HYDE — A true “Battle of the Bison” became a reality inside the Bison Gymnasium on Friday night. Coming off a heartbreaking loss to Bald Eagle, the Clearfield Bison were eager to get things on track to close out the week. The opposition that came in, another form of bison, as in the Bedford Bison.
What defined the game in the latter part of the night was simply one word, one that described the team this season in every game…grit. As Bedford came back to take the lead late in the going, Clearfield would not yield and fought to the end. After 32 minutes, Clearfield managed to pull out a gritty, tough, and defining 41-39 victory that ignited the home crowd with happiness.
“These last few games have been really close, and the last one the opposing team made the last play. Tonight, we did,” Clearfield Bison head coach Nate Glunt said afterwards. “Give these kids credit for not stopping and keeping so much momentum, battling back and playing as a team. We had sophomores out there playing hard, learning lessons, and playing together. We just have to keep working to get better.”
Clearfield worked as a major cohesive unit to start the night as four of the five starters would get on the board in the opening stanza. At the same time, defensively the home squad was keeping Bedford out of the paint and forcing outside shots. The visiting Bison would not get a shot to go in the net, aside from a single free throw, until late in the first quarter as Clearfield took a 16-3 lead after one quarter.
That lead did not last as Bedford’s Jacob Wilson suddenly found his footing, and began dropping bucket after bucket. In the second quarter, Wilson put up 13 of his game-high 16 points, which brought the visitors back into the hunt. Clearfield would get in foul trouble thanks to the team-foul rule, and offensively were limited to just three shots from the floor. What was a five-possession advantage after one quarter suddenly was reduced to just two points as the teams headed to the locker room.
The big change that Bedford made from the first quarter to the second was deciding to go away from the man-to-man defense and elected to play zone, either a 2-3 setup or a 1-3-1. That defense allowed Clearfield to battle, but caused turnovers. It also allowed more possessions for Bedford as they would take the lead for the first time in the third quarter, from Wilson’s final trey on the night.
“We have been practicing for an hour at least per practice, working on zone sets, and Braylon (Way), he’s attracting two defenders, and then making the next pass,” Glunt said. “Moving him around, it makes the defenses think and adjust, which then gives us different looks.”
Clearfield’s advantage in the first half evaporated as they would be down 34-30 after three quarters, but there was no quit in the team, and Glunt’s group would show their grit as the final quarter began.
“This is a gritty group. I thought maybe they played a bit too unselfish in the first half, but at the same time that’s their character. We’re not big, but we keep fighting,” he said.
A quick jumper by Evett Maines, who had 11 points on the night, brought Clearfield to within two points. Shortly after, after another Way rebound, who led the team with seven, brought Clearfield back to the other end of the court. The possession would lead to a look by Braison Patrick at the left wing to put Clearfield back in the lead by one. He would shortly afterwards follow it up with another to put Clearfield in a 38-34 lead, part of his team-high 12 point night.. However, a huge three by Cole Taylor would bring Bedford to within one, and the visiting bench called a timeout to settle the group down and figure out the way to attack defensively.
Clearfield, meanwhile, got a chance to get things set up to make it challenging. They did just that as Way would get another deep rebound to get Clearfield on their end of the court, and Anthony Lopez would then find an open Evett Maines, who drained his lone three-pointer to put Clearfield at 41 points.
The visiting Bison managed to get a bucket by AJ Koontz to pull within two, however shortly after a foul by Maines on another attempted shot by Koontz would put him at the line for a pair of potential game-tying shots. Clearfield called a timeout, as Koontz missed the first shot. Hoping it would ice the second shot, the teams came back out for the second shot. As the fans rallied to make it more difficult, Koontz’ shot it the rim and went hard left. The battle for the rebound went all the way to the Bedford sideline, and the ball would go out of bounds as Way could not get his grip on it before hitting the line. Bedford called a timeout with 6.4 seconds left, setting up the final run to the basket.
The inbounds pass would head to Wilson, and he would get a look inside the paint. But, the ball hit off the rim and in the midst of the fight to get the ball, Way would bring it down with 0.2 seconds on the clock as a final foul by Bedford would be called.
With little time on the clock, the anxiety of what could have been could be seen on all the visitors, as the pass to the floor from Way to Lopez sealed the victory
“We’ve had a lot of these close games this year, and all we need to do is make one more play,” Glunt said. “That rebound by ‘Bray’ Way was a big rebound. I thought we rebounded well overall as a team, continuing to get those offensive rebounds in the fourth quarter.”
For the second consecutive game, Clearfield would not have a single opportunity at the foul line, but unlike the prior game against Bald Eagle Area, Clearfield would manage to hold on and get the win, just their second on the home hardwood.
Clearfield (4-12) has two games in the upcoming week, as they will first close out the month of January with a trip to Martinsburg to face Central. Back on December 5, the Dragons would defeat Clearfield, 50-34, on their home court. Tip-off for varsity will be approximately 7:30 p.m.
SCORE BY QUARTER
Bedford 3 16 15 5 – 39
Clearfield 15 6 9 11 – 41
Bedford – 39
Jacob Wilson 5 3-4 16, Quinly Swaim 1 0-2 2, Tristen Ruffley 1 1-2 3, Cole Taylor 2 1-2 6, AJ Koontz 2 0-2 4, Chase Bauman 0 0-0 0, Owen Tedrow 1 0-0 3, Drew Evans 1 0-0 2, Owen Taylor 1 1-1 3. TOTALS 14 6-13 39.
Clearfield – 41
Parker Collins 2 0-0 5, Evett Maines 5 0-0 11, Braison Patrick 5 0-0 12, Anthony Lopez 3 0-0 6, Braylon Way 3 0-0 7, Cooper Broad 0 0-0 0, Kai Lynch 0 0-0 0, Jake Rumfola 0 0-0 0. TOTALS 18 0-0 41.
GAME STATISTICS
Bedford/Clearfield
- Shooting: 14-46/18-41
- Rebounds: 17/26
- Fouls: 8/19
- Turnovers: 8/14
- Three-Point Shots: Wilson-3, C. Taylor, Tedrow/Collins, Mains, Patrick-2, Way