HYDE — Friday night’s game against Bellefonte left the Clearfield Lady Bison with a very sour taste. Try as they might, the late comeback was not to be, as baskets didn’t fall and opportunities faded. Clearfield had to quickly get away from that reminder, because they had less than 24 hours to get ready for what would be their regular-season finale. Luckily for the team, they did not have to travel for this one, as the Saturday matinee would be inside the Bison Gymnasium, this time against the Bald Eagle Area Lady Eagles.
That sour taste quickly faded, because it only took three seconds into the game for that memory to disappear. A quick basket was all it took for Clearfield to get the lead, and in the end they would cruise to a decisive 45-17 victory that Bison Head Coach Joey Castagnolo considered one of their most all-around triumphs of the season.
“We were really down after last night’s loss. The girls know we gave one away, and all we needed to do was hit some baskets. Today is just what the doctor ordered,” Castagnolo said. “Down there (against Bald Eagle), we struggled. Yes, we won, but we had to come back in the fourth quarter. Today was a dominant victory.”
That victory started right at the tip-off, as Paige Rhine would win the tip, but rather than the traditional move to knock it backwards, she instead hit the ball forward into the waiting hands of Emma Hipps. She then dished the ball to the right to Megan Durandetta, who had an open look from the wing, and drained the opening points of the night. It was a shot that was available for most of the prior night against Bellefonte, but never made its way in. Ironically, Castagnolo was seeing a case of deja vu.
“I called the same play last night. Difference is that today, the basket went in, and it just meant so much. A big shot like that means so much to these kids. At that point, we were cruising,” he said.
Bald Eagle could not find any momentum from the opening tip to the final buzzer. The coaching staff for the Lady Eagles kept trying different combinations of players, as they had an available 17 girls on their roster. Every player that could substitute in would see playing time, something that Castagnolo noticed early on, and realized what the strategy was going to be.
“They were trying to wear us out because we only had eight kids (dressed). So that was their game plan, but we are a tough team, for sure,” he said.
After one quarter, Clearfield held a 15-6 advantage, and never looked back. Defensively, Clearfield suffocated the Lady Eagles the entire game, holding them to single digits each quarter and forcing some tough shots from the floor. Bald Eagle only went 8-for-41 from the floor, just a hair under 20 percent. Clearfield forced 29 turnovers, and Bald Eagle only managed 26 rebounds on the afternoon. By contrast, Rhine alone nearly out-boarded Bald Eagle on her own. Despite only scoring one point, that being a free throw, she would lead everyone on the boards with 17. For Castagnolo, that was exactly what he wanted.
“That is what we expect from Paige. When it comes to her scoring, when it comes, it comes. But she doesn’t panic about scoring, because she knows what her job is,” he said.
Clearfield finished the game with three players in double figures, as Hipps led all scorers with 11 points, while Durandetta and Riley Ryen each added in another 10. Ryen managed five assists, while Hipps added in four steals.
Bald Eagle saw Olivia Boone account for five points as the team’s high scorer. They would struggle from the floor and also at the foul line, as they went 0-for-7.
The 2021 season had a lot of uncertainty when December came around, and when no athletic events could take place until early January, the idea of having a full year was already a challenge. Add in the delayed start due to exposure within the school, and cramming so many games into so short of a time was unheard of. However, Castagnolo noted that the true delay in the season wasn’t because of Covid-19, but instead winter weather. The delayed games caused a lot of struggles in finding nights, or in this case days, to make them up.
“Our AD (Bob Gearhart) really did phenomenal for us this year,” Castagnolo said. “Sometimes in the regular season, even when everything is perfect, we could get snowed out just one day and never be able to make it up. To get 21 games in of the original 22 this season, absolutely phenomenal.”
Clearfield would fall in the opening junior varsity contest, 28-20.
The Lady Bison finish the regular season 10-11, and they took some time to savor the moment via pictures. Castagnolo even slid in, literally for a couple of them. But, when asked about how to describe this year’s team, he didn’t look at what they faced because of the pandemic, nor their toughness due to having low numbers of players and the kind of games they played through the season. Instead, he looked at the team and how they played, and immediately had one word come to mind.
“Unselfish. Look at today’s game, all the balanced scoring,” Castagnolo said. “It doesn’t matter who’s scoring, because they were consistently working together.”
Clearfield now will wait to see the decision by District IX in how they will seed the playoffs for this season, which are tentatively scheduled to begin on March 8. Brackets, pairings, along with game locations and times, will be announced in due time.
SCORE BY QUARTER
Bald Eagle 6 4 7 0 – 17
Clearfield 15 8 12 10 – 45
BALD EAGLE AREA – 17
Kristen Onder 0 0-0 0, Georgia Cingle 1 0-0 2, Sarah Holler 2 0-1 4, Kierra Serb 1 0-0 2, Abby Hoover 0 0-0 0, Katie Snyder 1 0-2 2, Hailey Buscha 0 0-0 0, Charlotte Cingle 1 0-0 2, Olivia Boone 2 0-2 5, Ember Herr 0 0-2 0, Rachel Bryan 0 0-0 0, Maddy Smith 0 0-0 0, Khloe Cunningham 0 0-0 0, Alice Crane 0 0-0 0, Claudia Irvin 0 0-0 0, Katelyn Moyer 0 0-0 0, Angie Grieb 0 0-0 0. TOTALS 8 0-7 17.
CLEARFIELD – 45
Riley Ryen 3 2-5 10, Cayleigh Walker 3 3-7 9, Emma Hipps 4 2-4 11, Paige Rhine 0 1-2 1, Megan Durandetta 3 1-2 10, Ally Gaines 0 0-0 0, Lauryn Kitchen 0 0-0 0, Alayna Winters 1 2-2 4. TOTALS 14 11-22 45.
GAME STATISTICS
Bald Eagle/Clearfield
Shooting: 8-41/14-63
Rebounds: 26/36
Fouls: 18/12
Turnovers: 29/14
Three-Point Shots: Boone/Ryen-2, Hipps, Durandetta-3
