As the seasons change and the focus moves to the indoor sports, the Clearfield Lady Bison were already making strides to prepare for the new year. A team that finished the prior year with the most successful campaign to date returned to the hardwood while school wasn’t even in session. Summer workouts, summer leagues, and a lot of confidence fuel a team that not just wants to match the success of a year ago, but eclipse it.
That desire has brought a new found confidence in the Lady Bison program, and it has led to already seeing future players take to the court.
Lady Bison head coach Missy Helsel took over for long-time coach, Joey Castagnolo, following his retirement at the end of the 2021 campaign during the Covid Pandemic. Since then, she has seen all her teams win at least 10 games each year, with the last two seasons finishing above the .500-mark. What that has done is, to her, change the culture of what girls basketball at Clearfield could be, and she was seeing it not just on her team, but also the ones that are working up the ranks from the junior high level.
“This was one of our biggest turnouts since I’ve been here for signups. Last year, we struggled and had only six or seven for the junior high program. This year, we maybe had around 20 just sign up for junior high,” she said.
Seeing that many girls come up for the program before reaching the high school ranks had Helsel, and her staff, eager to get back on the court.
“We have a roster of 13 for our jayvee and varsity. Our jayvees are going to get a lot of playing time, and a lot of competition. Our varsity girls will then be able to get a breather when we need it,” Helsel said.
The stacked girls roster still brings in a lot of energy, but most importantly, a lot of leadership. Most of the prior “Iron Five” that Helsel termed is back for the new year, coming off a 20-win season that saw Clearfield capture their first district championship in several years. That team also took Clearfield to its first Sweet 16 in the PIAA tournament. To have most of that roster back for the 2025-26 season will pay dividends in the eyes of their coach.
“It’s huge. The leadership, the experience with our system, even tweaking it a bit for this year. We lost Hannah (Glunt) from last year, but Eve (Helsel) is stepping into that role for us, and is already doing a fantastic job for us in the practices we’ve already had. She’s developed over the summer to fill that role,” she said. “You add in Elia (Evilsizor), Myleigh (Hudson), Mia (Helsel) with her senior leadership; it’s going to be an exciting year.”
All that experience for Clearfield from the seniors will be a major role for the new year, but statistically, their best returning player still has another year left to go. Now-junior, Sonny Diehl, had a spectacular sophomore campaign, averaging just under 18 points per game, while shooting 45 percent from the floor. She also led the team in rebounds per game, 12.2, and had 24 blocks by the end of the season.
She, along with Mia Helsel, who signed with Penn State Behrend to continue her basketball career next year, were the pair that defenses had to focus on a year ago. Diehl’s size made her a force in the paint, while Helsel countered with shooting ability from multiple spots on the court and guidance in running plays once at the top of the key.
Helsel is coming off a year where she still put up numbers, accounting for 332 points, 107 total rebounds, 57 assists and 70 steals.
Both Myleigh Hudson and Elia Evilsizor are back for a new year. Along with both Helsels and Diehl, the starting five seems set. But, unlike a season ago, Clearfield has a lot of depth on the bench that are ready to step onto the court to give the starting girls a chance to breathe, while also watching to see from their eyes what they can improve or adjust to help their teammates gain that advantage.
“It is going to be nice having that depth. Myleigh is coming off an injury during soccer, Alyssa (Natoli) and Aliza (Miller) did a nice job in cross country, with a lot of success,” Coach Helsel said. “For them to come off the bench with experience already, having played with those seniors, it’s important.”
The entire team itself has been coming together quite a bit during the off-season, staying together and playing in other leagues to hone their skills and understand what the expectation is once the new year approached. For Missy, it gave her a chance to coach her girls early on, but it also allowed her to watch the competition as the players she was watching on the court during the summer were also going to be on the court during the regular season, representing many Laurel Highlands Athletic Conference schools. Being able to see her team play familiar opponents, in her eyes, only helps their cause.
“It goes back to these girls showing up in the summer, playing in the YMCA league, and playing a lot of those same teams, seeing those same players,” she said. “They know now that they can compete at that level. The expectation is there on where we want to be in the Laurel Highlands. It’s such a difficult league.
“We want to go farther than last year. Our last game was not our best game, and we know that. Now, we’re hungry for more. We know we can get there, and know what it takes. Every night is a battle in the Laurel Highlands, so when we move through the season, that’s our goal, to get better every night. That way, come the end of the season, and playoff time, we’re where we want to be.”
Ultimately, the goal for Clearfield comes down to execution, and Helsel could see the execution that her team had in the latter part of the prior year helped put the Lady Bison in a position that they had not experienced before. By the same token, that position appeared to invigorate the team, and the community. She noted how the support for the girls has increased so much over the last few years has made her team better, and made them want to perform at a high level.
“The amount of confidence those girls had at the end of the year, that is what I want every game. We got better every game to get us to that area that Clearfield basketball has never been, the Sweet 16. That experience playing those teams we don’t normally play, on that big stage, it’s all a benefit,” she said. “We want to play the best teams, and that’s how you get better.
“Everybody has bought into what we’re doing, offensively and defensively, and how we want to run the court. Practices have been going well, with a lot of new girls in the program coming up through.”
The time to prepare for the upcoming campaign is drawing to a close. The season is drawing near, and although during media day for her team everyone was having fun doing fun pictures and getting their poster designs down, Helsel’s team still knew the business at hand. Just over a week before the first game, the look in Helsel’s eyes, and the eyes of the entire team, told an entire story.
“I think we’re ready. These girls are hungry, and ready for this season. It’s going to be fun, and exciting,” she said.
The Lady Bison will start the 2025-2026 season on Wednesday, December 3, with a road trip to face the Lady Golden Tigers of Hollidaysburg. It won’t be until the following week when they play their first game at home, welcoming in Huntingdon.
2025 Clearfield Lady Bison Roster
Letter winners in BOLD
SENIORS: Kendra Moore, Mia Helsel, Myleigh Hudson, Elia Evilsizor
JUNIOR: Sonny Diehl
SOPHOMORES: Eve Helsel, Alyssa Natoli, Riley Cummings, Aliza Miller
FRESHMEN: Rilee Thompson, Myra Ramkawsky, Charlie Spingola, Sidney Norris
Clearfield Lady Bison Schedule
Tip-off is at 7:30 p.m. for varsity, unless noted.
DECEMBER
3-at Hollidaysburg, 5-at Brockway Tip-Off Tournament, 6-at Brockway Tip-Off Tournament, 10-HUNTINGDON, 12-at Philipsburg-Osceola (6:15 p.m.), 17-PENNS VALLEY, 19-CHESTNUT RIDGE (6 p.m.), 22-at Bellwood-Antis
JANUARY
7-BALD EAGLE AREA, 12-CENTRAL, 14-BELLEFONTE (6:15 p.m.), 16-at Forest Hills (6 p.m.), 19-at Bishop Guilfoyle, 22-at Tyrone, 24-at Somerset (5 p.m.), 29-DUBOIS CATHOLIC, 30-CENTRAL CAMBRIA (6 p.m.)
FEBRUARY
2-at Huntingdon, 5-PHILIPSBURG-OSCEOLA (6:15 p.m.), 9-at Penns Valley, 10-at Punxsutawney (7:15 p.m.)
