BROOKVILLE — There is no better feeling than being able to show how cohesive a team is than playing together, unselfishly, in order to achieve victory. The Clearfield Lady Bison managed that in the opening game of the season against North Clarion, moving into the Tip-Off Tournament finals against the Lady Raiders of Brookville.
That cohesive unit took a tight game in the opening quarter, and opened it up in big fashion to take home a 50-23 triumph to win the season-opening tournament in dominant fashion.
The momentum from the prior afternoon carried over for Clearfield as Mia Helsel drained her first trey of the afternoon. However, the Lady Raiders kept the visitors honest and battled through the quarter in back-and-forth fashion. After eight minutes, the Lady Bison held a slim 12-10 advantage.
Everything changed in the second quarter.
Clearfield’s offense began feeding senior Cayleigh Walker, and she would eat up the Brookville defense, putting away nine of her 12 points in the game during the stanza. Defensively, Clearfield was holding serve, keeping the home squad to a mere two points the entire quarter. Freshman Sonny Diehl followed up her double-double performance the night before by picking up a team-high 13 rebounds. Her effort over the two-day span gave her the Tip-Off Tournament MVP honors.
Taking a commanding 27-12 lead into the locker room brought a lot of excitement to head coach Missy Helsel and her staff, and that excitement carried over in the third quarter as Brookville was held without a basket from the floor the entire eight minutes. Their only points in the quarter came on a trio of free throws, as they began staring at a 37-15 gap that they could not overcome.
To finish off the game, Helsel put up another trio of threes, capping off a game-high 18 point performance that earned her All-Tourney Team honors.
It will be a few days till Clearfield (2-0) returns to the hardwood, but they will hope to continue their winning ways as they will begin Laurel Highlands Athletic Conference play on Wednesday, December 6, with a trip to Martinsburg to face the Lady Dragons of Central.
SCORE BY QUARTER
Clearfield 12 15 10 13 – 50
Brookville 10 2 3 8 – 23
Clearfield – 50
Sonny Diehl 3 2-2 8, Hannah Glunt 3 1-2 8, Alayna Winters 2 0-0 4, Cayleigh Walker 5 2-3 12, Mia Helsel 6 2-2 18, Elia Evilsizor 0 0-0 0, Myleigh Hudson 0 0-0 0. TOTALS 19 7-9 50.
Brookville – 23
Ally Wilson 0 0-0 0, Isabella Pangallo 0 2-4 2, Kaida Yoder 1 0-2 2, Kerstyn Davie 1 0-0 2, Hannah Lundgren 0 0-0 0, Eden Wonderling 1 7-8 9, Lacey Silvis 0 0-0 0, Emma Northey 1 0-0 2, Lilly Plyler 1 0-0 2, Whitney Guth 1 0-0 2, Bentley Hughey 1 0-0 2, Aubrey Belfiore 0 0-0 0. TOTALS 7 9-14 23.
LADY BISON SCOREBOARD:
Date Opponent Score Record
12/01 @ Brookville Tip-Off Tourney vs. North Clarion 49 – 37 1 – 0
12/02 @ Brookville Tip-Off Tourney vs. Brookville 50 – 23 2 – 0
12/06 @ Central
12/08 GREATER JOHNSTOWN
12/13 BELLEFONTE
12/15 @ Bishop Guilfoyle
12/20 TYRONE
12/22 @ Hollidaysburg
01/03 HUNTINGDON
01/05 @ Westmont Hilltop
01/10 @ Philipsburg-Osceola
01/12 BELLWOOD-ANTIS
01/15 @ Penns Valley
01/18 BEDFORD
01/22 BALD EAGLE AREA
01/24 DUBOIS CENTRAL CATHOLIC
01/29 CENTRAL
02/02 @ Richland
02/05 @ Bellefonte
02/08 BISHOP GUILFOYLE
02/12 @ Tyrone
02/14 @ Curwensville