HYDE – A new-look offense that passed its first test with flying colors and a harassing 1-3-1 zone defense got the Clearfield Area High School basketball team\’s season off to a rousing start in Weiss Gym Friday night.
It took a lot of work over the summer and in the pre-season, but the senior-laden Lady Bisons seem to have bought into coach Joey Castagnolo\’s decision to completely revamp the offense for his 11th season.
Disdaining the too-often ineffective bombs-away approach of the recent past for dribble-drive penetration, the Lady Bisons rang up their highest point total in nearly three years for an impressive 77-52 win over perennial District 9 Northern Tier Class A power Coudersport.
Playmaker Gwenn Porter pumped in 28 points and backcourt mate Madison Sopic chipped in with 12 as the main beneficiaries of the attacking style, but the Lady Bisons also received 26 points from post players Elizabeth Peters, Amber Byerly, Lori Zalno and Breanna Peters, the latter a freshman.
The hosts launched only nine shots from behind the arc, Jayme Ryan nailing two and Porter and Angela Moore adding one apiece.
\”We executed really well,\” Castagnolo said after watching Clearfield\’s best scoring output since a 79-69 road win against Philipsburg-Osceola on Feb. 7, 2007. \”We\’ve been working real hard.\”
No less important was the way the Lady Bisons kept applying the pressure on defense, continually forcing turnovers by trapping the Coudersport ballhandlers or deflecting passes.
\”We played the style they\’re used to up north,\” Castagnolo explained. \”We were aggressive the whole time, even the bench.\”
Accentuating the significance of the non-league win is the fact Coudersport, riding a streak of 11 consecutive seasons with at least 20 victories, has won the last four Northern Tier League championships with 14-0 records under coach Brian Green, whose five-year record was 99-13.
Lady Falcon teams have played in 13 of the last 17 District 9 Class A title games, winning 10, and have qualified for the PIAA Playoffs nine years in a row.
Castagnolo impressed that tradition on his players,
\”I told these kids, \’They\’re gonna come and play,\’\” he said. \”And we outplayed them.\”
The Lady Falcons, who return three regulars from a 22-4 district runner-up squad but have only one senior starter, made it close for six minutes by pounding the ball inside to Hannah Fink, a 5-9 junior who scored nine points in the first quarter on her way to a 21-point performance.
Sopic swished two foul shots with 1:54 left in the period, and the Lady Bisons never looked back.
Ryan followed with her second trey and, after Fink answered, Porter reeled off eight consecutive points with a jumper and three driving lay-ups for a 24-13 lead.
\”Gwenn was our leader out there,\” Castagnolo said. \”She just understands the game so much more. She drove, she took the jump shot, and she hit a big three at the end of the second quarter when we were struggling a little bit.\”
Clearfield got production from the Peters sisters inside and Kristen Butler on the wing to go with drives by Porter and Sopic to open a 40-22 bulge, but Coudersport sliced its deficit to single digits with a 9-0 mini-run before Porter was left open on the left side for a trey that made it 43-31 at intermission.
Castagnolo\’s halftime message was centered on the Lady Bisons completing the task.
\”I said, \”Let\’s put them away so they can\’t make any kind of a run at us in the fourth quarter,\’\” he noted.
The Lady Bisons did just that with a 14-2 run to begin the third quarter, and the Lady Falcons never got closer than 18 points.
The teams had very similar numbers as far as rebounds and turnovers in addition to matching 61 field goal attempts.
However, Clearfield shot a blistering 49.2 percent from the field while Coudersport hit 34.4 percent and converted only six of 23 free throws.
\”That was quite a performance,\” Castagnolo summed up the opener. \”The kids played hard from the start of the game to the end.
\”This is going to send a message across District 9, because that\’s a good Coudersport team.
\”I\’m real happy.\”
Unfortunately, the Lady Bisons don\’t get a chance add to the momentum of the opening win until Dec. 28 when they meet Jersey Shore in the 4:30 p.m. opener of the Bald Eagle Area Tournament.
Clearfield\’s junior varsity, led by Rachel Thompson\’s 10 points, made it a sweep with a 44-29 win in the prelim.
Go to: http://www.ladybisonsports.org/lbsbball121109.html for pictures of Friday night\’s game.
COUDERSPORT — 52
Maureen McCusker 1 0-2 2, Tori Brown 2 0-2 5, Jenna Matzinger 3 1-7 8, Hannah Fink 10 1-6 21, Delanie Cowburn 2 3-4 7, Katelyn Karpinski 3 0-0 8, Kirstyn Whitman 0 1-2 1, Brailee Linden 0 0-0 0, Taylor Green 0 0-0 0, Amanda Morey 0 0-0 0. TOTALS: 21 6-23 52.
CLEARFIELD — 77
Jayme Ryan 2 0-0 6, Gwenn Porter 12 3-7 28, Madison Sopic 4 4-5 12, Elizabeth Peters 3 2-2 8, Amber Byerly 2 2-6 6, Lori Zalno 1 2-2 4, Angela Moore 1 0-0 3, Kristen Butler 2 0-0 4, Breanna Peters 2 0-0 4, Lisa Ambuski 0 0-0 0, Rachel Thompson 1 0-0 2. TOTALS: 30 13-22 77.
Three-Point Field Goals: Coudersport 4 (Brown, Matzinger, Karpinski 2); Clearfield 4 (Ryan 2, Porter, Moore).
Score by Quarters:
Coudersport 16 15 10 11 – 52
Clearfield 24 19 21 13 – 77
Officials: Buddy Johnson, Mike Conron, Bill Seeders.