Second Half Comeback Falls Short as Lady Bison Drop Home Opener

HYDE — After starting the season with a .500 record coming out of the Brookville tournament, the Lady Bison of Clearfield were ready to get down to business in the Mountain League.

Their first test came on their home court of the Bison Gymnasium as the Lady Dragons from Central made the trip from Martinsburg to try and make their stand to start the year.

What it came down to was the ability to get the lead, and maintain it.  Early on, Central had the control, getting an early double-digit lead, which held through the first 16 minutes of play.  But the Lady Bison found something in themselves and began to pull back, reeling in the opposition with smart play, and quick reactions.  Unfortunately, the home squad couldn’t maintain the momentum.

Despite getting the lead in transition, the Lady Dragons were able to thwart the comeback and leave the hardwood with a 52-41 victory.

Head coach Joey Castagnolo could see his team was tentative in the first half, so at the break he made some adjustments to bring them back and make a game of it.  But, his team couldn’t hold it.

“We played scared for the whole first half.  After halftime, we took our time, looked for the open girl, and good things happened.  We started getting our momentum, we started switching up our defenses, and things happened,” he said on the sidelines afterward.  “But after we got the lead, we just went back to our old ways of being out of control.

“I don’t know what really happened.  I don’t understand.  We made all our adjustments at halftime, and we did really well.  We cut the halftime deficit down by 11.  I just don’t understand…once we had the lead, I thought we’d show our poise, but we didn’t have the poise with four seniors out there.”

The senior leadership from the Lady Bison came from Rachel Glenny and Emily Ryan, who finished with a combined 19 points.  Glenny would have a double-double on the night as she would finish with 19 boards.  Not to be outdone, senior Sam Rockmore added in another 10 boards in her effort.

“They put pressure on Emily and Rachel, and they’re no secrets anymore.  They play smart and with senior leadership, but we just fizzled down the stretch.  But hat’s off to them, they scrapped and played us tough,” Castagnolo said.

It was Castagnolo’s daughter, Margo, that led the scoring for Clearfield with 11 points, thanks to a trio of three-point shots.

On the opposite side, it was Paige Long and Hannah Johnston that broke into double digits, with Johnston leading all scoring with 14 points plus a team-high eight rebounds.

The game was physical from the opening tip, with the first quarter taking nearly 25 minutes to complete as the Lady Dragons would commit five fouls in the opening eight minutes of play.  At the same time, they would maintain a nine-point advantage after the quarter finally ended, and a 13-point gap at halftime.  The physicality continued in the second half, which Castagnolo expected, but the pace quickened and neither team made as many mistakes as they did in the first half.

“I thought we’d be here forever with the first quarter and how they were fouling, but they got all cleaned up at halftime.  I made my adjustments, they made their adjustments, and it was a nice game,” Castagnolo said.  “Physical, yes, but the girls played to the physicality.  The score doesn’t indicate at the end how much we came back and fought.”

The fight Clearfield had in them showed up really fast in the third quarter when it was Margo hitting a key three-point shot from the baseline to bring the home squad within one.  On the ensuing possession, Ryan would pick up a steal and take it to the basket to give the Lady Bison their second lead of the game, the first coming on a free throw by Ryan in the first quarter.

With a faster pace, Clearfield was able to keep the game close.  But Central would adjust their defense and begin pressing in man coverage for the latter part of the third and fourth quarters, slowing down Clearfield and forcing more turnovers.

Clearfield would out-score Central in the final two quarters, 25-23, but 11 turnovers in the second half doomed the home squad.

“We are a transition team, and that’s where we made our comeback.  We were running the floor, Margo was hitting her three’s.  When they brought it down to half-court, it slowed down, that’s where we got in trouble.  We have to work on our half-court offense,” Castagnolo said.  “We ran our plays, but the lob passes were a little too deep, and we just shouldn’t do things like that with four seniors.”

Clearfield kept the opening junior varsity game close as well, but fell late in a 39-36 contest.

The Lady Bison will have a bit of a break before they take the court again, as they will take their 1-2 record on the road Friday night to face Huntingdon.

SCORE BY QUARTER

Central   16   15   7   14   –   52
Clearfield   7   11   16   7   –   41

Central 52

Johnston 5 3-4 14; Smith 2 1-4 5; Long 4 1-2 10; Boyles 2 3-6 7; Mack 4 0-0 8; Kensinger 1 0-0 2; Fernander 2 0-0 4.  TOTALS 21 8-16 52.

Clearfield 41

Castagnolo 4 0-0 11; E. Ryan 3 3-4 9; Lindstrom 2 0-0 4; Chew 0 0-0 0; A. Ryan 0 0-0 0; Rockmore 3 1-2 7; Brossard 0 0-0 0; Glenny 3 4-5 10; Lansberry 0 0-0 0.  TOTALS 15 8-11 41.

GAME STATISTICS
Central/Clearfield

Team Rebounds:  29/34

Turnovers:  18/26

Team Fouls:  13/13

Field Goal Shooting:  21-55/15-49

Three-Point Shots:  Johnston (3), Long; Castagnolo (3)

Lady Bison Scoreboard: