HYDE — At the start of the night, the senior recognition took place for the Clearfield Lady Bison on their home hardwood. Flanked by her parents, the lone senior on the squad, Riley Ryen, stood before her peers, teammates, and the Bison community. Almost immediately after, she swapped into game mode, because the Bellefonte Lady Raiders were ready to play spoiler. To start the night, Bellefonte began warming up on the wrong side of the court, but eventually shared a laugh realizing the minor miscue.
After that, it was all business, because both squads would fight hard, swapping the lead, and battling hard. Clearfield’s offense would cohesively work together, making shots that for part of the year were a struggle, and then used every opportunity at the foul line to stretch the lead. It was more than enough to push Clearfield to the 60-50 victory, one that could be considered a signature win for the team.
Lady Bison head coach Missy Helsel afterwards looked exhausted, as her girls were battling right from the opening tip. The first quarter saw the lead swap six different times, with neither squad getting more than a three-point lead at any point. Even with the Lady Raiders committing 11 turnovers in the quarter, the Lady Bison only held a two-point advantage, 13-11.
The physical play began to be evident in the second quarter, to the point where the crowd was voicing their opinion for officials to try and corral the play before someone got hurt.
This was the quarter that Bellefonte began to impose their own will, as Mackenzie Ellenberger put up seven of her 10 points on the night in the quarter. Clearfield battled hard, almost equaling the physicality, as Ryen would lead the scoring in the quarter. But, a late layup by Bellefonte was just enough for the Lady Raiders to take a slim 25-24 advantage into the locker room.
When it came time for the second half, the Lady Bison still matched the physicality, but what made the difference is that a lot of that physicality led to fouls, and opportunities at the foul line.
Bellefonte had only five chances to get easy points at the charity stripe, and all five times, they came up with nothing.
Cayleigh Walker would see the foul line five times in the third quarter, draining all but one shot. Defensively, the Lady Bison roared back strong, as they would contest shots, get rebounds, and offensively got multiple opportunities for put-backs. The home squad took the lead in the third, outscoring Bellefonte 18-8, to take a nine-point advantage into the final eight minutes.
That was when Ryen shined the brightest.
Clearfield’s fourth quarter could be summed up in two words: free throws. In the final eight minutes, Clearfield only put up one shot from the floor, that coming from Walker, who finished just shy of a double-double with a game-high 26 points and nine rebounds, plus three steals. But, the final quarter once again saw the Lady Bison put up 18 points. The remainder of the points came courtesy of Bellefonte forcing a double-bonus, allowing Clearfield 19 opportunities at the charity stripe.
Of those opportunities, 15 of them came from Ryen, who used every chance to put the ball in the net. The lone Lady Bison senior finished the night with only three shots from the floor, but went 15-for-18 at the foul line to end the night with 23 points, plus four rebounds, five assists and a pair of steals. Clearfield overall went 24-for-31 at the line, one of their best efforts on the entire season. Mia Helsel, who was coming off a limited showing earlier in the week due to illness, added in another 10 points on the night.
For Bellefonte, Maria Cotter led all scoring with 11 points, Ellenberger added in another 10 before she fouled out in the final quarter. The Lady Raiders would ultimately turn the ball over 27 times, while committing 25 fouls, 17 of them in the second half.
Clearfield also took the win in the junior varsity contest, 27-16.
With their record back above .500 with the win, Clearfield completes the first half of the season sitting at 6-5 with a 3-2 record in Mountain League play. League play continues next Tuesday when the Huntingdon Lady Bearcats come to the Bison Gymnasium, with the jayvees tipping off at 6 p.m. The varsity will tip off at approximately 7:30 p.m.
SCORE BY QUARTER
Bellefonte 11 14 8 17 – 50
Clearfield 13 11 18 18 – 60
Bellefonte – 50
Emma Rossman 2 0-0 5, Mackenzie Ellenberger 4 0-2 10, Madison Ripka 3 0-0 6, Maria Cotter 4 0-0 11, Taylor Brown 4 0-0 8, Sydney Hamilton 1 0-0 2, Keira Whitman 4 0-0 8, Jaylee Lose 0 0-0 0. TOTALS 22 0-5 50.
Clearfield – 60
Hannah Glunt 0 0-2 0, Alayna Winters 0 1-2 1, Cayleigh Walker 8 8-9 26, Riley Ryen 3 15-18 23, Mia Helsel 5 0-0 10, Arika Jones 0 0-0 0, Jaylee Gill 0 0-0 0. TOTALS 16 24-31 60.
GAME STATISTICS
Bellefonte/Clearfield
- Shooting: 22-56/16-50
- Rebounds: 30/23
- Fouls: 25/12
- Turnovers: 27/16
- Three-Point Shots: Rossman, Ellenberger-2, Cotter-3/Ryen-2
- Foul Out: Ellenberger