PHILIPSBURG – First-year Lady Bison Head Coach Missy Helsel picked up her first career win at the helm of the program as she guided Clearfield (1-2) to a 69-32 road victory over the Lady Mounties of Philipsburg-Osceola (2-1) Tuesday evening.
After trailing early in the first quarter by a 5-0 score, the Lady Bison would go on a 69-27 run to end the ball game to improve their 2021-22 season record to 1-2. The score was tight after the first quarter as Clearfield clung to a four-point advantage, 9-5, heading into the second quarter.
The second quarter saw Clearfield continue with intense pressure on the Philipsburg-Osceola guards, leading to Clearfield outscoring the Lady Mounties 16-5 to take a commanding 25-10 lead into the halftime break. This intense pressure on the Philipsburg-Osceola backcourt tandem of Khendyl Sharrer and Lily Warlow was one of the keys to victory Coach Helsel mentioned in the postgame.
“Coming out in this ballgame, we knew they had two primary ball handlers in number five (Khendyl Sharrer) and number four (Lily Warlow). When we can take the ball out of someone like that’s hands, we can do a lot of work on our end then.”
The pressure helped the Lady Bison have plenty of extra possessions which would go a long way in helping four players from Clearfield score in double-figures for the game. Senior Emma Hipps led all scorers in the game with 20 on the night, while Cayleigh Walker continued her strong season to this point too with 17 points of her own.
Riley Ryen connected on two more treys in this one as she finished the game with 16 points. Lauryn Kitchen also connected on two three-point buckets as she notched 12 points for the game. Scoring was rounded out with a two point basket by Hannah Glunt and another by Alayna Winters.
The 15 point lead was one Clearfield showed they were not content with as they put up 28 more points in the third quarter to Philispburg-Osceola’s 14. Though they have been putting up a good amount of points so far in their two games, Coach Helsel saw the Lady Bison take a leap offensively as a team in this one.
“A few of our girls caught fire with four scoring in double-figures. Lauryn (Kitchen) had some nice shots, (Cayleigh) Walker made some nice finishes, Emma (Hipps) was attacking the basket great, Riley (Ryen) hit some big shots for us. Those are points we need every night out of those four players consistently.”
While the scoring output increased, some of the immeasurable parts of the game including setting up the offense and controlling the tempo of the game were areas Coach Helsel saw growth in her team since over the weekend in Brookville.
“Once our team catches fire and realizes that they can have that balanced scoring attack, they are looking up the floor, passing the ball better, making better decisions, recognizing defenses, and pulling the ball back out which helps lead to a lot of nice looks.”
With the team rolling in this one, Missy Helsel was excited to give some of the girls their first action of the season as every girl who dressed for this contest was able to make an appearance in the game.
“I think it is really important and I am glad that the JV’s are going to get to play tomorrow night. It is good for our younger kids coming up through and our bench players that are going to get some time at the varsity level. Those girls did a tremendous job, and they deserved that time to shine. That’s what it is all about.”
Philipsburg Osceola had two double-digit scorers of their own as Camden Potter netted 12 and Reagan Thorp scored 11 to help lead the offense for the Lady Mounties.
Clearfield has a quick turnaround as they head to Punxsutawney Wedneday night, December 15, for a showdown against the Lady Chucks slated for 7:15 p,m. The junior-varsity Lady Bison will be in action for the first time this season as they play at Punxsutawney prior to the varsity game at 6:00 p,m.
“Different game and different team we are going to be playing tomorrow,” Helsel said. “Punsxy is coming back strong this year and they are going to be a tough team to play tomorrow night, but our girls are going to show up, play defense, and our attack and gameplan will be a little bit different.”
The contest in Punxsutawney will be the second of three games on the week as the Lady Bison will have their home opener on Friday, December 17 as they host Hollidaysburg at 7:30 p,m.
PHILIPSBURG-OSCEOLA – 32
Lily Warlow 1 0-0 0, Khendyl Sharrer 3 7-11 7, Camden Potter 3 2-2 12, Raegan Thorp 2 2-4 11, Ivy Reed 0 0-0 0 Cassie Butterworth 3 0-0 0, Maddy Malinich 1 1-6 1, Bella Minarchick TOTALS – 15 13-25 32
CLEARFIELD – 69
Taylor Hudson 0 0-0 0, Kinley Reed 1 0-0 0 Hannah Glunt 3 0-0 2, Kayla Reed 1 0-0 0, Alayna Winters 2 0-0 2 Cayleigh Walker 4 7-9 17, Riley Ryen, 0 4-4 16, Emma Hipps 0 5-6 20, Mckenna Lanager 0 0-0 0, Lauryn Kitchen 4 0-2 12, Alaina Fedder 3 0-0 0, TOTALS – 18 16-21 69
SCORE BY QUARTERS:
PHILLIPSBURG-OSCEOLA 5 5 14 8 32
CLEARFIELD 9 16 28 16 69
THREE-POINTERS: PHILLIPSBURG-OSCEOLA – 2 Potter 2 CLEARFIELD – 5 Ryen 2, Kitchen 2, Hipps 1