Clearfield girls knock off Jersey Shore at BEA Tournament
Tuesday, December 29, 2009
By Jon Christoff Sports Writer
WINGATE - After not playing a game in 17 days, the Clearfield girls basketball team was back on the hardwood Monday at the Bald Eagle Area Tournament.
Lady Bisons head coach Joey Castagnolo was concerned his squad would be a little rusty considering the layoff, but his group of 11 quickly put those worries to rest.
Clearfield pounced on Jersey Shore in the game's first four minutes and never looked back, en route to a 74-40 thrashing of the Lady Bulldogs.
The Lady Bisons' offense was clicking on all cylinders out of the gate by connecting on six of its first seven shots, opening up a double-digit lead with 4:05 showing on the clock.
"I was (concerned with the layoff) and I still think we had some rust," said Castagnolo, whose team finished 8-of-16 in the opening quarter. "We missed a lot of easy shots, but I thought we played well considering (that). We were a little rusty.
"I was happy (with the start). The kids were getting frustrated practicing that much, and we couldn't do anything (because) you're not allowed to scrimmage ... you can't do anything. We just went after each other hard. All-and-all here tonight, we played really well."
After carrying a 21-9 advantage into the second quarter, Clearfield was a little sloppy offensively to start the frame.
The Lady Bisons committed eight turnovers in the stanza, but got back on the right foot after Jersey Shore's Lindsey Lose opened the quarter with a jumper.
Clearfield shook off several traveling violations and outscored the Lady Bulldogs 20-3 the rest of the way to take a comfortable 41-14 advantage into halftime.
The Lady Bisons were led offensively by the 3-point shooting of Jayme Ryan and the post play of forward Amber Byerly.
Ryan knocked down four of her five 3-pointers in the opening half, while Byerly netted seven of her 11 points. Ryan led all scorers with 17.
Clearfield's Madison Sopic also had a strong night, pouring in 12 points, five of which came in the third.
"I think (the sloppy play) was just because they relaxed," Castagnolo said. "It looked like we were having fun out there tonight. I thought we passed the ball well, we shot the ball well, and, on defense, we moved."
With the game under control, Castagnolo was able to substitute more freely in the final 16 minutes.
Five Lady Bison reserves found the bottom of the net and combined to score an additional 20 points, led by eight from Angela Moore and six more from Kristen Butler.
"All 11 girls played really hard and really well," said Castagnolo. "We didn't lose the continuity when the other kids came in, and that's what I liked. We work on a lot of different combinations because you never know who's going to be in foul trouble. We didn't lose a step."
Clearfield (2-0) will play the hosts this evening at 6 for the championship in a rematch of last year's final.
In the junior varsity tournament, the Lady Bisons had four players in double digits, as they, too, defeated the Lady Bulldogs. Breanna Peters scored 15 to lead Clearfield, which plays Bald Eagle Area at 3 p.m., while Rachel Thompson (12), Butler (10) and Johanna Ryan (10) also reached double figures. Bald Eagle Area 50,
Moshannon Valley 22
The Moshannon Valley girls basketball team began Monday's game against Bald Eagle Area shorthanded, and its loss of starter Taylor Murarik proved costly.
With Murarik out of the lineup, the Lady Eagles benefited from their full-court pressure, as they forced Mo Valley into 40 turnovers - many of which led to good looks under the basket.
"We've just got to cut (the turnovers) down," said Damsels coach Aaron Mills. "We put too much pressure on Vanessa (Rowley) to bring the ball up the floor, and, right now with Taylor being sick tonight, she didn't have any other guard to help her.
"That was the bottom line. They pressed us (after) they saw Taylor was out, and Vanessa had all the weight of the offense on her shoulders."
With the added pressure on Rowley, the Mo Valley offense struggled to get shots off and didn't score more than nine points in any quarter.
Rowley, Maria Charney and Claire Harlow combined to score 19 of the Damsels' 22 points. Rowley and Harlow, who had to move from under the basket to the wing to help with ballhandling, each had seven points.
"Claire is a pure post player, and pulling her out on the wing is a lot to ask of her," Mills said. "I think she did a good job out there handling the ball ... even bringing it up on the press sometimes.
"She hustled and got a lot of rebounds, too. She held her own, and Bald Eagle has some nice-sized girls inside. She did the job inside she needed to do, and she also came out of her element and did her job outside."
The Damsels dropped to 1-4 on the season, and will face Jersey Shore in the consolation game this afternoon.
Tip-off is slated for 4:30. Clearfield-74
Porter 3 2-5 8, Ja. Ryan 6 0-0 17, Sopic 4 4-5 12, Byerly 5 1-2 11, E. Peters 2 0-0 4, Moore 3 0-0 8, Zalno 0 2-4 2, Butler 3 0-0 6, B. Peters 2 0-1 4, Ambuski 1 0-0 2, Thompson 0 0-0 0. Totals: 29 9-17 74.
Jersey Shore-40
Gehr 3 0-2 7, Martin 5 0-0 10, Haldeman 0 0-0 0, Mahaffey 3 2-4 8, Lose 3 1-2 8, McCloskey 0 0-0 0, Allen 1 0-0 2, Keller 2 0-0 5, Weymouth 0 0-0 0, Peacock 0 0-0 0, Smith 0 0-0 0. Totals: 17 3-8 40.
Three-pointers: Ja. Ryan 5, Moore 2; Gehr, Lose, Keller.
Score by Quarters
Clearfield ÁÁ21Á20Á14Á19-74
Jersey Shore ÁÁÀ9ÁÀ5ÁÀ9Á17-40 Moshannon Valley-22
Rowley 2 2-6 7, Howe 0 0-0 0, Hutton 0 0-0 0, Harlow 2 3-4 7, Charney 2 1-5 5, Shawver 0 0-0 0, Harris 0 0-0 0, Neff 1 0-0 3, Beirlair 0 0-0 0, Thompson 0 0-0 0. Totals: 7 6-15 22.
Bald Eagle Area-50
Butterworth 5 1-2 12, Ward 3 1-2 7, Davidson 2 0-0 4, Meek 4 0-1 8, Hoover 3 1-2 7, Kay. Miller 2 0-0 4, Gettig 0 2-2 2, Hewitt 1 0-0 2, Poorman 1 1-1 3, Simpson 0 0-0 0, Josefik 0 1-2 1, Kai. Miller 0 0-0 0. Totals: 21 7-12 50.
Three-pointers: Rowley, Neff; Butterworth. Score by Quarters
Moshannon Valley ÁÁÀ4ÁÀ9Á6ÁÀ3-22
Bald Eagle Area ÁÁ13Á15Á9Á13-50
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