HYDE — Some rivalries from the old Mountain League carried over into the Laurel Highlands Athletic Conference when the 2023 school year began, and one of the long-standing rivalries saw its latest chapter inside the Bison Gymnasium on Monday night. Despite both having subpar records by what is normally expected by both teams, the Clearfield Bison came into the night prepared for battle against the Philipsburg-Osceola Mounties.
Turns out both teams were evenly matched, because the game itself was an even battle that saw neither team wanting to give in at any point. In the end, the home squad would pull off a stellar second half to take down the Mounties, 71-63. It was the highest offensive output of the season for the Bison by 15 points
Neither squad had a clear advantage in the opening quarter, trading shot-for-shot on both ends of the court. Eight minutes in, the Mounties and the Bison finished the same way they started, tied up, only with 12 points each. The second quarter saw Clearfield starting to pull away just a bit, but P-O was still hungry, battling hard. Still, Clearfield held a two-possession advantage, 25-19, heading into the locker room.
Then, the most entertaining quarter of the entire night came to fruition once both teams returned to the court.
In one quarter, both squads combined to outscore their respective team’s output of the first half, making for a lot of excitement no matter who the fans were cheering for. Clearfield’s Parker Collins got hot in a hurry, putting up 12 of his 15 points in the quarter, all coming on deep shots. In fact, three of Clearfield’s starters all contributed in the quarter to outscore P-O, 33-23. The Bison’s 58-42 lead seemed to be strong enough to lead to victory, but P-O was not giving in.
P-O would get in a groove and began reeling in the home team, but at the same time began to rack up the fouls. Within the final quarter, the Mounties had eight fouls, leading to some free throw opportunities for Clearfield.
The Bison went 6-for-9 in the final quarter at the stripe. Still, P-O continued to battle, outscoring Clearfield in the final quarter. But, despite the strong output in the final two quarters, P-O could not close the gap enough.
Clearfield’s Braison Patrick led all scoring on the night, bucketing 28 points while pulling down nine boards. Evett Maines also made it into double figures with 21 points along with three assists. To go along with his 15 points, Collins had four assists plus three steals.
For the Mounties, both Lucas Peterson and Nick Johnson each added in 19 points.
Clearfield (2-9) starts the second half of the season with a road trip on Thursday night when they take on the Blue Devils of Bellwood-Antis.
SCORE BY QUARTER
P-O 12 7 23 21 – 63
Clearfield 12 13 33 13 – 71
Philipsburg-Osceola – 63
Lucas Peterson 7 1-2 19, Nick DeSimone 1 0-0 2, Nick Johnson 7 5-8 19, Camden Mason 2 3-4 7, Zack Meyers 4 0-0 9, Connor Matier 3 0-0 7, Ryan McClure 0 0-0 0. TOTALS 24 9-14 63.
Clearfield – 71
Parker Collins 5 0-0 15, Evett Maines 8 3-3 21, Braison Patrick 9 3-6 28, Anthony Lopez 1 3-4 5, Braylen Way 1 0-0 2, Cooper Broad 0 0-0 0, Kai Lynch 0 0-0 0, Noah Rumfola 0 0-0 0. TOTALS 24 9-13 71.
BISON SCOREBOARD:
Date Opponent Score Record
12/01 @ DuBois Central Catholic 54 – 68 0 – 1
12/05 CENTRAL 34 – 50 0 – 2
12/08 GREATER JOHNSTOWN 35 – 70 0 – 3
12/11 @ Bellefonte 45 – 62 0 – 4
12/14 BISHOP GUILFOYLE 36 – 68 0 – 5
12/18 @ Tyrone 49 – 78 0 – 6
12/21 HOLLIDAYSBURG 36 – 65 0 – 7
12/28 @ Curwensville 56 – 43 1 – 7
01/03 @ Huntingdon 51 – 57 1 – 8
01/05 @ Westmont Hilltop 47- 72 1 – 9
01/08 PHILIPSBURG-OSCEOLA 71 – 63 2 – 9
01/11 @ Bellwood-Antis
01/15 @ West Branch
01/17 PENNS VALLEY
01/24 @ Bald Eagle Area
01/26 BEDFORD
01/31 @ Central
02/02 @ Richland
02/07 BELLEFONTE
02/09 @ Bishop Guilfoyle
02/12 TYRONE
02/13 CURWENSVILLE
02/15 Laurel Highlands Tourney
02/17 Laurel Highlands Tourney