PITTSBURGH — Being able to keep a season going, with more practice and more games, is the focus of any team that is in the playoffs. It’s something the Lady Bison of Clearfield have not really done much of in several years. However, the 2024-2025 roster felt special from the first game of the year, and it allowed the squad to not have its most successful season in over a decade. It also brought Clearfield its first District 9 championship in a quarter century, and an opportunity to make it to the PIAA tournament. To do so, the team had to get past the Lady Raiders of Carrick, representing District 8 in the Pittsburgh area.
Early on, the two kept things close. But, the speed and the cohesiveness of the Lady Bison took over, leading to a 65-33 victory to punch their ticket to the PIAA State playoffs.
The first quarter ended up being a shootout between the two squads, as both the Lady Raiders and Lady Bison went toe-to-toe, with Fisher of Carrick scoring 10 of the team’s 14 points in the quarter. Clearfield managed to hold a five-point lead at the end of the quarter 19-14, as Sonny Diehl would have a solid start to her night.
When the second quarter started, it was as though Clearfield had found an extra gear, because they went to work, and put on a clinic.
Clearfield’s second quarter changed the game, with the “Iron Five” all contributing. Iron sharpened iron for the next eight minutes, as the Lady Bison put up 24 points in eight minutes. At the same time, the defense was swarming, keeping shots to a minimum and forcing turnovers into fast breaks. The five-point gap at the start of the second quarter turned into a 43-18 lead heading into halftime.
It was more of the same the entire second half, as the Lady Bison forced the running clock in the third quarter, allowing the team to cruise the rest of the night, and giving the starting five a rest for most of the fourth quarter.
Diehl led her teammates with 26 points on the night, with Hannah Glunt adding in another 13, and Mia Helsel bucketing 11 by game’s end.
This week, Clearfield locked up a District 9 championship for the first time in 25 years, and then locked in a PIAA playoff spot in a matter of four days. Sitting at 18-5, the Lady Bison will have at least one more week of practice, because they have one more game on the slate. The first round of PIAA playoffs, the Round of 32, will see Clearfield enter as the No. 1 seed for Districts 8/9, and the bracket has the Lady Bison facing off with the No. 5 seed out of District 7, the Laurel Highlands Lady Mustangs, from Uniontown.
Tickets for the game between Laurel Highlands and Clearfield will go on sale Monday, with the opening round of the playoffs taking place on Saturday, March 8. All playoff tickets will be online sales only, according to the PIAA.org website, and that will mean a packed gymnasium. However, it could be a benefit for Clearfield.
The opening round of the playoffs has given the Lady Bison one more home game on the year, as Laurel Highlands will make the trip to play inside the Bison Gymnasium next Saturday. No start time has been announced at this time, but is expected to be revealed at the beginning of the week.
SCORE BY QUARTER
Clearfield 19 24 17 5 – 65
Carrick 14 4 9 6 – 33
Clearfield – 65
Sonny Diehl 12 2-2 26, Esme Coffman 0 0-0 0, Eve Helsel 4 0-0 9, Hannah Glunt 4 2-2 13, Alyssa Natoli 0 0-0 0, Mia Helsel 5 0-1 11, Myleigh Hudson 2 0-0 4, Riley Cummings 0 0-0 0, Aliza Miller 0 0-0 0, Eliza Evilsizor 1 0-0 2. TOTALS 28 4-5 65.
Carrick – 33
K. Hainston 1 2-2 4, A Schultz 0 0-0 0, J. Fisher 2 6-8 10, J. Rose 1 2-2 4, R. Grant 5 0-0 13, B. Whitney 0 0-0 0, R. Russ 0 2-2 2. TOTALS 9 12-14 33.
LADY BISON SCOREBOARD:
12/03 CENTRAL 61 – 58 1 – 0
12/06 @ Brookville Tip-Off Tourney cancelled 1 – 0
12/07 @ Brookville Tip-Off Tourney cancelled 1 – 0
12/11 @ Bellefonte 71 – 18 2 – 0
12/13 BISHOP GUILFOYLE 50 – 54 2 – 1
12/18 @ Tyrone 62 – 56 3 – 1
12/20 HOLLIDAYSBURG 50 – 88 3 – 2
12/27 @ Greater Johnstown 43 – 61 3 – 3
01/03 WESTMONT HILLTOP ppd. 3 – 3
01/06 @ Huntingdon ppd. 3 – 3
01/08 PHILIPSBURG-OSCEOLA 50 – 21 4 – 3
01/10 @ Bellwood Antis 68 – 60 5 – 3
01/13 PENNS VALLEY 74 – 68 6 – 3
01/16 CLARION-LIMESTONE ppd. 6 – 3
01/17 @ Bedford 48 – 40 7 – 3
01/20 @ Bald Eagle Area 65 – 17 8 – 3
01/23 @ Dubois Central 62 – 65 8 – 4
01/24 @ Northern Clarion 70 – 38 9 – 4
01/27 @ Central 62 – 43 10 – 4
01/28 @ Huntingdon 67 – 59 11 – 4
01/31 RICHLAND 54 – 44 12 – 4
02/03 BELLEFONTE 64 – 24 13 – 4
02/06 @ Bishop Guilfoyle 55 – 58 13 – 5
02/08 CLARION-LIMESTONE 61 – 55 14 – 5
02/10 TYRONE 59 – 54 15 – 5
02/12 WESTMONT HILLTOP cancelled 15 – 5
02/13 CURWENSVILLE 61 – 14 16 – 5
02/25 vs. St. Marys, in Punxy-D9 Championship 57 – 44 17 – 5
02/28 @ Carrick-District 8/9 Play-In 65 – 33 18 – 5
03/08 LAUREL HIGHLANDS-PIAA Round 1
