HYDE — It was an atmosphere that the Clearfield Bison had become accustomed to when it comes to playoffs. The Bison Gymnasium was filled close to capacity as the cagers took to the court in warmups, as the crowd was treated to one more home game on the season, but it was a night of much more at stake. With the Grove City Eagles on the opposing baseline, Friday’s game was the opening round in the 2025 PIAA Class 4A tournament.
On a night where the two sides would go shot-for-shot, possession-for-possession, at one point it seemed the Bison were slipping away from the opportunity. However, the fight they showed all year continued as they battled back into the game in the late stages. At the final buzzer, even with a final shot making the net, the Bison looked up at a scoreboard that showed a 71-70 final, but the home squad was on the wrong end of the ticker.
“What an absolute amazing atmosphere here tonight,” Bison head coach Nate Glunt said afterwards. “I don’t think I can ever express how grateful I am for the support of this community. From the parents, to the students, the faculty. They made this a fun place to play. I’m so proud of everyone.”
That excitement was prevalent from the opening tip, as Clearfield quickly made the first move down the court, but it was the Eagles getting the opening bucket to take the early lead. Both squads would trade baskets in the first four minutes, but then Clearfield found some spark when Evett Maines drained a three at the top of the key to put Clearfield out in front. The Bison held the lead through the late stages of the first quarter, taking a 16-14 advantage at the first buzzer.
Grove City would not back down, as Nathan Greer was finding open looks inside for most of the first half. Accounting for 11 of the 14 points in the opening stanza, the Bison defense had to key on one man, while limiting shots for others.
The second quarter between the two mirrored the first, as Greer continued to find ways to get points, either via jump shots or finding penetration. He would land a game-high 31 points for the Eagles, but even his effort was not quite enough to get Grove City the lead before halftime.
At the same time, Maines and Braison Patrick were finding their own way to the net the entire first half, as they combined for 19 points, and gave Clearfield a 28-25 lead when teams headed into the locker room.
Everything seemed to take a different turn in the second half, as Grove City came out in attack mode, but Clearfield still was pushing things to the limit. However, the Eagles began making key baskets, and many were from deep range. The Eagles, on the back of Greer’s 5-for-6 shooting in the quarter, took the lead back at the 4:57 mark in the third quarter before the Bison called a time out. Clearfield’s struggles in the quarter were not self-inflicted, but instead were only due to the Eagles finding ways to get the ball in the bucket, and move down the court.
Clearfield lost the quarter, 22-12, and what was a three-point halftime lead suddenly was a seven-point deficit.
The Eagles continued the pace all the way through most of the final quarter. Clearfield at certain moments cut into the lead, but immediately after the Bison would make a basket, Grove City answered back. Late in the fourth quarter, the Bison called their second timeout, looked up at the board and saw a 13-point gap, and their hopes at moving on slipping through like sand through an hourglass.
At that point, leadership came not only from coaches, but from its experienced players, as things quickly took a different tone.
“I have to give a lot of credit to our senior leadership. Carter Kaskan, Kai Lynch, and Jake Rumfola, those guys deserve the recognition for what they have done for the team. They build each other up, and kept us going,” Glunt said.
That kind of build allowed Clearfield to suddenly find a spark. Kaskan himself found a pair of buckets to cut the lead down, but a trey from Maines then got the Bison faithful rocking as the lead was cut to within one possession. Grove City answered on the in-bound pass as Greer took the ball in the opposing paint, catching the ball from Ben Fischer as if he was a quarterback instead of the tall center. But, Clearfield got a huge help from Elijah Glunt, who downed a bucket to make it 65-60.
Clearfield then had to start fouling with under a minute remaining, and already having Parker Collins on the sidelines due to achieving five fouls, they began trying to put their competition at the line.
This did the trick, as in the fourth quarter, 20 times, with Fischer being there 12 of those instances. But, Clearfield’s chances kept going up, as in the final minute, Fischer began missing the basket when free points were at play.
Fisher missed one of his two shots with the Eagles up, 68-63, and Clearfield quickly went down the court, with Glunt getting an open look at the left wing, putting the ball in the net to cut the lead to just two points. Patrick then went 1-for-2 at his opportunity at the line, cutting the Bison deficit down to one with just over 30 seconds remaining.
On the ensuing in-bound pass, Fischer was again fouled, and went to the line with just over 20 seconds remaining. He would make the first shot, but on the second the ball bounced left, and in the scrap for the loose ball, Fischer got fouled again. He would go 1-for-2 yet again, but the rebound went to Clearfield and the team pushed to the other end of the court. A quick rebound and passes up court again forced fouls, and with under 10 seconds left, both Clearfield and Grove City found themselves at a critical point.
