring eight tallies in the fourth thanks to two buckets from beyond the arc that were coupled with two free throws.
As mentioned the Dragons didn’t go away easily and with just 37 ticks on the clock they trailed by only five points, 50-45 before Rumsky hit those two free throws with only 25 seconds remaining to put Clearfield up by seven, 52-45, and on its way to the victory.
Glunt closed his comments by stating, “These league games are always so tough and our kids stepped up tonight to get this win. I also like the fact that we are now getting good play from a lot of our guys.”
Walker led Clearfield with 16 points while Rumsky and Miller each added 13.
Central also had three players in double figures with Brandon Kitt scoring 16 points and Devan Boyles and Hunter Kotz dumping in11 each.
Central is now 14-7 on the year and 9-4 in the Mountain League.
In the junior varsity battle the Bison won in overtime, defeating the Dragons by a score of 38-36. High scorer for the Bison was Cole Miller with 14 points.
Next for Clearfield, 11-8 overall and 7-6 in league play, is a trip to Bellefonte on Friday in another Mountain League game with JVs tipping off at 6 pm as the varsity game will immediately follow.
The Bison beat Bellefonte earlier this season at Clearfield, 58-51.
CENTRAL – 47
Brandon Kitt 5 5-5 16, Devan Boyles 2 7-8 11, Hunter Kotz 4 3-4 11, Jacob Eberlin 1 0-0 2, Lleyton Kling 2 0-0 5, Colby Liebal 0 0-0 0, Jason Ferry 1 0-0 2, Eli Lingenfelter 0 0-0 0, Jeff Hoenstine 0 0-0 0, TOTALS – 15 15-17 47
CLEARFIELD – 52
Matt Pallo 2 0-0 5, Cade Walker 8 0-0 16, Luke Winters 0 0-1 0, Karson Rumsky 4 2-2 13, Andrew Lopez 1 3-5 5, Harrison Peacock 0 0-0 0, Cole Miller 4 2-2 13, Curvy Purkett 0 0-0 0, TOTALS – 19 7-10 52
SCORE BY QUARTERS:
CENTRAL 6 13 13 15 47
CLEARFIELD 13 12 14 13 52
THREE-POINTERS: CENTRAL – 2 Kitt, Kling CLEARFIELD – 7 Rumsky 3, Miller 3, Pallo
OFFICIALS: Emory Faith, Scott Sullivan, Kirt Barton
Bison Scoreboard:
| Date | Opponent | Score | Record |
| 12/06 | @ Curwensville | 82 – 31 | 1 – 0 |
| 12/10 | @ Bald Eagle Area | 56 – 38 | 2 – 0 |
| 12/13 | @ Huntingdon | 48 – 67 | 2 – 1 |
| 12/16 | @ Punxsutawney | ppd. | 2 – 1 |
| 12/18 | PHILIPSBURG-OSCEOLA | 55 – 32 | 3 – 1 |
| 12/20 | @ Tyrone | 60 – 90 | 3 – 2 |
| 12/27 | @ Purchase Line Christmas Tourney | ||
| 12/27 | vs. Purchase Line | 63 – 54 | 4 – 2 |
| 12/28 | vs. Ligonier Valley | 63 – 69 | 4 – 3 |
| 01/03 | OTTO-ELDRED | 65 – 40 | 5 – 3 |
| 01/07 | PENNS VALLEY | 50 – 38 | 6 – 3 |
| 01/10 | @ Central | 43 – 51 ot | 6 – 4 |
| 01/15 | BELLEFONTE | 58 – 51 | 7 – 4 |
| 01/17 | BALD EAGLE AREA | 59 – 42 | 8 – 4 |
| 01/20 | DUBOIS | 58 – 70 | 8 – 5 |
| 01/21 | HUNTINGDON | 56 – 72 | 8 – 6 |
| 01/24 | @ Philipsburg-Osceola | 49 – 45 ot | 9 – 6 |
| 01/29 | TYRONE | 49 – 67 | 9 – 7 |
| 01/31 | @ Penns Valley | 29 – 38 | 9 – 8 |
| 02/03 | @ West Branch | 63 – 37 | 10 – 8 |
| 02/04 | CENTRAL | 52 – 47 | 11 – 8 |
| 02/07 | @ Bellefonte | ||
| 02/10 | @ Punxsutawney | ||
| 02/13 | CURWENSVILLE |