Hyde—Coach Forrest Campman was able to record his second District 9 playoff win as the Bisons head coach Thursday night when the number two seeded Bisons easily defeated the number three seeded Punxsutawney Chucks 78-43.
Thursday’s win was the Bison\’s first playoff victory since they knocked off the heavily favored Bradford Owls in 2005 in possibly the biggest upset in District 9 history. The Bisons used a hot start by Matt Shiner and Todd Hryn who were both able to net 20 points in the first half.
“Matt and Todd played great tonight in the first half. Todd played hands down his most complete game of the season. He grabbed just about every rebound and blocked a pile of shots,” commented Campman on the play of the team’s top two scorers.
In the first quarter the Bisons came out on a mission to win. They jumped out to an early 8-0 lead on baskets by Hryn and Shiner before a Chucks time out. The time out didn’t seem to stop the Bisons as they were able to go on a 10-2 run just minutes later. The Bisons hot shooting put them up 28-12 at the end of the first period.
“We came out hot. We knocked down every open look they gave us, and we were able to drive to the basket and get good shots as well,” said Campman.
At the beginning of the second quarter it looked as though Clearfield\’s hot shooting would cool off as they were only able to get two points in the first two minutes of the period. Then the Bisons caught fire again. On three consecutive trips down court the Bisons were able to get three balls from three different players in Hryn, Parker Herrington and Jarrin Campman. Once again the Chucks were forced to call a time out, and once again it didn’t affect the Bisons hot shooting as they continued to build their lead. The Bisons continued to score at will as they went into the Half up 50-27.
“Most of the time you are happy when your team scores in the 50 point range in a game, because it always give you a chance to win, we did that in the first half tonight. We had struggled shooting the ball the last few games, but tonight we were able to play the way we always should, “added Campman.
The Bisons have had a problem all season putting together a game where they played well in both halves, but not Thursday night. When the intermission ended the Bisons got right back to where they left off in the first half. The scoring in the third quarter was lead by Herrington and Campman who scored all of the teams 13 points to put the Bisons up 63-31. The Bisons continued to force Punxsy turnovers and convert them into easy buckets.
“We were able to continue to keep playing well into the second half. We got baskets from everyone on the floor tonight. Parker was able to have a great second half and continue to help us pull ahead,” commented Campman.
In the fourth quarter the Bisons were able to close out the game on a high note being able to let the reserves play half of the quarter. When the final buzzer sounded the Bisons were able to give Coach Campman his second career playoff win with a 78-43 well executed victory. With the win the Bisons clinched a PIAA State Playoff berth, the first in over eight years. The Bisons will advance to take on the Bradford in the District 9 AAA championship game in a rematch of last year’s district semifinal.
“Our goal all year was to win the district championship and get into the state playoffs. So far we’ve accomplished one of those goals. With the way we played tonight I really like our chances against Bradford in the championship. Hopefully we can continue off of tonight’s game next week,” said Campman.
Notes…The Bisons are waiting to find the date and place where the game will be played. Most likely the game is to be played at Clarion University sometime next week. With a win Clearfield will clinch their first district title in nine years. The winner of the District will take on a middle seeded team from the WPIAL, and the loser will take on most likely the third seeded team from District 10. The Bisons were able to play every player on the varsity roster in the game. The Bisons had nine different players score in the game.
Punxsutwaney-43
Furman 0 0-0 0, Bush 1 0-0 2, Neal 4 2-3 12, Kopas 4 1-2 12, Cook 0 0-0 0, Stumpf 5 3-3 13, Starr 0 0-0 0, Pascuzzo 0 0-0 0, Tibbs 1 2-2 4. Totals: 15 8-10 43.
Clearfield-78
Hryn 5 8-10 20, Hipps 2 1-2 5, Herrington 5 0-0 12, Shiner 6 8-8 22, Ryan 0 0-0 0, Kerr 2 1-2 5, J. Campman 4 0-2 9, Fox 0 1-2 1, T. Campman 0 0-0 0, Greenland 0 0-0 0, Redden 0 0-0 0, Herres 0 0-0 0, Bowman 0 0-0 0, Zurat 0 0-0 0, Wilson 0 2-2 0, Peterson 1 0-0 2, Bell 0 0-0 0. Totals: 25 21-28 78.
Three-pointers: Kopas 3, Neal 2; Hryn 2, Herrington 2, Shiner 2, J. Campman.
Score by Quarters
Punxsutawney 12 15 4 12 – 43
Clearfield 28 22 13 15 – 78