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Lady Bisons hold off rival Curwensville, 53-42, on Senior Night
Tuesday, February 16, 2010
By Jon Christoff Sports Writer
HYDE - For the Clearfield girls basketball team it was a tale of two halves against backyard rival Curwensville on Monday night.
Luckily for the Lady Bisons, their dominant effort in the first 16 minutes was enough to keep the Lady Tide at bay.
Clearfield's stingy defense and the guard play of Gwenn Porter and Madison Sopic were too much for Curwensville to handle, as the Lady Tide shot just 3-for-32 in the opening half and the senior duo scored 18 of their 30 points.
The Lady Bisons, who recognized five other seniors in addition to Porter and Sopic in a pregame ceremony, cruised to a 32-9 first-half lead and held on for a 53-42 win.
"We played an excellent, excellent first half," said Lady Bisons head coach Joey Castagnolo. "Defensively, we were moving and the offense was clicking on all cylinders. In the second half, we just had a letdown. ... I wasn't happy with the way we played."
While the Lady Tide struggled from the floor in the first half, Clearfield thrived by shooting nearly 50 percent, including a 6-for-10 effort in the second quarter.
The Lady Bisons' defense remained stout in the frame as well, as Curwensville missed its first 18 shots of the quarter before Tess Bloom hit a shot just across the halfcourt line as time expired.
Bloom's shot gave the Lady Tide some momentum, as they rebounded to shoot 6-of-13 in the third quarter and pulled to within 17 heading into the final eight minutes of play.
"You've got to give credit to Clearfield because they played strong defense in the first half," Curwensville head coach Rusty McCracken said. "They didn't give us a good chance to get good looks at the basket. We did adjust a little bit in the second half. I told the girls we had to pass it a little bit more and move it around more to make the defense move. They went after the ball harder the second half, but Clearfield's first half pretty much told the tale of the game.
"I've got to be proud of my girls because we could have scored only 18 points in the game very easily, and we finished with 42. We shot better and we got better looks at the basket."
Bloom, the Lady Tide's leading scorer, was held scoreless until the final play of the first half, missing her first 11 shots of the contest.
After making the 3-pointer, however, Bloom got into a little bit of a rhythm and knocked down two more 3-pointers and finished the second half with 14 points.
"Curwensville didn't back down and they made a game of it," said Castagnolo. "(The buzzer-beater) was a little bit of a lift. Tess Bloom can score from anywhere on the court. She got hot ... she played a nice second half."
In all, the Lady Tide connected on five 3-pointers, as Savannah Strickland complemented Bloom's three treys, but Clearfield's offense did just enough to make sure Curwensville didn't cut the deficit into single digits.
The Lady Tide made it a 44-28 game on a Shayla Buzard jumper, but the Lady Bisons responded by scoring six unanswered points to all but put the game away.
Porter, Sopic and classmate Elizabeth Peters all had two points during the stretch.
"They can create shots for themselves just by driving, and that's a hard thing to (defend)," McCracken said of Porter and Sopic.
"If you step up or have your big girls step up to stop them, they're going to dish it down low and it's a 1-2 punch. They play it pretty well and it's hard to stop. They are great guards."
After a Lindsay Barrett foul shot snapped Clearfield's run, the Lady Tide finished the game by scoring 13 of the final 16 points to set the final.
The Lady Bisons also recognized Angela Moore, Amber Byerly, Jayme Ryan and Lori Zalno in the pregame festivities.
"The seniors have been here four years with me," said Castagnolo, "and it was a nice way to end their career. There was a lot of hard work to get to where we are. We've put in a lot of effort and time - both the coaching staff and the seniors.
"All in all, it was a nice senior night. I just wish we would have played better in the second half."
Clearfield (13-7) hosts Punxsutawney Wednesday, while Curwensville (2-17) entertains Moshannon Valley.
In junior varsity action, the Lady Bisons prevailed 52-17. Ciara Marsh led Clearfield with 11 points, while Rebecca Johnson paced Curwensville with six. Curwensville-42
Bloom 4 6-10 17, Buzard 1 1-2 3, Bumbarger 2 0-0 4, Wriglesworth 2 2-4 6, Strickland 3 0-0 8, Bachelier 0 0-0 0, Johnson 0 0-0 0, Seaburn 0 1-2 1, Barrett 0 1-2 1, McCracken 0 0-0 0, Norris 1 0-0 2, Bressler 0 0-0 0. Totals: 13 11-20 42.
Clearfield-53
Porter 4 5-8 14, Ja. Ryan 1 0-0 3, Sopic 7 2-4 16, E. Peters 2 0-0 4, Byerly 3 2-2 8, Moore 0 3-5 3, Zalno 1 0-0 2, B. Peters 0 3-4 3, Thompson 0 0-0 0, Ambuski 0 0-0 0, Butler 0 0-0 0. Totals: 18 15-23 53.
Three-pointers: Bloom 3, Strickland 2; Porter, Ja. Ryan.
Score by Quarters
Curwensville 5 4 16 17-42
Clearfield 14 18 10 11-53
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