HYDE – The Clearfield Area High School girls basketball team will be striving to avenge a late January loss and also snap a nine-game winless streak against St. Marys Thursday night when the former District 9 League rivals tangle in a District 9 Class AAA Tournament semifinal game.
Tip-off in Weiss Gym will be at 7 p.m. for the rematch between the Lady Bisons, who rated the No. 2 seed behind undefeated Bradford with their 15-7 record, and the Lady Dutch, seeded third at 10-12.
Clearfield has never won a district title since dropping down from Class AAAA in 2001, losing in the championship game three times.
The Lady Bisons begin their bid to change that off of three wins in a row to end the regular season.
They’ve developed into a well-balanced unit on offense over the course of the season, averaging 55 points, and have held opponents to less than 50 points in 12 games, all but one of them wins.
Junior 5-9 post Breanna Peters has been Miss Reliable with double figures in every game except one while accumulating 339 points for a 15.4 average that ranks No. 6 in District 9. She also has pulled down 237 rebounds for a 10.8 average, with a dozen double-doubles.
Classmate Dakota Farmery, a 6-3 presence in the low blocks, also is a double-double threat with 254 points (11.6 ppg) and a team-high 309 rebounds (14.1 rpg), including three games with 20 or more.
“At first, it was attack and attack inside,” coach Joey Castagnolo said. “Now, with the guards and wings playing so well, we’ve just balanced it out.”
Senior point guard Lisa Ambuski has canned 20 of her 32 three-pointers in the last 10 games in raising her average to 8.9 ppg on 195 points. She also has a team-high 98 assists, a 4.5 average.
Senior wings Rachel Thompson and Kristen Butler, who has hiked her average nearly two points during the last 10 games, have keyed Clearfield’s fast breaks and provide 8.6 and 6.7 ppg, respectively.
Thompson has a dozen three-pointers among her 188 points, while Butler complements her 147 points with 88 assists, four per game.
Junior Brittany Renaud spells Ambuski in the backcourt and also helps out on the wing, seniors Katie Sheeder and Janelle Mumma back up the posts, and freshman Maggie Sopic has seen action at forward and guard.
“We’ve been practicing well, and we match up well with them, but we have to do a better job rebounding and play better defense,” Castagnolo said.
And find a way to slow down Lady Dutch top scorer Adair Gennocro.
The 5-3 junior guard burned the Lady Bisons for 30 points, including five of her team’s seven three-pointers, to fuel the 55-51 victory in Weiss Gym on Jan. 26 when a 22-12 third quarter turned the tide.
Gennocro is right behind Peters in District 9 scoring with 324 points, a 14.7 average, according to unofficial stats compiled by D9Sports.com.
“She’s a pretty good athlete,” Castagnolo said. “She controls the whole offense. I remember in years past she passed the ball well. She just didn’t score. But now they need her to score.
”We have to recognize where she is on the court at all times.”
St. Marys, which scores at a 45.3 pace, also counts on Kiana Hoohuli, a 5-9 soph guard-forward with 213 points and a 9.7 average.
Other probable starters are 5-3 senior guard Jenna Anderson (6.6 ppg), 5-6 junior Becky Krieg (2.7 ppg) and 5-7 senior Sloan Foster (2.3 ppg).
Castagnolo expects to see 5-11 freshman Taylor Schutz (3.1 ppg) called on to combat Clearfield‘s strength inside and 5-4 junior DeAnna Yost (4.3 ppg) subbing in the backcourt.
The Lady Bisons have seen the Lady Dutch once each of last two seasons since departing the D-9 League for the Mountain League.
In the previous three years – when Kayla Hoohuli, one of the district’s all-time greats and now an NCAA Division I standout for Canisius University, was giving Castagnolo and his teams nightmares – the Lady Bisons were very competitive against the Lady Dutch on most occasions, losing twice by four points, twice by eight points and twice by 10 points.
The lone one-sided loss was 58-26 in the 2009 district title game.
That will be another memory the Lady Bisons can erase Thursday.
Bradford (22-0) hosts No. 4 seed Punxsutawney (9-13) in the other semifinal Friday night.
The championship game is booked for Saturday, March 3, at Clarion University.
Lady Bison Scoreboard:
| Date | Opponent | Score | Record |
| 12/14 | @ Huntingdon | 68 – 89 | 0 – 1 |
| 12/19 | PUNXSUTAWNEY | 60-55 2ot | 1 – 1 |
| 12/21 | @ Central | 46 – 37 | 2 – 1 |
| 12/23 | @ Bellefonte | 55 – 30 | 3 – 1 |
| 12/28 | @ Curwensville | 57 – 38 | 4 – 1 |
| 01/04 | TYRONE | 38 – 47 | 4 – 2 |
| 01/06 | @ Punxsutawney | 55 – 68 | 4 – 3 |
| 01/09 | BROOKVILLE | 63 – 55 | 5 – 3 |
| 01/10 | PHILIPSBURG-OSCEOLA | 71 – 37 | 6 – 3 |
| 01/12 | @ DuBois | 57 – 45 | 7 – 3 |
| 01/14 | @ Penns Valley | 59 – 45 | 8 – 3 |
| 01/17 | @ Central Mountain | 37 – 50 | 8 – 4 |
| 01/20 | BALD EAGLE AREA | 61 – 55 | 9 – 4 |
| 01/24 | HUNTINGDON | 72 – 48 | 10 – 4 |
| 01/26 | ST. MARYS | 51 – 55 | 10 – 5 |
| 01/27 | @ Juniata | 59 – 53 | 11 – 5 |
| 01/30 | PENNS VALLEY | 58 – 41 | 12 – 5 |
| 02/01 | CENTRAL | 62 – 65 ot | 12 – 6 |
| 02/03 | @ Tyrone | 31 – 60 | 12 – 7 |
| 02/08 | @ Philipsburg-Osceola | 49 – 44 | 13 – 7 |
| 02/10 | CENTRAL MOUNTAIN | 56 – 44 | 14 – 7 |
| 02/13 | CURWENSVILLE | 57 – 32 | 15 – 7 |
| D9 Playoffs | |||
| 02/23 | vs. St. Marys (H) |
