Lady Bison Drop Season-Opener to Hollidaysburg

HOLLIDAYSBURG — After a day that had snow hit the ground, and schools decided it’s best to not risk its students and staff make the trip to their institutions, Wednesday’s weather looked better, and roads were safer, which meant the season-opening contest between the Clearfield Lady Bison and the Hollidaysburg Lady Golden Tigers were ready to get both of their seasons started as scheduled.

Temperatures were cold outside, but it was an intense battle on the hardwood. For Clearfield, the strong start held for most of the game. However, circumstances in the second half halted them like a parachute slowing down a top fuel funny car. At night’s end, Clearfield was on the wrong end of a 58-37 final.

The Lady Bison got off to the fast start that was expected for this year’s squad, fueled by last year’s leading scorer, Sonny Diehl. The back-and-forth opening quarter finished with Clearfield holding a single possession lead, 10-8. Hollidaysburg began battling back in the second quarter with a balanced amount of scoring. Heading into halftime, it was the Lady Golden Tigers that would instead hold the one-possession lead at 24-22.

It was the third quarter that changed everything for Clearfield.

Sophomore Eve Helsel’s, who stepped into the role that was left after Hannah Glunt graduated, tough play already had her with three fouls entering the third quarter. Her game came to a major halt in the final quarter.

During one possession, a collision on the court saw Helsel go down in a heap. According to head coach, and mother, Missy Helsel, her daughter never shows when she’s in pain. But, in her own words, “I just held my breath; when she went down, it was awful.”

Helsel and her teammates helped her off the court, as she indicated it was her leg that was in pain, specifically her calf. She would play through the pain into the fourth quarter, but clearly she was not completely well.

Missy indicated after the game she was going for a follow-up to see if it is anything serious.

The injury sucked the wind out of Clearfield. After falling behind 37-32 entering the final quarter, not having Helsel on the floor changed everything. The girls were out of sync, only scoring five points in the final frame as Hollidaysburg pushed out to put up 21 in the final eight minutes.

Diehl would be the high-scorer for the Lady Bison in the game, finishing with a game-high 19 points. For Hollidaysburg, Alana Lightner led the scoring with 19 points as well, with Clare Padamonsky close behind with another 17.

It won’t be until Friday when Clearfield (0-1) is back on the court as part of the Brockway Tip-Off Tournament.

SCORE BY QUARTER

Clearfield 10 12 10 5 – 37
Hollidaysburg 8 16 13 21 – 58

Clearfield – 37

Sonny Diehl 7 5-7 19, Eve Helsel 3 0-0 8, Alyssa Natoli 0 0-0 0, Mia Helsel 2 0-0 4, Myleigh Hudson 2 0-0 6, Elia Evilsizor 0 0-0 0. TOTALS 14 5-7 37.

Hollidaysburg – 58

Clare Padamonsky 6 4-5 17, Alana Lightner 9 1-1 19, Jillian Sidney 3 0-0 9, Makenna Weimert 3 3-4 9, Kate Steiner 1 0-0 2, Allie Hayer 0 0-0 0, Taryn Leighty 0 0-0 0, Maya Gearhart 1 0-0 2. TOTALS 23 8-10 58.

Clearfield Lady Bison Scoreboard

DATE AND OPPONENT	SCORE	RECORD
12/3 at Hollidaysburg	37-58	0-1
12/5 at Brockway Tournament
12/6 at Brockway Tournament
12/10 HUNTINGDON
12/12 at Philipsburg-Osceola (6:15 p.m.)
12/17 PENNS VALLEY
12/19 CHESTNUT RIDGE
12/22 at Bellwood-Antis
1/7 BALD EAGLE AREA
1/12 CENTRAL HIGH
1/14 BELLEFONTE (6:15 p.m.)
1/16 at Forest Hills (6 p.m.)
1/19 at Bishop Guilfoyle
1/22 at Tyrone
1/24 at Somerset (5 p.m.)
1/29 DUBOIS CATHOLIC
1/30 CENTRAL CAMBRIA (6 p.m.)
2/2 at Huntingdon
2/5 PHILIPSBURG-OSCEOLA (6:15 p.m.)
2/9 at Penns Valley
2/10 at Punxsutawney (7:15 p.m.)