PATTON — Last year at this time, the Clearfield Bison had a hard pill to swallow when their tournament effort at Cambria Heights would be halted in the opening contest courtesy of Williamsburg. Fast forward a year, the Bison would avenge that loss in a big way, downing the Blue Pirates in dominant fashion to move into the Holiday Tournament finals. The opposition, the host team, the Cambria Heights Highlanders.
What started as a difficult opening eight minutes turned into a clinic, as the Bison would take a first-quarter deficit and turn it into a strong outing to take home the tournament championship, 51-41.
It was not an easy beginning to the night, because the Highlanders were able to break out to an early lead thanks to a trio of three’s by Parker Forabaugh, as he accounted for half the points in the opening eight minutes. At the same time, Clearfield was getting shots in, but the offensive output was not enough to claw into the lead that Cambria Heights built. After one quarter, the 18-11 advantage fell to the way of the Highlanders.
Knowing they needed to get back into the game, Bison head coach Nate Glunt made some changes for his team in order to both prevent shots, but also making headway on offense.
Whatever was said courtside translated into a much different team in the second quarter.
The Bison would limit Cambria Heights to just two shots from the floor, only getting seven points in the quarter. Offensively, Cole Miller was able to continue his shooting spree from the opening quarter, while Andon Greslick made a pair of key shots. Suddenly, what was a seven-point deficit at the end of the first quarter suddenly became a single-possession lead heading into the locker room, 26-25.
Miller’s night would ultimately be another strong effort, putting up a game-high 21 points, part of a double-double effort as he also added in 11 rebounds.
The momentum Clearfield had in the second quarter continued in the third, as both teams put up exactly the same point total as they did in the second quarter. The 43-32 lead was a comfortable one heading into the fourth, enough that Clearfield would play hard in the final eight minutes despite only putting up eight points.
Along with Miller, Greslick added in 11 points for the Bison.
For his their efforts, Miller was named tournament Most Valuable Player and Greslick was names to the all-tourney team.
For the Highlanders, both Forabaugh and Carter Lamb would finish in double figures, scoring 17 and 13 points, respectively.
With the win, the Bison finish the 2022 portion of the schedule at 5-2, and will be back on the hardwood inside their own Bison Gymnasium to start the new year. The task will be a difficult one as they will welcome in the Tyrone Golden Eagles on Tuesday, January 3, with the jayvee game tipping off at 6 p.m. with the varsity game to follow.
SCORE BY QUARTER
Clearfield 11 16 16 8 – 51
Cambria Heights 18 7 7 9 – 41
Clearfield – 51
Cole Miller 6 6-11 21, Andon Greslick 5 1-2 11, Morgen Billotte 4 0-2 9, Braylen Way 0 0-0 0, Kam Kushner 2 0-0 4, Anthony Lopez 1 0-0 3, Skylar Clark 0 0-0 0, Ev Maines 1 0-0 3. TOTALS 19 7-15 51.
Cambria Heights – 41
Chris Sadmart 3 0-0 6, Chase Regal 2 2-5 6, Parker Forabaugh 6 0-0 17, Carter Lamb 5 3-5 13, Connor Yeckley 0 0-0 0, Stephen Nelen 1 0-0 2, Logan Baker 0 0-0 0. TOTALS 17 5-10 41.