CLARION – The Lady Bison looked for revenge for an earlier season loss to the St. Marys Lady Dutch in the 2022 District 9 Class AAAA Girls Championship game. Though they were right with St. Marys in the first-half, the Lady Bison finished as runner-ups in District 9 after suffering a 68-48 loss to the Lady Dutch in a contest held in Tippin Gymnasium on the campus of Clarion University.
The Lady Bison came ready to play as they led 17-15 after the first quarter of play thanks to five first period threes coming from Riley Ryen and Hannah Glunt. The hot shooting from deep was something that helped the team stick with the Lady Dutch for the first half as they trailed 29-24 going into halftime.
“Riley (Ryen) and Hannah (Glunt) came out and hit some big shots for us early on,” said Lady Bison Head Coach Missy Helsel. “They double-teamed Cayleigh (Walker) pretty hard and we did not get a chance to get the ball into her a whole lot tonight. That ended up having a later impact in point production tonight.”
Despite just seven second-quarter points, the Lady Bison were within striking distance and just needed a small run to reclaim the lead. Unfortunately, they couldn’t put together that run as turnovers and fouls began to mount and change the momentum of the game.
“A lot of fouls were called in the game,” said Helsel. “It seemed like we didn’t get some of the calls which were big in the change of tempo in the game.”
The third-quarter saw the small St. Marys lead stretch to double-digits as St. Marys took a 50-38 lead going into the game’s final period. In reference to what changed after halftime, Helsel had this to say.
“We had some turnovers that hurt us. We could have handled the ball a little better. St, Marys has a nice team and a nice group of seniors. All-in-all, I think we just had a lot of fouls called in this game, and that hurt us. Emma (Hipps) had to sit in the second-quarter at around the three or four minute mark. She’s a force that can make plays to turn a game around real quick.”
The difference in the game was the foul differential as St. Marys shot 37 free throws to just 12 for the Lady Bison. St. Marys took advantage of the extra trips to the charity tripe, knocking down 17 free throws including eight in the final quarter, to win the District 9 title, 68-48.
Leading the way for the Lady Dutch was a 29 point performance from Jayssa Snelick who led all scorers in the game. She was joined in double figures by sisters Maura and Isabelle Caskey who added 13 and 11 points, respectfully. Izzy Catalone added seven points in the win, with Olivia Eckels also chipping in five points in the winning effort. Holly Anthony connected on two free throws and Alexa Schneider one as that rounded out the scoring for St. Marys.
Clearfield was led in scoring by Hipps who scored a team-high 18 points. She was joined in double-figures by Ryen who tallied 13 and Glunt who scored 11 points. Alayna Winters chipped in four points and Cayleigh Walker two for the Lady Bison.
“We are definelty going to miss Emma (Hipps) as a leader on the team,” Helsel said. “We will also miss Lauryn (Kitchen) as well, because she can handle the ball and has given us some nice points this season. We are going to miss those two next year for sure.”
The Lady Bison finished the 2021-22 campaign 10-13 overall and 6-8 in Mountain League action. The program will graduate two seniors who helped to make this season a successful one for the program overall.
“These kids have put a lot of time and effort into this season. Definitely not the outcome we expected or wanted, but from start to end, they never gave up and they battled. This was a great atmosphere for our young girls to be in tonight. We will definitely be back next year and know what we need to work on in the off-season and in the summer months. We have a lot of young prospects coming up and look forward to being back next season.”
ST. MARYS – 68
Abigail Erich 0 0-0 0, Jianna Gerg 0 0-0 0, Holly Anthony 0 2-4 2, Izzy Catalone 2 0-2 7, Jayssa Snelick 7 9-11 29, Olivia Eckels 2 1-5 5, Maura Caskey 6 1-5 13, Isabelle Caskey 4 3-4 11, Alexa Schneider 0 1-4 1, Ava Johnson 0 0-0 0, Lucia Hayes 0 0-0 0. TOTALS 24 17-37 68.
CLEARFIELD – 48
Emma Hipps 3 3-4 18, McKenna Lanager 0 0-0 0, Cayleigh Walker 0 2-2 2, Alayna Winters 2 0-0 4, Hannah Glunt 0 2-2 11, Lauryn Kitchen 0 0-0 0, Riley Ryen 3 4-4 13, Taylor Hudson 0 0-0 0. TOTALS 8 11-12 48.
SCORE BY QUARTERS:
ST. MARYS 15 14 21 18 68.
CLEARFIELD 17 7 14 10 48.
THREE-POINTERS: ST. MARYS –3 Snelick 2, Catalone 1. CLEARFIELD – 6 Glunt 3, Hipps 3.
