HYDE — One night ago, a heartbreaker in the Bison Gymnasium showed a lot of character and the tenacity of the Clearfield Bison cagers, as they battled for 32 minutes and were in the game the entire time. Sadly, they fell one basket short, leaving a sickening feeling in their stomach. One night later, the Bison came back to the same hardwood floor ready to put that loss behind them, as they welcomed in the visiting Bellefonte Red Raiders for a Mountain League contest.
In a near mirror-image of the night prior, both squads battled tooth and nail for the entire contest. However, late in the going, the Bison took advantage of some miscues from the Red Raiders, putting in some key baskets and foul shots, and held on for a critical 46-41 victory, erasing the memory of the prior night’s loss.
Bison Head Coach Nate Glunt has seen his share of tight games since taking over the lead duties for the Bison, but the last two games in his eyes showed the character of his team, and their desire to not just play, but win.
“I am telling you, it’s your opponent. Bellefonte is a well-coached team. Coach Hall has been doing it a long time, and he knows what he’s doing. Those guys know what they are doing, and that team was prepared, and played excellent defense,” Glunt said. “We were fortunate to play as well as we did just to win the game, because that was what it was going to take to win against a team like that.”
Clearfield struggled slightly in the opening quarter, as they would only hold the lead for a few minutes before the Red Raiders began making a run. However, the Bison only were down one possession to start the second stanza, and took advantage as they evened things out to head into halftime all knotted up at 19-19.
Glunt’s team saw its main starters get their time and their points, but that came courtesy of the players that substituted in. The second quarter belonged to the play of the bench, as key rebounds and critical baskets led to opportunities, a theme Glunt really wanted to emphasize to the team after the game.
“I spent more time in the locker room afterwards. Morgen Billotte gave us great minutes, Nasheed (Thompson) is coming on so strong, getting a bucket in the first half, especially after a great jayvee game. Jake (Lezzer) and Curvey (Parkett) each are getting better every day,” he said. “We develop that depth, and it allows us to compete and win these close games.
“Guys then can set each other up, stay fresh, and tonight they did a phenomenal job.”
Clearfield came out of the locker room and began lighting things up as Cole Miller and Karson Rumsky combined for 12 of the team’s 15 points in the third quarter, allowing them to get to a 34-28 lead entering the final quarter. But the final quarter would be the one where neither team wanted to quit, nor give in.
Miller once again got hot in the quarter, as a three-pointer early on stopped a run from the Red Raiders that handed them a quick lead. The squads bounced back-and-forth, as the seconds ticked away. With less than a minute remaining, Clearfield found itself trailing 41-40, but had possession under the net to take an in-bounds pass following a block by Bellefonte’s Blair Eckley-Jones. Cole Miller would find Ryan Gearhart on the opening pass, who then rotated around to Miller. The center looked quickly for a deep shot, but then decided to penetrate from the left side, hoping to get a quick jumper from inside the paint.
He would take that opportunity, getting fouled in the process by Ty Kroell. However, the ball would dance off the back of the rim and drop through the net. That critical basket got the entire Bison bench, and the coaching staff, fired up as Miller slapped some low-fives to his teammates before adding in the follow-up foul shots pushing the score to 43-41.
Bellefonte tried to get the follow-up on the next possession, but a jump ball fell to the Bison, and the Red Raiders had to find a way to force Clearfield to the foul line.
They would do just that, but not exactly in the way they wanted.
The officials quickly called a foul that originally looked like a simple stop in momentum. But, the official with the best vantage point called it a flagrant foul, as he watched Elex Ebeling grabbed the back of Miller’s jersey. That meant Miller would go to the line for a pair of free throws with no opposition, and the Bison would also keep the ball. Miller only made one of the two shots, finishing his night with 19 points, a game-high.
Clearfield’s ensuing possession would yield a turnover, but Bellefonte would fail to turn it into points as the quick rebound led to another foul down the court to put Luke Winters on the line for a pair of free throws, and both would go through to set the final.
“That flagrant foul, which I didn’t see. But the official said he grabbed his jersey, and anytime you do, that is automatically going to be called, just like in football,” Glunt said of the flagrant foul. “Cole stepped up to make one of those foul shots, and then Winters coming in late and getting that big offensive rebound to get the ball back, then get fouled, and make the shots to create that cushion. That was enormous.”
Clearfield doubled-up on the night, winning the junior varsity contest, 40-30.
Bellefonte had two players finish in double figures, with Nick Way accounting for 16 points, and Eckely-Jones adding in another 11. Bellefonte only had four opportunities for free points on the night, and managed to make two of those shots.
Glunt knew his team was playing hard, but the way they have handled themselves in this rather uncharacteristic season with so many outside factors out of their control, from games being changed to competing in front of a small crowd nearly every night. In his eyes, the only thing that has been “normal” from his team this season is how they handle themselves both on the court, and away from school.
“It is a credit to these kids’ character. They just go to work, whether it’s academics or how they treat their friends and family. These are great character kids that are talented,” Glunt said. “I wish we had a crowd every night, but we understand (the circumstances). We are just grateful for an opportunity to play.
“We don’t care if we’re playing here, or at the YMCA, or even outside in the snow. We just want to play, so if this is how we have to do it (right now), so be it.”
Sitting at 8-5, Clearfield’s schedule changed slightly as rather than getting a bit of a break, they instead will be hitting the hardwood on Saturday for another non-league contest, this time against the Clarion-Limestone Lions. This season, Clearfield has played three Saturday games, and has won two of them. Glunt laughed at the idea that his team seemed to enjoy the Saturday matinee contests, but at the same time already had a plan in place.
“We’ll be back at it tomorrow morning, and we’ll let the kids get breakfast, then come and play. These kids just love to play together, and are good buddies that simply love to play basketball,” Glunt said with a smile underneath his mask.
Tip-off at the Bison Gym will be at 1:15 p.m.
SCORE BY QUARTER
Bellefonte 12 7 9 13 – 41
Clearfield 9 10 15 12 – 46
BELLEFONTE – 41
Ty Kroell 3 0-1 7, Nick Way 7 0-0 16, Trevor Johnson 0 0-0 0, Alex Ebeling 1 0-0 3, Dereck Cox 0 0-0 0, Cole Crissman 0 0-0 0, Gannon Brungard 1 2-2 4, Jacob Cormann 0 0-0 0, Blair Eckley-Jones 5 0-1 11, Gavin Fravel 0 0-0 0. TOTALS 17 2-4 41.
CLEARFIELD – 46
Matt Pallo 1 0-0 2, Luke Winters 2 2-2 6, Karson Rumsky 2 3-4 8, Cole Miller 6 2-3 19, Ryan Gearhart 2 2-4 7, Jake Lezzer 0 0-0 0, Morgen Billotte 0 0-0 0, Isaak Way 0 0-0 0, Nasheed Thompson 1 0-0 2, Curvey Purkett 0 0-0 0. TOTALS 15 9-13 46.
GAME STATISTICS
Bellefonte/Clearfield
Shooting: 17-45/15-42
Rebounds: 24/22
Fouls: 12/8
Turnovers: 16/16
Three-Point Shots: Kroell, Way-2, Ebeling/Rumsky, Miller-5, Gearhart
Intentional Fouls: Ebeling