Lady Bison Can’t Get Shots to Fall in Loss to Central

HYDE — Normally in basketball, a certain stretch of the game can define what happens to both teams.  One side sees the game fall right in their lap, while the other sees it get away.

That became a harsh reality on Friday night inside the Bison Gym.  The Lady Bison of Clearfield were still riding high after holding off Philipsburg-Osceola a few nights prior.  They returned to the same gym ready for action, and revenge, against the Lady Dragons of Central, who already had beaten Clearfield once this season.

After eight minutes, neither team had a definition of what was going to happen, because the first quarter ended in a low-scoring tie, with neither side showing strength.

All it took was 54 seconds to change that.

In that span, the Lady Dragons dropped three baskets back-to-back, forcing a quick timeout; but at the same time securing a lead that was never relinquished.  In the end, the Lady Bison put up a valiant effort, but it wasn’t enough, as those three baskets, coupled with a tough night shooting of their own, as they fell to the visitors in a 40-26 final.

Head coach Joey Castagnolo was disheartened afterwards, but knew his team was facing the top team in the Mountain League this year, and it was going to be a difficult game.  But he knew the moment the first three baskets went in during the first minute of the second quarter, the game changed, saying, “It deflated us.  They (Central) play tenacious defense.  Every basket, and every possession, was crucial.  We just got sloppy.”

The Lady Bison were pushing themselves at the pace they have the entire season, quickly moving up and down the floor.  But, 20 turnovers in key moments stopped their momentum.  Clearfield also went stale in shooting all game long, finishing 10-for-51 from the floor.  Only Alayna Ryan made it into double digits, finishing tied in game-high scoring with 10 points, and leading the Lady Bison with eight boards.

“What an effort, though,” Castagnolo said.  “When you play the best, you have to take care of the little things.  Tonight, we just didn’t.  The kids just played their hearts out, but just couldn’t capitalize.”

For Central, Erin Brumbaugh led the Lady Dragons with 10 points, but had a game-high nine rebounds coupled with four assists.

Clearfield could get no closer than eight points in the second half, and lost possessions multiple times on jump balls, traveling, or going out of bounds.  The Lady Bison also didn’t have many opportunities at the foul line, only finishing 5-for-8 on the night.

The jayvee game went to Central as well, 35-23.

Castagnolo was still very positive at the end of the night, but also knew his team needed to work on fundamentals, and take lessons from what happened in the game.

“We just got a little sloppy.  I hope we learned from this,” he said.

The Lady Bison (5-9) have a rare Saturday game next on the docket, a make-up game against Tyrone, which starts a stretch of road games that won’t have Clearfield back home until the end of January.  The contest at Tyrone will begin at 2 p.m. for the jayvee game, varsity to follow at approximately 3:30 p.m.

SCORE BY QUARTER

Central   4   16   9   11  –  40
Clearfield   4   5   10   7  –  26

Central – 40

C. Mock 3 0-0 8, Smith 1 0-0 2, Metzger 3 3-5 9, J. Mock 2 0-0 4, Eicher 0 0-0 0, Brumbaugh 3 0-0 7, Metzler 3 4-4 10.  TOTALS 15 7-9 40.

Clearfield – 26

Durandetta 0 0-0 0, Brossard 2 4-4 8, Cline 3 0-0 7, Ryan 5 0-0 10, Gisewhite 0 0-0 0, Miller 0 1-4 1.  TOTALS 10 5-8 26.

GAME STATISTICS
Central/Clearfield

Shooting:  15-51/10-51

Rebounds:  26/30

Fouls:  13/9

Turnovers:  22/20

Three-Point Baskets:  C. Mock (2), Brumbaugh/Cline

Lady Bison Scoreboard: