Strong First Half Performance by Lady Bison Can’t Hold in Loss to Brookville

HYDE — With the holidays inching closer by the moment, the Lady Bison of Clearfield were itching to get back on the court, hoping to get back to the .500 mark and match their win total from a year ago.  After falling to Tyrone on Friday night, there was not much turnaround, because they would take the court again Monday night in the Bison Gymnasium.

It was declared “Throwback Night” for the game, as the home squad took to the court wearing uniforms honoring the previous years of Lady Bison basketball.  The look had black striping down the sides along with block lettering.  To keep with the theme, the visiting Lady Raiders of Brookville got into the mood as well as they would don classic uniforms of deep blue and outlined numbers.

Early on, the home squad seemed to have found something they had during the first few weeks of the year, as the team was making good decisions, pushing the defense, and creating turnovers.  At one point, the home squad took a near double-digit lead, and seemed to be in control.

But one basket changed it all.  The first half was all-Clearfield, but the second half went the opposite way, as turnovers, key buckets, and foul trouble would ultimately doom the Lady Bison as they would fall to Brookville in a 59-50 final.

“They had an inside game and were attacking my posts since my posts had two fouls on each of them.  I think we played a little tentative, and they made some easy baskets and that brought them back into the game,” Clearfield head coach Joey Castagnolo said afterwards.  “We really started out well, executed, but got in foul trouble.  The turnovers weren’t from that big of pressure on us, but you can’t do that.”

Early on, it was Clearfield setting the tone.  An early bucket by Rachel Glenny, which was followed up by a free throw, gave them a 3-0 lead.  Brookville would answer back to tie the game, but immediately afterward the Lady Bison went to work.  Glenny would score seven points in the first quarter, while a returning Sam Rockmore would match the total.  After one quarter the home squad held a 16-11 lead that would continue to build in the second quarter.

But Brookville wouldn’t quit, and began chipping away at the lead.  Although they were not getting the lead, they were going basket-for-basket.  It wasn’t until the final shot where things went the way of the Lady Raiders.

After an in-bounds pass and subsequent drive across the timing line with Clearfield ahead by two, Kara Wonderling let off a prayer from three feet behind the arc.  Somehow, the shot would not only count, but was nothing but net.  Even Wonderling herself couldn’t believe she made the shot, but that basket gave the visiting squad a 27-26 lead heading into halftime, and pushed things squarely in their favor.

Castagnolo acknowledged that the shot was what began the change in the game.

“They didn’t want to foul, but you had to go out too.  That was demoralizing,” he said.

Brookville would lead off the second half with another three-point shot from Elaina Powell, pushing the lead to five points.  That is when Clearfield began seeming to play from behind, and began making mistakes.  It wasn’t just turnovers that began plaguing the Lady Bison, it was also fouls.  Early in the fourth quarter, Glenny was in danger with four fouls, while Emily Ryan had three.

A few minutes later, Glenny was called for an over-the-back reach, and subsequently would be done for the night.  She would finish with 13 points and seven rebounds.

With about three minutes left in the game, Ryan would follow suit with her fifth foul, ending her night with a double-double of 13 points and 10 assists.  Rockmore would add in another 11 points in her first game back since injury.

“When our two posts weren’t in there to anchor things down, things began breaking down and we did some things we weren’t supposed to do,” Castagnolo said.

Despite losing Glenny, who primarily plays deep in the paint, neither team in the fourth quarter could get momentum.  Instead of trading baskets, teams would trade turnovers, missed shots, and rebounds.  It wouldn’t be until the 4:39 mark remaining in the game when either team would score.

“It got sloppy, and it shouldn’t be.  Both teams are heavily senior-dominated, but it was sloppy there,” Castagnolo said.  “At the end, I had to press, and we don’t often press that much.  We had girls out of position, and just couldn’t get a quick steal to the basket.  That was out of our realm.”

The man-on-man defense in the end would cost Clearfield as fouls would lead to free throws by Brookville, which ultimately led to the nine-point victory.

Hali Olson would lead the Lady Raiders in scoring with 16 points, while Powell and Brooke Shattenberg would each add 14 points, with Shattenberg leading the way in boards with nine.  Combined, Brookville would lead the margin of rebounds 26-18

“That’s the best they have played on the road.  They just played well when they had to.  They hit some crucial three’s, and a couple times we were right on them, and yet they made it,” Castagnolo said.

Brookville also would take home the win in the jayvee contest by a final of 28-24, with Alayna Ryan leading the home squad with 10 points.

Castagnolo was simply in disbelief as he saw his team get a lead, and seem to have things going right, only to see it slip away.  Still, he could see the confidence in his team, and had three words to describe the effort they put forth on the court.

“My kids battled,” he said.

Now at 3-5, Clearfield has over a week to prepare for its next game.  That will come next Tuesday, December 29, during the Christmas break as the Lady Bison make the short trip down Rt. 879 to face off with the Lady Tide of Curwensville.

SCORE BY QUARTER

Brookville  11   16   14   18   –   59
Clearfield   16   10   10   14   –   50

Brookville 59

Ganoe 3 0-0 7, Hill 0 0-0 0, Olson 6 4-5 16, Shattenberg 6 2-4 14, Hergert 1 0-0 2, Blochberger 0 0-0 0, Kirkwood 0 0-0 0, Hetzinikolas 0 0-0 0, Wonderling 1 3-4 6, Powell 4 2-2 14.  TOTALS 21 11-15 59.

Clearfield 50

Caatagnolo 1 1-1 4, Lindstrom 2 1-2 5, Cline 2 0-0 4, A. Ryan 0 0-0 0, E. Ryan 6 1-2 13, Rockmore 5 1-1 11, Glenny 6 1-1 13, Brossard 0 0-0 0, Lansberry 0 0-0 0.  TOTALS 22 5-7 50.

GAME STATISTICS
Brookville/Clearfield

Team Rebounds:  26/18

Turnovers:  20/26

Team Fouls:  12/19

Field Goal Shooting:  21-57/22-48

Three-Point Shots:  Ganoe, Wonderling, Powell (4); Castagnolo

Foul Outs:  Glenny, E. Ryan