BROOKVILLE — Playing the way they have been practicing and scrimmaging, the Clearfield Lady Bison raced past Clarion-Limestone 63-40 in the consolation game of the 21st Brookville Tip-Off Tournament Saturday afternoon.
The team that coach Joey Castagnolo didn’t recognize the previous evening in a 43-25 loss to North Clarion buckled down on defense, the match-up zone causing most of the Lady Lions’ 30 turnovers, and shot 40.8 percent because of many fast-break and transition field goals to balance its record.
“That made me happy,” Castagnolo said. “Last night, we were out of sync. Today, we played our style of game. That’s what we need to do.”
Junior Rachel Glenny imposed her will in the low post with 16 points and nine rebounds in her first varsity start, while Emily Ryan harassed the Clarion-Limestone guards on the perimeter and had seven steals, three of which she turned into layups for half of her 16 points.
“Rachel did a fine job,” Castagnolo praised Clearfield’s all-tournament team selection. “She used her body well in boxing out and she ran the floor. She’s the fastest girl on the team, so that’s why we fly her in our fast-break offense.
“Emily controlled the tempo of the whole game. She knew when to push it and when to slow it down. She has to do that all the time.”
Seven Lady Bison got into the scoring act as they stormed to a 15-4 lead in the first quarter.
“We shared the basketball,” Castagnolo said. “We passed the ball around the perimeter and took the shots we take in practice. They fell today.”
Six Lady Bison contributed to the 16-point second period that had them up 31-11 with 2:47 left in the half. Josie Stitt then made it respectable for the Lady Lions by intermission with eight consecutive points, including a pair of steals that she turned into layups, one a conventional three-point play.
Clearfield regained command at the outset of the second half when Maggie Sopic and Margo Castagnolo fed Glenny for peeps and Sopic cashed a steal to make it 37-19.
“We had quick hands, especially the guards out front, and I liked that we made the layups after we got the steals,” coach Castagnolo said. “Sometimes, things go haywire.”
No matter which combination he had on the floor, the Lady Bison continually padded their lead the rest of the way. They outscored the very young Lady Lions 19-10 in the fourth quarter, again with seven players contributing points.
Clearfield wound up with 10 players in the scoring column.
“And we had balanced scoring from our starters,” Castagnolo pointed out. “Everybody had at least six points.”
The Lady Bison made 29 of 71 shots while the Lady Lions hit 14 of 50 attempts.
Three players accounted for all but two of Clarion-Limestone’s points, Stitt with 18, Paige Aaron with 12 and big freshman Morgan Clark with 10 to go with 12 rebounds.
“That’s three years in a row we’ve been 1-1 here,” Castagnolo said. “We come up here to see some different teams and get some experience before we head into our league.”
The Lady Bison begin Mountain League play against Central at Martinsburg Wednesday.
Brookville claimed the tourney title for the ninth time by defeating North Clarion 64-30.
Lady Raider Elaina Powell was named Most Valuable Player to head the all-tourney team that Glenny, Hali Olson of Brookville and Abbie Schmader and Tori Obenrader of North Clarion.
See photos of the game: http://www.ladybisonsports.org/lbsbball120614.html
CLEARFIELD — 63
Emily Aveni 4 0-0 8, Emily Ryan 5 2-3 12, Maggie Sopic 3 0-0 6, Rachel Glenny 7 2-2 16, Margo Castagnolo 3 0-0 6, Mary Ishman 3 0-0 6, Tessa Waring 1 0-0 2, Janessa Riddell 1 0-0 2, Sam Rockmore 0 1-2 1, Ally Lindstrom 2 0-2 4, Chesney Boal 0 0-0 0, Brooke Cline 0 0-0 0. TOTALS: 29 5-9 63.
CLARION-LIMESTONE — 40
Megan Kelley 1 0-0 2, Josie Stitt 6 6-10 18, Paige Aaron 5 0-1 12, Olivia Shilling 0 0-0 0, Morgan Clark 2 40-10 10, Erica Hetrick 0 0-0 0, Monique Monrean 0 0-0 0, Orianna Walters 0 0-0 0, Jessica Ball 0 0-0 0, Dawn McLaine 0 0-0 0. TOTALS: 14 10-21 40.
Three-Point Field Goals – Clarion-Limestone 2 (Aaron 2).
Score by Quarters
Clearfield 15 16 13 19 – 63
North Clarion 4 15 11 10 – 40
Officials – Ron Dolby, Bill Overly and Barry Vasbinder.