With Clearfield staring at a 70-67 score, and the crowd at a frenzy, Fischer went to the line for what would be a pair of free throws that would either give Clearfield an opportunity, or ice the game.
With just over five seconds left, Fischer put up the first shot…and it bounced off the rim. Grove City called the final timeout of the game, and when the teams walked back out, only Clearfield was under the net. It was decided that if the ball would not go in the net, the Eagles wanted to be back and force the deep shot to send the game into overtime.
Fischer came to the line, took his stance, and with the crowd roaring to maximum decibel, he managed to get the ball in the net, putting the Eagles up by four, and ultimately icing the game.
Patrick would rush down the court on the final possession, hitting a final three at the buzzer to set the one-point final to complete his 28-point night, but it was all for naught as the buzzer sounded, and Clearfield’s season came to a conclusion.
“Tonight, it was a true microcosm of how our season went,” Glunt said. “We started the season 1-5, but then throughout January we were battling back and we ultimately made our way to the post season. We won a district title, and battled hard in each outing.
We played so hard tonight, and these guys battled, just like all year.”
The work in the offseason now begins, and with only losing three players to graduation, Glunt knows that much of his core on offense was returning, and he was already eager to get to work.
“I’m very excited for the future, the next chapter. We got a bunch of guys that are coming back, and are coming back with leadership. I’m just so proud of what this team, and this leadership, provided this year.”
Clearfield’s season concludes with a final record of 15-10. Grove City moves into the round of 16, playing on Tuesday night.
SCORE BY QUARTER
Grove City 14 11 22 24 – 71
Clearfield 16 12 12 30 – 70
Grove City – 71
Christian Kurz 4 0-0 10, Nathan Greer 13 3-7 31, Daniel Mariacher 2 0-0 6, Max Knouse 2 4-4 10, Nick Earman 0 0-0 0, Layne Rider 0 0-0 0, Ben Fischer 4 6-14 14. TOTALS 25 13-25 71.
Clearfield – 70
Parker Collins 1 0-0 3, Evett Maines 7 1-1 19, Braison Patrick 10 4-6 28, Carter Kaskan 3 0-0 6, Jake Rumfola 0 0-0 0, Elijah Glunt 5 2-2 14, Noah Rumfola 0 0-0 0, Easton Maines 0 0-0 0, JT Strishock 0 0-0 0, Tanner Kaskan 0 0-0 0. TOTALS 26 7-8 70.
GAME STATISTICS
Grove City/Clearfield
- Shooting: 25-46/26-53
- Rebounds: 23/20
- Fouls: 15/21
- Turnovers: 8/11
- Three-Point Shots: Kurz-2, Greer-2, Fischer-4/Collins, Ev. Maines-4, Patrick-4, Glunt-2
- Foul Out: Collins, J. Rumfola
FINAL BISON SCOREBOARD:
Date Opponent Score Record
12/03 @ Central 49 – 67 0 – 1
12/06 @ Greater Johnstown 44 – 68 0 – 2
12/09 BELLEFONTE 61 – 51 1 – 2
12/13 @ Bishop Guilfoyle 46 – 72 1 – 3
12/16 TYRONE 53 – 75 1 – 4
12/19 @ Hollidaysburg 47 – 71 1 – 5
12/27 CURWENSVILLE 72 – 62 2 – 5
01/03 WESTMONT HILLTOP ppd. 2 – 5
01/06 HUNTINGDON ppd. 2 – 5
01/08 @ Philipsburg-Osceola 64 – 33 3 – 5
01/10 BELLWOOD ANTIS 60 – 35 4 – 5
01/14 HUNTINGDON 51 – 48 5 – 5
01/15 @ Penns Valley 61 – 40 6 – 5
01/17 @ Bedford 51 – 50 7 – 5
01/20 WEST BRANCH 63 – 40 8 – 5
01/22 BALD EAGLE AREA 43 – 40 9 – 5
01/27 WESTMONT HILLTOP 53 – 70 9 – 6
01/29 CENTRAL 51 – 54 9 – 7
01/31 RICHLAND 50 – 43 10 – 7
02/04 DUBOIS CENTRAL 60 – 43 11 – 7
02/05 @ Bellefonte ppd. 11 – 7
02/07 BISHOP GUILFOYLE 49 – 68 11 – 8
02/10 @ Tyrone 57 – 81 11 – 9
02/12 @ Curwensville ppd. 11 – 9
02/13 @ Bellefonte 62 – 56 12 – 9
02/14 @ Curwensville 86 – 56 13 – 9
02/25 D9 AAAA Finals vs. St. Marys 45 – 26 14 – 9
03/01 D8/9 AAAA Sub-Regional
vs. Obama Academy 68 – 60 15 – 9
03/07 PIAA-Round 1 GROVE CITY 70 – 71 15 – 10
