HYDE — From the time the season started back in December up until the big win on Wednesday night against Bald Eagle, the entire Clearfield Lady Bison squad has improved in all aspects. A new coaching staff taking over from the retiring Joey Castagnolo came with an entirely new way to play. The improvement seen on the court was evident as the struggles to start the year seemed to disappear with each game.
Clearfield had that on full display on Thursday night when the P-O Lady Mounties came into the Bison Gymnasium for action on the hardwood. The night ended with the Lady Bison out-performing Philipsburg-Osceola all night long, securing a 52-15 win, sweeping the season series.
The night started slow for both squads, trading free throws instead of jump shots, something that Lady Bison head coach Missy Helsel didn’t shy away from admitting has been tough.
“Last night was a hard battle against Bald Eagle. I expected us to come out a little quicker than we did tonight, but I can understand us coming out a little flat,” she said. “We weren’t as sharp as we needed to be, but luckily we did have some time to recover.”
Once the sluggish start was behind Clearfield, things changed quickly, often, and in big ways. The Lady Bison put their newly showcased man defense to work, forcing turnovers and playing hard on the boards. Whether offensive or defensive, Clearfield’s play on missed shots made it difficult for P-O to have any chance at shooting. Clearfield finished the night with 39 rebounds, compared to just 21 for the Lady Mounties.
No player had more boards during the game than Hannah Glunt, who even as a freshman has shown how talented she is going to be, pulling down 14 rebounds.
That led to many chances on the opposite end of the court, and for Clearfield that led to four of the five starters getting into double figures. Cayleigh Walker led all scorers with 13 points, with both Emma Hipps and Riley Ryen accounting for 11 each, and Alayna Winters adding in another 10. Hipps had the best night of all, as the senior captain finished with a double-double, adding in 11 rebounds, four assists, plus a six-pack of steals.
At the opposite end of the court, P-O could not get anything going, as if they were spinning their wheels on ice. The Lady Mounties had 38 shots from the floor on the night, only making five of them.
Clearfield took a 30-11 lead into halftime, and again started a bit sluggish in the third quarter. That did not last as the Bison defense contested all shots in the quarter, holding P-O to not one point in eight minutes. At the same time, Clearfield put up 15 in the frame, locking in the Mercy Rule clock with about two minutes remaining in the quarter, ensuring a fast finish to the night.
Helsel could see how her squad has adapted to the press defense, showing what can happen when they run the floor, force shots, and create opportunities.
“I think when we can get those early turnovers, make the other team make mistakes, we really feed off that,” she said.
Helsel’s goal for the night was to try and hold P-O away from double-digit scoring. In the end, they did just that as Khendyl Sharrer led the Lady Mounties with four points. P-O also struggled at the foul line, finishing just 5-for-18.
Clearfield also took the opening junior varsity victory, 35-22.
There were not any clear expectations as the season started for the Lady Bison, since there were so many unknows. With a 9-11 record at this point in the year, especially after winning four of the last five games, Helsel could see that the entire team had learned quite a bit from the start of the year until now.
“I think they’ve learned to be more disciplined, that they need both the inside and outside game, work the ball in, relocate, and to attack. We’ve been playing really great team basketball, they know how to crash the boards,” she said. “They also know to play better defense. We came into the game expecting to win, but it’s all those other little things they do to focus.”
The regular season is winding down for the Lady Bison, with just two more games remaining, who still have have an opportunity to give Helsel a .500-record for her first season at the helm. That’s something she knows is within reach.
“That would be absolutely be super. Two big games next week, (hopefully) get to .500, then onto districts (playoffs) we go,” Helsel said.
The final two games of the year for Clearfield (9-11) happen inside the Bison Gym, as they will first host Curwensville on Wednesday, February 16. The two first met back on December 29 in Patton Hall, where Clearfield left with a 40-24 victory over the Lady Tide. Tip-off for varsity is slated for 7:15 p.m.
SCORE BY QUARTER
Philipsburg-Osceola 6 5 0 4 – 15
Clearfield 11 19 15 7 – 52
Philipsburg-Osceola – 15
Lily Warlow 0 3-4 3, Khendyl Sharper 2 0-4 4, Camden Potter 1 1-4 3, Reagan Thorp 1 0-2 2, Cassie Butterworth 0 0-0 0, Maddy Malinich 1 1-2 3, Ivy Reed 0 0-2 0, Haylee Wood 0 0-0 0, Olivia Gallaher 0 0-0 0, Bella Minarchick 0 0-0 0, Lauren Sinclair 0 0-0 0, Audrey Smith 0 0-0 0. TOTALS 5 5-18 15.
Clearfield – 52
Emma Hipps 5 1-2 11, McKenna Lanager 0 1-2 1, Riley Ryen 4 1-3 11, Jaylee Gill 0 0-0 0, Taylor Hudson 0 0-0 0, Arika Jones 0 0-0 0, Cayleigh Walker 5 3-3 13, Alayna Winters 3 3-6 10, Hannah Glunt 2 2-2 6. Zoah Mandel 0 0-0 0. TOTALS 19 11-18 52.
GAME STATISTICS
Philipsburg-Osceola/Clearfield
Shooting: 5-38/19-65
Rebounds: 21/39
Fouls: 14/14
Turnovers: 24/13
Three-Point Shots: Ryen-2, Winters