HYDE — The COVID-chaos of a schedule to start the 2021 season for the Clearfield Lady Bison came to its conclusion on Friday night with the fourth game in five days for Joey Castagnolo and his squad. The advantage for the final couple games in the stretch were that the contests would be played on the hardwood of the Bison Gymnasium, meaning no road trips and familiar surroundings. Friday night, the Lady Bison welcomed in the Lady Comets of Penns Manor for a non-league matchup.
Sadly for the Lady Bison, this game was one that saw the opposition capitalize on the boards, take advantage of turnovers, and in the end put up the better score as the Lady Comets walked away with a 59-33 victory, and handed Clearfield its third loss on the season.
“The emotions from that win (Thursday) I think got left on the court last night,” Castagnolo said. “We were flat in the second half. We only scored 10 points in the second half, and we got dejected after every miss.”
The Lady Comets got out to an early lead right from the opening tip, and ended the first quarter with a 21-11 gap that they never relinquished. As the game progressed, it became clear that Clearfield had a lot of effort, but could not keep a handle on the ball as turnovers became an issue. The Bison mishandled the ball nine times in the first eight minutes, and in the end saw 27 turnovers that became too much to overcome.
Clearfield could not get their footing in the second half, as they only managed 10 points in the final 16 minutes. Castagnolo felt his team played hard, but at the same time they have played four games in a matter of five days.
“We had four games this week, and I believe we got wore out…with that schedule, I wish I had a bigger bench. The girls were getting really tired after four games this week. We will bounce back,” Castagnolo said.
The bright spot for Clearfield was the play of Paige Rhine as she finished the night with a double-double, draining 14 points and adding in 11 rebounds. Emma Hipps also contributed to her teammates with six assists and a pair of steals.
Penns Manor was paced by Megan Dumm who had a game-high 23 points with seven rebounds, while Kassidy Smith accounted for another 18 points and seven rebounds. Anna Peterman led the Lady Comets with nine assists.
The Lady Comets also won the opening junior varsity contest, 49-26.
Clearfield’s schedule had a lot of games in a short period of time, however Castagnolo was pleased with how this early season has progressed. The Lady Bison sit 3-1 in Mountain League play, and overall have a record of 4-3. When compared to just a season ago, the Lady Bison are showing a lot of hope for what could be a successful 2021 campaign. However, Castagnolo also was happy to get a break in the upcoming week as Clearfield only has two games on the schedule. That means more time for practice, and it is something he believes his team needs, and can benefit from.
“Considering we won five games all last year, starting 4-3 is not bad,” Castagnolo said.. “But, we get to work on some new things this week. After four games, the girls and everybody knows what I’m going to call. So, we are going to work on some new things for next week.”
The Lady Bison return to competition on Monday when they travel to face the Lady Eagles of Bald Eagle Area.
SCORE BY QUARTER
Penns Manor 21 11 13 14 – 59
Clearfield 11 12 5 5 – 33
PENNS MANOR – 59
Kassidy Smith 8 1-5 18, Anna Peterman 3 0-0 6, Megan Dumm 10 0-0 23, Allison Stiteler 1 0-0 3, Deja Gillo 0 0-0 0, Kate Hnatko 1 1-4 3, Sidney Shaffer 0 0-0 , Sarah Stiteler 2 0-0 4, Anna Scatena 0 0-0 0, Gretta Ratay 1 0-0 2, Kendra Thomas 0 0-0 0. TOTALS 25 2-9 59.
CLEARFIELD – 33
Riley Ryen 1 0-0 3, Cayleigh Walker0 0-0 0, Emma Hipps 2 0-1 4, Paige Rhine 6 2-2 14, Megan Durandetta 3 0-0 9, Alaina Fedder 0 0-0 0, Alayna Winters 0 0-0 0, Ally Gaines 0 0-0 0, Lauryn Kitchen 1 0-0 3. TOTALS 13 2-3 33.
GAME STATISTICS
Penns Manor/Clearfield
Shooting: 25-64/13-39
Rebounds: 31/26
Fouls: 12/10
Turnovers: 13/27
Three-Point Shooting: Smith, Dumm-3, A. Stiteler/Ryen, Durandetta-3, Kitchen