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Clearfield girls use big first quarter to topple DuBois, 57-38
Saturday, February 13, 2010
By Rich Murawski Assistant Sports Editor
HYDE - A near-flawless first quarter jumpstarted the Clearfield girls basketball team Friday night at Arthur J. Weiss Gymnasium as the Lady Bisons avenged an early season loss in a dominant 57-38 win over visiting DuBois.
After turning the ball over on their first trip down the floor, Clearfield did little wrong the rest of the quarter. The Lady Bisons hit five of their first eight shots, grabbed the first six rebounds of the game and didn't turn the ball over again until the third quarter.
Meanwhile, DuBois was 1-of-11 from the floor in the first quarter, lost the ball five times and found itself in a 16-2 hole after the first eight minutes of play.
"That first quarter was fun to watch," Clearfield head coach Joey Castagnolo said. "And the kids were having fun. I told them before the game, ‘let's come out with confidence, play our style and let's get a lead.' We play better when we control the tempo."
Amber Byerly and Madison Sopic were the keys to the offense in the big first quarter.
Byerly scored six points on three field goals in the paint, while Sopic totaled four field goals and added a free throw as she slashed her way through the lane or stopped and popped jumpers from eight feet away.
Byerly led Clearfield with 18 points and added nine rebounds. Sopic netted 15 points, ripped down 12 rebounds, dished out six assists and had four steals as she filled the stat sheet.
"That was a career-high for Amber," Castagnolo said. "She made a few easy ones early, and you could just see the confidence grow in her. She ran the floor well. She's really the key to the fast-break offense.
"And Madison had a great all-around game. She and Gwenn (Porter) made some unbelievable passes. We hit the boards and ran the floor very well."
After a 7-for-14 first quarter for the Lady Bisons, Clearfield cooled off to start the second. Both teams struggled in the early going with their shots, but Jayme Ryan broke the Lady Bisons out of a brief funk with 3-pointers on three straight possessions.
Ryan's success from long distance helped the Lady Bisons extend their early second quarter advantage from 18-2 to 29-8 before DuBois finished the quarter with the last five points.
Byerly reasserted herself in the paint in the third quarter, scoring eight points as both Sopic and Porter kept feeding her with good passes. Porter scored four points in the quarter as well and totaled eight in the game to go with seven rebounds and eight assists.
Clearfield outscored DuBois 16-6 in the third to take a commanding 45-19 lead into the final quarter of play.
The Lady Bison defense didn't allow the Lady Beavers many good looks at the hoop all game long, but the defense in the third was especially stingy.
DuBois was just 1-of-13 from the floor. The Lady Beavers shot only 28.5 percent from the field for the game.
"We were patient on offense, but I think we were patient on defense too," Castagnolo said. "We weren't chasing. We packed it in and let them make the mistakes."
DuBois finished the game off with a 19-12 fourth quarter, shooting 8-of-15 and forcing four Clearfield turnovers. The Lady Bisons only had six turnovers in the contest, and, after the miscue on the game's initial possession, Clearfield didn't have another turnover until there was 2:26 left in the third.
Clearfield lost at DuBois early in the season, 58-51, and the Lady Bisons were looking forward to the rematch.
"When we lost up there, we were a little disorganized," Castagnolo said.
"We didn't play well. We were upset we lost. But we beat a good DuBois team tonight. We came to play."
The Lady Bisons won the battle of the boards, 36-27, which has been a concern for Clearfield in recent weeks.
"Our big problem has been our rebounding," Castagnolo said. "But we addressed that problem. I was happy with the distribution of rebounds tonight."
DuBois' Emily Oswalt paced the Lady Beavers with 10 points and added seven rebounds. Freshman Casey Wilcox grabbed 10 rebounds for DuBois.
Clearfield improved to 13-6 overall and 6-5 in the D-9 League. DuBois dropped to 4-7 in league play.
The Lady Bisons won the jayvee game, 33-31, to up their record to 10-8. Johanna Ryan scored seven points, while Lisa Ambuski, Breanna Peters and Rachel Thompson each had six.
Clearfield returns to action Monday, playing host to Curwensville. DuBois-38
Obremski 2 0-0 4, Wallock 3 0-0 8, Watson 2 0-0 6, Maholtz 0 0-0 0, Barton 0 0-0 0, Kirk 1 0-0 3, C. Wilcox 1 2-2 4, Oswalt 4 2-2 10, Kelichner 1 1-2 3. Totals: 14 5-6 38.
Clearfield-57
Ja. Ryan 3 0-0 9, Porter 4 0-0 8, Sopic 6 3-3 15, E. Peters 1 0-0 2, Byerly 8 2-2 18, Moore 2 0-1 4, Zalno 0 0-0 0, B. Peters 0 1-2 1, Thompson 0 0-0 0, Ambuski 0 0-0 0, Butler 0 0-0 0. Totals: 24 6-8 57.
Three-pointers: Wallock 2, Watson 2, Kirk; Ja. Ryan 3.
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