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Philipsburg-Osceola girls topple Clearfield, 60-49
Tuesday, January 05, 2010
By Rich Murawski Assistant Sports Editor
PHILIPSBURG - It's been said that basketball is a game of runs.
Monday's girls game between Clearfield and host Philipsburg-Osceola was a perfect example of that.
Both squads mounted momentum-changing runs at different points in the contest, but it was the very first one by P-O that was the difference.
The Lady Mounties ended the first period on a 12-0 run, giving them an 18-6 advantage they rode to a 60-49 win.
"That's what we wanted," P-O head coach Missy Helsel said. "We knew we had to get going right away. We had a long break and hadn't played a game for a while, and I was a little skeptical of how we would play. But we took good shots and rebounded well from the start."
The teams traded 3-pointers on four consecutive possessions to start the game before the Lady Mounties took control. Maureen Witters, Mackenzie Wilson, Lauren Simcox and Taylor Harpster all drained 3-pointers in the opening stanza, while Megan Yonushonis hit a pair of layups and Macy Harpster added a bucket to fuel P-O's scorching start.
Meanwhile, after Lady Bisons' Gwenn Porter and Jayme Ryan knocked down 3s on the first two possessions, Clearfield went cold, missing its final 12 shots of the quarter.
"We attacked the basket," Clearfield head coach Joey Castagnolo said. "But we just couldn't hit, and they couldn't miss."
"When they're falling for us, they're falling for us," Helsel said. "Clearfield's a team that likes to go on runs. They have good post players, and all their guards are capable of hitting the 3. It was important for us to get out to the lead."
The Lady Bisons came charging back in the second quarter, outscoring P-O, 9-1, to cut the lead to 19-15. Porter, Ryan, Madison Sopic and Breanna Peters each scored field goals to help Clearfield cut the deficit to four.
But the Lady Mounties answered with 10 straight points to regain their double-digit advantage.
Simcox was blistering hot during the sequence, hitting a jumper, a trey and converting a three-point play when she knocked down a free throw after being fouled on a layup. Simcox scored eight of her 11 points during the 10-0 run.
"Lauren had some big shots that dropped," Helsel said. "She knows when they're open and she has the green light to take them."
Ryan put an end to the P-O momentum with a steal and coast-to-coast layup that made the score 29-17 at the break.
The Lady Mounties began the second half with back-to-back Witters' layups to extend the lead to 33-17. Clearfield whittled the deficit back to 10, but Witters nailed consecutive 3-pointers to give P-O its biggest lead of the night, 44-27.
Witters scored 10 of her 18 points in the third quarter.
P-O led 46-29 after three quarters and 48-31 early in the fourth when Clearfield got hot again.
Using a full-court press, the Lady Bisons forced six Lady Mountie turnovers in the quarter, and that sparked an 8-0 run that got Clearfield back to a single-digit deficit at 48-39. Sopic had two buckets in that span with Porter and Amber Byerly adding field goals.
But four straight points from Taylor Harpster quickly put P-O in front by 13, 52-39.
"Every time we made a run and cut into the lead, they came down and got a couple easy baskets," Castagnolo said.
"P-O's a good team. They have three good seniors. They play like a team. And they have some talent. But we didn't go away."
Clearfield had one last run in it, scoring eight of the next 10 points to pull to within 54-47. But the Lady Bisons could get no closer as Taylor Harpster hit two field goals and two free throws down the stretch on the way to a game-high 19 points.
"They came back at us at the end," Helsel said. "But I give credit to the players on the floor for us at those moments. Our ball handlers did a good job. They made plays when we needed them to."
Sopic paced the Lady Bisons with 14 points, Porter netted 10 and Byerly scored eight. Elizabeth Peters led Clearfield with 10 rebounds, while Breanna Peters added eight.
Taylor Harpster was one of three Lady Mounties with eight rebounds - along with Wilson and Yonushonis.
P-O improved to 6-1 with the win, while Clearfield fell to 3-1.
The Lady Mounties won the jayvee game, 37-30.
Macy Harpster paced P-O with 14 points, while Breanna Peters scored 12 for Clearfield.
P-O is back in action tonight, hosting Bellefonte. Clearfield entertains Ridgway on Wednesday. Clearfield-49
Porter 3 3-4 10, Sopic 7 0-0 14, Ryan 3 0-0 7, E. Peters 0 2-2 2, Byerly 4 0-3 8, Zalno 0 0-0 0, Moore 1 0-0 3, B. Peters 1 3-4 5, Thompson 0 0-0 0, Butler 0 0-0 0, Ambuski 0 0-0 0. Totals: 19 8-13 49. Philipsburg-Osceola-60
Witters 6 3-4 18, Wilson 2 0-0 5, Simcox 4 1-1 11, T. Harpster 6 6-7 19, Yonushonis 2 1-6 5, M. Harpster 1 0-1 2, McKnight 0 0-0 0, Rusnak 0 0-0 0, Knepp 0 0-0 0, Meersand 0 0-0 0. Totals: 21 11-19 60.
Three-pointers: Porter, Ryan, Moore; Witters 3, Simcox 2, Wilson, T. Harpster. Score by Quarters
Clearfield À ÀÀÀÀ6Á11Á12Á20-49
P-O ÀÀÀ18Á11Á17Á14-60
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