Ball Control And Confidence Lead Lady Bison Past Huntingdon

HYDE — A mere 24 hours earlier, the Lady Bison of Clearfield were trying to get a grasp on how close they came to having back-to-back victories for the first time all season.  Only two points short of sending the game into overtime, the long bus ride home felt like an eternity.

The one thing they knew was that they had a chance to erase the memory, because they were back at home, and ready to take to the Bison Gymnasium for their first of two home games for the week.  Across the court were the Lady Bearcats of Huntingdon, a team that Clearfield defeated 41-28 previously in the year.  Emotions on both sides of the court were high, as they also were in the stands.

What transpired was a game that was completely unexpected.  Clearfield started the night with the opening basket, then hit another, and another.  They would open the night by holding Huntingdon to a mere three points in the opening quarter, and never looked back.  Intelligent passing, key rebounds, clock management, and confidence in themselves allowed the Lady Bison to take the lead from the beginning, and never lose it for 32 minutes as they would get the 47-34 victory, their first win of the season inside their home gym.

Head coach Joey Castagnolo couldn’t get the smile off of his face when he realized his girls had finally defended their home court.

“It feels wonderful,” he said sitting on the sidelines afterwards.  “The last few games, we have been playing excellent defense.  It’s coming down to communication with Emily Ryan out front.  She’s telling the girls where to move, and that is making a big difference.  We’re coming off a tough loss last night, a game we should have won, and the kids knew we should have won.

“But they came up here, came focused, and we won the game.”

Clearfield would do no wrong in the opening quarter as they would hold the Lady Bearcats to three points, while Huntingdon did themselves no favors with 10 of their 25 turnovers coming in the first eight minutes.  The second quarter was a near mirror image, as they would score 10 points in the frame, but with Clearfield adding on another 13 they would head into halftime with a 26-13 advantage.

Ryan’s night was not big on the scoreboard, as she only accounted for six points, but where she made up for it was in her unselfish play of getting the ball to her open teammates.  She would lead the team in nine assists, many of which went to her senior center Rachel Glenny, who finished the night with a game-high 17 points, plus adding in 11 rebounds, plus two blocks.

Castagnolo was grateful for Ryan’s play and how she was able to control the tempo, and communicate to the team where to position themselves.

“She saw the floor.  I pulled her over in the fourth quarter on a foul shot, said to her that she’s seeing the whole floor.  She passed the ball excellent tonight.  She doesn’t have to score points because she does so many other things,” he said.

It was not easy in the late going for Clearfield, as in the fourth quarter they held a 33-22 advantage, but Huntingdon suddenly opened the frame with a few baskets to pull within six.  Castagnolo burned a timeout to get things calmed down, but when the horn blew to get play resumed, his team put forth his instructions.

“I told the girls we would win the game as long as we got the two blocks down in the paint,” he said.  “Ally (Lindstrom) was playing tentative because she had four fouls, but I told her it didn’t matter, you needed to get the two rebounds down there.  That’s where I thought we won the game.

“Even though they made a run, we kept our composure.  When Margo (Castagnolo) hit that big three-pointer, that really helped.”

Castagnolo would account for 13 points, nine of which came from behind the arc.

For Huntingdon, they would keep things honest as Logan Gearhart would bucket 13 points while pulling down nine rebounds, keeping the visiting team close through most of the second half.

Clearfield also would win a close jayvee game in a low-scoring 22-18 final.

With the victory, Clearfield (7-9) has won two of their last three contests, and now looks ahead to Friday night as they are back at home hosting Bellefonte.  Weather is already being talked about in regards to a possible winter storm, something that Castagnolo is well aware of.  But, when asked about the weather and what could happen come the end of the week, he was quick to point out what he wants to see happen when the Lady Red Raiders come to town.

“I wanna play.  We have the confidence.  We beat them down there, now we come back here again.  Let’s defend our home court,” he said with a grin.

Tip-off is at 6 p.m. for the jayvee squad, with varsity to follow.

SCORE BY QUARTER

Huntingdon  3   10   9   12  –  34
Clearfield  13   13   7   14  –  47

Huntingdon 34

Marker 2 0-0 4, Gutshall 0 0-0 0, Felton 1 3-4 5, Kyle 0 1-2 1, Coffman 2 1-2 7, Kurtz 0 0-0 0, Easler 2 0-2 4, Keller 0 0-0 0, Gearhart 6 0-0 13, Hawkins 0 0-0 0.  TOTALS 13 5-10 34.

Clearfield 47

Castagnolo 5 0-0 13, Cline 2 0-0 4, E. Ryan 2 2-4 6, Lindstrom 1 1-4 3, Chew 1 0-0 2, A. Ryan 0 0-0 0, Brossard 1 0-0 2, Glenny 8 1-2 17, Lansberry 0 0-0 0.  TOTALS 20 4-10 47.

GAME STATISTICS
Huntingdon/Clearfield

Rebounds:  30/26

Turnovers:  25/21

Fouls:  10/13

Shooting:  13-57/20-48

Three-Point Shots:  Coffman (2), Gearhart/Castagnolo (3)

Foul Outs:  Felton

Lady Bison Scoreboard:

Date Opponent Score Record
12/04&05 @ Brookville Tip-off Tourney
12/04 vs. North Clarion 45 – 50 0 – 1
12/05 vs. Clarion-Limestone 64 – 24 1 – 1
12/08 CENTRAL 41 – 52 1 – 2
12/11 @ Huntingdon 41 – 28 2 – 2
12/14 @ DuBois 40 – 51 2 – 3
12/16 @ Bellefonte 48 – 47 3 – 3
12/18 TYRONE 40 – 66 3 – 4
12/21 BROOKVILLE 50 – 59 3 – 5
12/29 @ Curwensville 63 – 24 4 – 5
01/04 PUNXSUTAWNEY 43 – 55 4 – 6
01/05 @ Bald Eagle Area 53 – 40 5 – 6
01/08 PENNS VALLEY 42 – 70 5 – 7
01/13 @ Philipsburg-Osceola 42 – 38 6 – 7
01/15 @ Central 26 – 51 6 – 8
01/18 @ St. Marys 30 – 32 6 – 9
01/19 HUNTINGDON 47 – 34 7 – 9
01/22 BELLEFONTE
01/27 @ Tyrone
01/29 BALD EAGLE AREA
02/02 @ Penns Valley
02/04 CURWENSVILLE
02/05 PHILIPSBURG-OSCEOLA