BROOKVILLE – While the Lady Raiders of Brookville led by as much as 21 points, the Clearfield Lady Bison used an incredible second-half run to knot the score at 50 with a minute left in the fourth quarter before falling just short in the opening round of the Brookville Tip-Off Tourney by a 54-52 final score.
After trailing 32-16 heading into the halftime break, Clearfield bounced back in the second-half and would outscore Brookville 36-22. Early foul trouble contributed to a slow start for the Lady Bison, but a smothering press led to plenty of run outs and easy baskets for Clearfield in the second-half. Increasing the tempo via the press was key in sparking the turnaround and surely will be something that the Lady Bison will go to in much of this 2021-22 campaign.
First-year head coach Missy Helsel’s second-half adjustments, including the press, worked to perfection. The adjusments were key in helping Clearfield go on a 15-0 run at one point, including a 13-0 run to end the third quarter. Emma Hipps was a focal point of the Lady Bison offense as the three-sport standout scored 26 points to lead all scorers, including 18 in the second half to help lead the ferocious comeback.
Cayleigh Walker also reached double-figures in the scoring column for Clearfield as she scored 10 of her 14 points in the second-half and was a perfect four-for-four at the charity stripe. Riley Ryen and Hannah Glunt each chipped in five points, while teammate Taylor Hudson rounded out the scoring for Clearfield with two points.
Brookville senior post player Jordan Cook proved to be a difference maker for the Lady Raiders as she scored a team high 18 for Brookville. Cook broke a 50-50 tie with under a minute remaining in the contest with a clutch layup to give Brookville a two-point lead. She followed this up with securing a defensive board off of a Clearfield miss before she was fouled to extend the ball game. Cook sank two free throws to up the lead to 54-50, but Clearfield fought to the last whistle as they scored a bucket at the horn to end the game with a 54-52 final score.
Two additional Lady Raiders scored in double figures as Alayna Haight scored 11 and Elizabeth Wonderling scored 10. Eden Wonderling also did her part to contribute to the Brookville victory as she scored eight for the game.
Brookville is hosting a four-team Tip-Off Tournament that will conclude with two additional games Saturday. Clearfield will square-off against Clarion-Limestone at 2 p.m. in the third-place game, while Brookville will play North Clarion in the championship.
BROOKVILLE – 54
Jordan Cook 4 10-14 18, Alayna Height 3 3-8 11, Elisa Molnar 3 0-0 2, Tayler Rafferty 1 0-0 0, Elizabeth Wonderling 2 4-5 10, Reggan Olson 4 0-0 0, Mara Bowser 0 0-0 0, Kerstyn Davie 0 1-2 1, Bentley Hughey 2 2-4 4, Hannah Lundgren 1 0-0 0, Eden Wonderling 5 4-10 8, TOTALS – 25 24-43 54
CLEARFIELD – 52
Taylor Hudson 4 0-0 2, Kinley Reed 0 0-0 0, Hannah Glunt 4 0-0 5, Cayleigh Walker 4 4-4 14, Riley Ryen, 2 2-2 5, Emma Hipps 3 14-22 26, Mckenna Lanager 1 0-0 0, Lauryn Kitchen 5 0-0 0, Alaina Fedder 5 0-0 0, TOTALS – 28 20-28 52
SCORE BY QUARTERS:
BROOKVILLE 11 21 7 15 54
CLEARFIELD 9 7 15 21 52
THREE-POINTERS: BROOKVILLE – 2 Haight 2 CLEARFIELD – 2 Glunt 1 Ryen 1