CURWENSVILLE — After having to sit aside on Monday night due to the weather halting evening festivities, both the Clearfield Lady Bison and the Lady Tide of Curwensville were itching to be back on the hardwood. These two faced off back on February 3, with Clearfield taking the 62-33 victory on their home court. Tuesday night, it was the second matchup, this time on the home court of Curwensville inside Patton Hall.
This time, even though the scenery was different, the Lady Bison were once again the ones at the top of the scoreboard. The 53-24 final was enough to halt Clearfield’s four-game losing streak, pushing them closer to the .500-mark on the year.
Neither squad got off to a quick start in the opening quarter, but it was the Bison that held the advantage after the first eight minutes, 9-4.
But, the final three quarters belonged to the team clad in black, as Clearfield held the Lady Tide to single digits in scoring. The second quarter alone, Clearfield nearly tripled the output of Curwensville, putting down 14 points in the quarter and taking a 23-9 lead into the locker room.
The Lady Bison were paced by Riley Ryen, who finished the night with a team-high, game-high, and a career-high of 15 points. Ryen only made five shots on the night, as each basket came from behind the arc. Clearfield’s leading scorer, Emma Hipps, also hit double figures as she accounted for 10 points. Of the 20 baskets made by Clearfield during the game, half of them came from deep range, as Ryen, Hipps, and Megan Durandetta all accounted for three’s by game’s end.
Curwensville struggled offensively, as they failed to get anyone into double-digits by game’s end. Kyra Henry led the Lady Tide with eight points, while Alyssa Bakaysa accounted for another seven.
Neither team had many chances at the foul line on this night. Combined, the two squads only had 10 free throws, seven of them from Curwensville. It proved to be a moot point as in the fourth quarter Clearfield pushed the pace enough to where the game came to a close under the running clock.
No junior varsity game preceded the varsity matchup.
Clearfield (7-8) is back on the court Wednesday night when they host the Lady Cardinals of DuBois Central Catholic. It will be a 7:15 p.m. start, but it is a bit of an old-school feeling for the Lady Bison because Wednesday night’s game will be played in the Arthur J. Weiss Gymnasium. It will be the first game inside the Weiss since the latter part of the 2013-2014 season.
Curwensville (4-7) is back inside Patton Hall on Thursday night as they will host the Lady Warriors of West Branch. Varsity tip at approximately 7:30 p.m.
SCORE BY QUARTER
Clearfield 9 14 12 18 – 53
Curwensville 4 5 9 6 – 24
CLEARFIELD – 53
Riley Ryen 5 0-0 15, Cayleigh Walker 2 1-2 5, Emma Hipps 4 0-0 10, Paige Rhine 4 0-0 8, Megan Durandetta 3 0-0 9, Alaina Fedder 1 0-0 2, Lauryn Kitchen 0 0-0 0, Alayna Winters 1 2-2 4, Ally Gaines 0 0-0 0. Totals 20 2-3 53.
CURWENSVILLE – 24
Alyssa Bakaysa 3 1-2 7, Joslynne Freyer 2 2-2 6, Skylar Pentz 1 0-0 2, Kyra Henry 4 0-1 8, Austyn Guiher 0 1-2 1, Rachelle Anderson 0 0-0 0, Desaray Cossar 0 0-0 0, Jaiden Weber 0 0-0 0. TOTALS 10 4-7 24.