HYDE — The latter part of January and the first week of February were not kind to the Clearfield Bison round-ballers. After a promising start to the season, the team faltered late, dropping four of their last five games. Monday night, the Bison were back on their home court, after having to sit out a week due to weather moving a couple late-week games, ready to host the visiting Punxsutawney Chucks.
The difference in the game came down to fundamentals, as Clearfield relied on second-chance opportunities, while also preventing the same opportunities on the other end of the court. Rebounding and ball-handling allowed Clearfield to get back on the winning side of things in a 51-39 final, increasing their record to 11-7 on the season.
“What a crowd tonight. Our community supports us so much, a really fun environment. The kids played really hard, and to hold that team to just 12 points in the first half, and to get the shots we wanted to in the game, just a great overall win,” Bison head coach Nate Glunt said afterwards.
Things quickly fell the way of the Bison in the first half as the opening quarter saw the home squad get out to a 9-0 lead thanks to some breakaways. But, what really made the ultimate difference through the first 16 minutes of the night was Luke Pallo. After playing a lot of time in the junior varsity contest to open the night, he was attacking the basket on both ends of the court, pulling down rebound after rebound, and giving the team more opportunities to get points on the board.
“Luke set the tone tonight. He had 12 rebounds in the first half. We missed a lot of shots, but we got a pile of rebounds,” Glunt said. “Luke set the tone early, RG (Ryan Gearhart) was playing with confidence, Andon (Greslick) making big shots; it was just a total team effort tonight.”
That kind of play allowed Clearfield to push to a 16-6 lead after one quarter, and they would not let up.
The Chucks tried to pull back in the second quarter, but the Bison defense forced turnovers, and that led to more chances at the basket. Clearfield had 62 shots on the basket, compared to just 42 for Punxsutawney. But all those opportunities allowed Clearfield to push their way to a 29-12 advantage heading into the halftime break.
“We were positioned low, hands were up, talking to one another. Our last two practices, probably our best practices since maybe two weeks ago. The kids have really stepped up defensively,” Glunt said. “That team is quick. Punxy’s record was 7-10, but you look at those losses, five of them were one-possession games.”
The defensive push kept a majority of the scoring from Punxsutawney to the second half following adjustments. Only Gabe Kengersky was able to hit double figures for the Chucks, finishing with 11 points.
Despite the Chucks outscoring Clearfield in the final two quarters, the Bison maintained the lead from start to finish as the complete team effort remained. Although Clearfield made some errant decisions with the ball in the final 16 minutes, the play across the board overshadowed the miscues. Clearfield finished the night with 38 rebounds, compared to just 24 for Punxsutawney.
Pallo finished the night as the leader on the boards, pulling down 15. Meanwhile, despite fouling out late in the game, Cole Miller once again led all scoring with 21 points, almost finishing with a double-double as he contributed nine boards. Ryan Gearhart also made it into double figures, finishing with 12 points.
Neither team saw a lot of opportunities at foul shooting, as combined there were only nine free throws, with Clearfield having the higher percentage at the end of the night, shooting 2-for-3, while the Chucks finished 3-for-6.
Clearfield did lose the junior varsity game to start the night, 53-41.
There is not much time to savor the victory as they are back on the court Tuesday, playing host to Penns Valley for Senior Night. These two met back on January 13, with the Rams coming away with a 53-48 overtime victory.
Tip-off for junior varsity is at 6 p.m. with the varsity to follow.
SCORE BY QUARTER
Punxsutawney 6 6 11 16 – 39
Clearfield 16 13 13 9 – 51
Punxsutawney – 39
Ryen Heigley 1 1-1 3, Gabe Kengersky 4 0-0 11, Kyle Nesbitt 0 0-0 0, Noah Weaver 2 0-0 6, Donnie Neese 3 0-0 6, Zach Presloid 2 0-0 4, Tyson Leasure 0 0-0 0, Jimmy Neese 0 2-2 2, Josh Shoemaker 1 0-0 2, Nick Johns 0 0-0 0, Mason Nesbitt 1 0-3 2, Cooper Hallman 1 0-0 3. TOTALS 15 3-6 39.
Clearfield – 51
Ryan Gearhart 5 0-0 12, Cole Miller 8 2-3 21, Isakk Way 2 0-0 4, Andon Greslick 3 0-0 8, Luke Pallo 3 0-0 6, Nick Collins 0 0-0 0, Caleb Wilt 0 0-0 0, Tai Lynch 0 0-0 0, Justin Fletcher 0 0-0 0, Braylen Way 0 0-0 0, Adam Miller 0 0-0 0, Erik Fletcher 0 0-0 0. TOTALS 21 2-3 51.
GAME STATISTICS
Punxsutawney/Clearfield
Shooting: 15-42/21-62
Rebounds: 24/38
Fouls: 6/14
Turnovers: 20/18
Three-Point Shots: Kengersky-3, Weaver-2, Hallman/Gearhart-2, C. Miller-3, Greslick-2
Foul Out: C. Miller