HYDE — As the season draws to a close on the hardwood, the Clearfield Bison cagers still feel as though it’s the first game of the season. Every contest they have, win or lose, they prove that there is no quit and the desire to succeed is not fleeting. Monday night, the Bison Gymnasium brought another opportunity for all that desire to be shown. Clearfield welcomed in the Tyrone Golden Eagles for what would be the final regular season game in their schedule within the Laurel Highlands Athletic Conference.
A game that featured strong shooting, and a lot of rebounds, also featured miscues and struggles. That is what led Clearfield to fall behind, and not recover, as they would go down to the Eagles, 74-49.
The game began with a true back-and-forth feeling as the Eagles and Bison would got almost shot-for-shot in the first eight minutes. Both would have a strong shooting percentage through eight minutes, with Clearfield holding the slight advantage after one quarter, 19-18. The opening stanza was successful to many extents, something not lost on Bison head coach Nate Glunt.
“In the first half, especially the first quarter, we were getting more shots in the paint than them and that led us to keep the score close,” he said. “We were getting more shots, but at the same time they were making more shots. We had more rebounds than them in the first half, but they just had better shooting.”
Tyrone’s shooting would stay consistent in the second quarter, where they would get the lead on the first bucket, a three-pointer by Sam Crilly, to give the Eagles a 21-19 lead. At one point in the quarter, the visitors would stretch out to a double-digit lead, but Clearfield continued pressing. Crilly would go on a scoring run in the quarter, putting up 10 of his game-high 20 points, and allowing the Golden Eagles to be on cruise control. Tyrone headed into halftime with a 37-28 lead.
Then, things went awry for the home squad.
Coming out of halftime, Clearfield would start on defense, and began to deal with some struggles in trying to slow down the high-powered offense that Tyrone had began showing in the second quarter. In fact, the Golden Eagles started the quarter on an 8-0 run before Glunt called a timeout to slow down the lopsided scoring affair. Andrew Escala would find his groove as he was fed the ball the most, adding in eight of his 10 points, and fueling a 25-point quarter that put Clearfield in a deep hole. By the same token, the Bison were struggling on offense, with questionable passes and unforced turnovers that led to quick points.
Along with Crilly and Escals, Kendall Lehner and Ashton Walk hit double figures, scoring 15 and 12 points, respectively. Both would ultimately get a curtain call in the final quarter, as the Golden Eagles put the game into the Mercy Rule clock with just under five minutes remaining. Both teams would finish the game with the underclassmen on the court.
Clearfield’s Braison Patrick led the team with 15 points, with Evett Maines adding in another 14. It also was another game in the last few weeks where the Bison would not have one trip to the foul line.
The regular season for Clearfield (4-17) will conclude on Tuesday night, as they will host their rivals from just down the road, the Curwensville Golden Tide. The two squads had their first meeting of the year back on December 28, a game in which Clearfield got their first win of the season. However, Glunt knows this game is going to feel much different than it did during the holiday season.
“Curwensville is going to come in here fired up. In the first game, Chandler (English) did not play because he was hurt, but now he’s back healthy. I watched them over the weekend in DuBois, and they are a much different team,” he said. “Josh (Tkacik) is doing fantastic work with those kids, so we have to be prepared for anything.”
Tip-off for junior varsity is at 6 p.m. with the varsity contest to follow.
SCORE BY QUARTER
Tyrone 18 19 25 12 – 74
Clearfield 19 9 7 14 – 49
Tyrone – 74
Sam Crilly 5 6-6 20, Brady Ronan 1 2-2 4, Andrew Escala 4 0-0 10, Ashton Walk 5 0-2 12, Kendall Lehner 6 2-2 15, Dravyn Crowell 3 0-0 6, Ashton Emigh 0 0-0 0, Ethan Dasher 0 0-0 0, Eli Woomer 2 0-0 5, Mason Emigh 0 0-0 0, Owen Oakes 0 0-0 0, Logan Harpster 1 0-0 2. TOTALS 27 10-12 74.
Clearfield – 49
Parker Collins 3 0-0 8, Evett Maines 6 0-0 14, Braison Patrick 6 0-0 15, Anthony Lopez 2 0-0 6, Braylen Way 2 0-0 4, Cooper Broad 0 0-0 0, Kai Lynch 0 0-0 0, Noah Rumfola 1 0-0 2, Carter Kasken 0 0-0 0, Landyn Lanager 0 0-0 0. TOTALS 20 0-0 49.
GAME STATISTICS
Tyrone/Clearfield
- Shooting: 27-52/20-48
- Rebounds: 27/21
- Fouls: 10/13
- Turnovers: 10/14
- Three-Point Shots: Crilly-4, Escala-2, Walk-2, Lehner, Woomer/Collins-2, Maines-2, Patrick-3, Lopez-2
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 49 – 46 3 – 9
01/15 @ West Branch 66 – 73 3 – 10
01/17 PENNS VALLEY 41 – 42 3 – 11
01/24 @ Bald Eagle Area 40 – 45 3 – 12
01/26 BEDFORD 41 – 39 4 – 12
01/31 @ Central 38 – 46 4 – 13
02/02 @ Richland 44 – 63 4 – 14
02/07 BELLEFONTE 63 – 68 4 – 15
02/09 @ Bishop Guilfoyle 61 – 90 4 – 16
02/12 TYRONE 49 – 74 4 – 17
02/13 CURWENSVILLE
02/15 Laurel Highlands Tourney
02/17 Laurel Highlands Tourney