PHILIPSBURG — It is not often that high school basketball gets to play on Saturdays. However, due to cancellations and typical winter weather, fans packed into the Philipsburg-Osceola High School gymnasium for an afternoon delight. A renewed rivalry came about as the Clearfield Bison, hoping to end a three-game losing streak, came in for battle against the Mounties.
What a delight the crowd got, one that began quick for one squad, but ended up being close. Clearfield jumped out early, but as the game progressed the Mounties drew closer, and then even. It took an extra four minutes to decide a winner, and despite the Bison having a pair of starters on the bench because of fouls, Clearfield head coach Nate Glunt saw his squad pull off a 58-56 thriller to end the skid, improving their record to 10-6.
To open the game it was a performance that had been missing from the Bison the last three games, as they jumped out to a quick 16-4 lead as Andon Greslick led everyone on the floor. But P-O made some adjustments heading into the second frame, keeping Clearfield in check for most of the second stanza.
The Mounties won the quarter, but looked at a 28-21 deficit heading into the locker room.
Defensively, the Mounties put more pressure on Cole Miller than anyone on the Bison squad, as they kept him in check for the entire first half, and in the third quarter. The Bison’s leading scorer was held to one field goal in three quarters, plus four foul shots. Clearfield kept up as best they could in the third quarter, but the Mounties erupted with a 20-point output that brought them to within one point heading into the final quarter.
That final eight minutes brought about excitement, anxiety, and frustration on both sides of the ball.
Both Glunt and his coaching counterpart, P-O’s TJ Anderson, saw the squads get tough, physical, and battle hard, forcing fouls and leading to free throws. That led Clearfield to rely on Miller to make shots when needed in the final frame. His five points were enough to keep things close, but P-O’s Jeremy Whitehead continued to show how hard he was to defend. He too scored five in the final frame, but it was Clearfield with the final opportunity to win the game on a late in-bounds pass. The jumper from the left wing would sail past the rim, and the scoreboard read 50-50, as the squads headed to the sidelines while the officials got ready for another four minutes of play.
For Clearfield, that final four minutes became a bit more difficult because of foul trouble.
During the overtime period, both Ryan Gearhart and Isakk Way both reached five fouls, putting them on the sidelines. After both put up 12 and seven points, respectively, they had to see if the bench had enough to pull out the win. Then, Luke Pallo would fall to fouls, putting two starters and a bench rotation in a bind.
That was when Cole Miller put the team on his back, and went for it.
Miller finished the night with a game-high 18 points, none more critical than the six he put up in overtime. At the same time, P-O had to go into overtime without Jake Desimone, who was the lone Mountie to reach five fouls on the evening. P-O played tough, and went to the foul line 10 times in the extra period, but only hit four shots. P-O finished just above 50 percent shooting from the charity stripe, going 15-for-27.
Along with Gearhart and Miller, Greslick hit double figures on the night with 17 points.
Clearfield is in the midst of a four-game run in the Mountain League as they will return to action on Tuesday when they travel to Bellefonte.
SCORE BY QUARTER
Clearfield 16 12 14 8 8 – 58
Philipsburg-Osceola 4 17 20 9 6 – 56
Clearfield – 58
Ryan Gearhart 5 0-0 12, Cole Miller 3 10-11 18, Isakk Way 3 1-3 7, Andon Greslick 6 2-2 17, Nick Collins 0 0-0 0, Luke Pallo 0 0-0 0, Nate Natoli 1 0-0 2, Caleb Wilt 0 0-0 0. TOTALS 18 13-16 58.
Philipsburg-Osceola – 56
Oliver Harper 5 6-8 17, Nick Johnson 1 4-6 6, Tristen Doyle 4 2-2 10, Jake Desimone 3 2-4 9, Jeremy Whitehead 4 1-5 10, Colby Hahn 0 1-2 1, Camden Mason 0 0-0 0, Lucas Peterson 0 0-0 0. TOTALS 15 15-27 50.