BROOKVILLE — After a solid 10-win season in the second year for head coach Missy Helsel, expectations were high for the Clearfield Lady Bison basketball squad entering the 2023-2024 campaign. With a new season also came a new league, with the Mountain League being added into the Laurel Highlands Athletic Conference beginning this year. What was familiar to the Lady Bison was how the season began, as the annual Brookville Tip-Off Tournament on the opening weekend of December brought in four teams ready for competition.
To start the year, the Lady Bison got the nod as the opening Tip-Off Tournament contest, taking on the Lady Wolves of North Clarion.
The trip was well worth it as Clearfield would show that experience, cohesiveness, and familiarity led to a 49-37 triumph to start the season.
There was no holding back for Clearfield from the opening tip, as they rushed out to a 15-8 lead in the opening quarter, spreading the ball across all five starters, with all accounting for points. Things remained the same through the second quarter, with Hannah Glunt leading the way in the stanza to allow a 30-17 lead into the halftime break. Glunt would be one of three Lady Bison to finish in double figures.
The lone quarter where Clearfield was outscored was in the third, as the Lady Wolves held a 13-10 advantage in the stanza, but still found itself trailing by 10, 40-30.
Clearfield continued to push hard in the final frame, and cruised to victory by 12.
Freshman Sonny Diehl would lead all scoring for the game, finishing with 16 points, and finished with a double-double, adding 19 rebounds. Along with Glunt, who accounted for 10 points, Mia Helsel made her way into double figures with a 12-point performance. For North Clarion, only Lily Homan finished in double figures with 13 points. Neither team was stellar from the foul line, with Clearfield only shooting 8-of-14, while North Clarion finished 6-of-10.
With the win, Clearfield (1-0) moves into the tournament finals on Saturday afternoon at 3 p.m. against Brookville.
SCORE BY QUARTER
Clearfield 15 15 10 9 – 49
North Clarion 8 9 13 7 – 37
Clearfield – 49
Sonny Diehl 7 2-4 16, Hannah Glunt 3 2-4 10, Alayna Winters 2 0-0 4, Cayleigh Walker 2 3-4 7, Mia Helsel 4 1-2 12, Myleigh Hudson 0 0-0 0, Elia Evilsizor 0 0-0 0. TOTALS 18 8-14 49.
North Clarion – 37
Akeila Greenawalt 3 0-0 9, Kyler Freeman 1 0-0 3, Lily Homan 4 5-6 13, Ainsley Hartle 2 0-2 4, Brooke Steinman 3 1-2 8, Kaylee Custner 0 0-2 0. TOTALS 13 6-10 37.
