Lady Bison’s Farmery, Peters Star in 57-30 Win Over Lady Tide

CURWENSVILLE — A season that certainly didn’t unfold the way the Clearfield Area High School girls basketball coach Joey Castagnolo and his players anticipated did end on a happy note Thursday night with seniors Dakota Farmery and Breanna Peters combining for 47 points and 20 rebounds in a 57-30 victory over backyard rival Curwensville in Patton Hall.

Farmery owned the right side of the low post and flipped in a career-high 29 points, eclipsing the 27 she had against Penns Valley on January 11.

Peters was stationed on the opposite side of the basket and delivered 18 points.

Each had 10 rebounds for double-doubles that put exclamation points on their outstanding careers for the Lady Bison.

They stand 1-2 on Clearfield’s all-time rebounding list, the 5-9 Peters with 765 over four years and the 6-3 Farmery with 715 in three seasons.

Both cracked the top 10 in scoring, too.

Peters claimed sixth place with 947 points in 85 games, while Farmery moved into 10th with 726 points for a double-double average in 56 games.

“It was nice to see them play together so much as a team,” Castagnolo said after interviews with radio stations WQYX-FM and WOKW. “Unselfishness. That’s what I liked. They don’t really care about points, and it showed tonight.

“They just wanted to have fun and win the basketball game.”

And help end an eight-game losing streak that added frustration to disappointment for the Lady Bison, who finished 6-16.

Curwensville coach Rusty McCracken also admired the way Farmery and Peters played as a tandem.

“As a coach, you love to see a player who’s willing to give her teammates some points,” he said. “That’s beautiful basketball.

“You’ve gotta give them credit. They’ve been playing together since probably second grade back at St. Francis. You can tell they know each other real well.”

His Lady Tide just had no answer for the two big posts, who banked in the majority of their 21 field goals from point-blank range.

Especially with no Katrina Seaburn, who traveled to Florida earlier in the day to compete in a national baton twirling event. The senior center boasts a double-double average.

While the Lady Tide struggled on offense, shooting only 20 percent, McCracken believed Seaburn was missed more on defense.

“She’s played Dakota tough throughout the years,” he said. “They’ve seen a lot of each other.

“We tried to front (Farmery), we tried to go behind her. She is just so smooth with her shots. She stepped out and hit a couple 15-footers. She was working on all cylinders.”

Ciara Strickland scored 13 points for Curwensville, which will take a 9-13 record to St. Marys Friday night to challenge North Division champion Elk County Catholic (17-5) in the semifinals of the Allegheny Mountain League Playoffs.

Becca Johnson, who sat out the second quarter because of fouls but still scored 23 points in the Lady Tide’s 60-52 loss at Clearfield on December 27, was limited to a pair of three-pointers, both in the first half, by a Lady Bison 2-3 zone defense that always was aware of where she was.

“Becca works hard all the time,” McCracken said. “She ‘s a leader on the team, and she knows we follow. She just went cold for the second half.”

Her one-handers from behind the arc forged two of the game’s five tie scores, the second at 18-18 with 5:03 left in the first half.

The Lady Tide couldn’t buy another bucket before intermission, though, and the Lady Bison took control with an 11-0 run from their three seniors.

Twice, Peters established position in the low post, grabbed passes from Tessa Munshower, pivoted and laid in two points. Point guard Brittany Renaud followed with a difficult floating banker after penetrating the Lady Tide zone. Peters hit a free throw. And Farmery made it 29-18 at the break with a putback and a baseline move that gave Emily Ryan an assist.

“I think what happened is the (Tiffany) Carter girl got two fouls and she got a little tentative,” Castagnolo said. “And I think they got a little tired. They were without one starter.”

McCracken said, “We knew we were going to be in trouble if they started working the ball inside a little bit more.

“We gave it everything we had in the first half. We were gonna battle. They’re gonna play hard. It doesn’t matter who.

“When I started four years ago, that was our motto. Anytime, anybody, anywhere, as long as it takes. The girls have never disappointed me with the effort they gave me.”

The second half was more of the Farmery-Peters Show as the Lady Bison outscored the Lady Tide 28-12 with their big guns accounting for all but four of the points.

“The kids had fun in the second half,” Castagnolo said. “They knew they had the game in hand.”

Peters’ lay-up and Farmery’s foul line one-hander set the tone for a 15-8 third quarter, and Clearfield steadily increased the gap in the final period with Curwensville failing to score in the last 5:45.

“We had no inside game,” McCracken said. “We tried to pull it out a little bit and just couldn’t hit the shots from the foul line.

“And their guards shut down the outside. They were in our face any time we had a shot going up.”

As disappointing as the season was as far as wins, Castagnolo was proud of the Lady Bison’s attitude and work ethic.

“They never gave up, never packed it in and said let’s get on to our spring sports,” he said. “They always gave me 110 percent, even at practices. That’s why I’m glad we won.

“It’s just sad that, this year, we didn’t have the starting lineup that I wanted. We didn’t have any continuity until the very end.”

Replacing Farmery, Peters and Renaud will be the key for the Lady Bison next season.

“What I’m going to miss is their leadership,” Castagnolo said. “Brittany and Breanna have been around since they were freshmen. Dakota came in when she was a sophomore. They know all the plays and they know all my routines.”

The Clearfield junior varsity capped an 8-11 season with a 43-32 win with Emily Ryan scoring 12 points, Mary Ishman 11 and Devynn Ireland nine. Curwensville got 10 points from Abby Dugo and eight from Shauna Guy.

See photos of the game here: http://www.ladybisonsports.org/lbsbball021413.html

CLEARFIELD — 57

Breanna Peters 7  4-8  18, Brittany Renaud 1  0-0  2, Dakota Farmery 14  1-2  29, Maggie Sopic 1  0-0  2, Tessa Munshower 1  2-2  5, Emily Ry8an 0  0-0  0, Emily Aveni 0  0-0  0, Mary Ishman 0  1-2  0, Sarah Lash 0  0-0  0, Sarah Aycock 0  0-0  0, Devynn Ireland 0  0-0  0, Victoria Ireland 0  0-0  0, Margo Castagnolo 0  0-0  0.  TOTALS: 24  8-14  57.

CURWENSVILLE — 30

Heather Thorp 1  0-0  2, Becca Johnson 2  0-0  6, Ciara Strickland 6  0-0  13, Tiffany Carter 3  0-0  6, Bailey Dale 0  0-0  0, Tierra Shope 0  3-8  3, Kealy Wassil 0  0-0  0, Abby Dugo 0  0-0  0.  TOTALS: 12  3-8  30.

Three-Point Field Goals – Clearfield 1 (Munshower); Curwensville 3 (Johnson 2, Strickland).

Score by Quarters

Clearfield          12  17  15  13  -  57

Curwensville   11   7   8   4  -  30

Referees – Marvin Martell and Lee Martell.

Final Lady Bison Scoreboard:

Date	Opponent	Score	Record
	@ Brookville Tip-Off Tourney
12/07	Clarion-Limestone	36-54	0 – 1
12/08	North Clarion	41 – 36	1 – 1
12/12	CENTRAL	25 – 57	1 – 2
12/14	@ Huntingdon	34 – 51	1 – 3
12/17	PUNXSUTAWNEY	29 – 39	1 – 4
12/19	BALD EAGLE AREA	38 – 67	1 – 5
12/21	BELLEFONTE	44 – 39	2 – 5
12/27	CURWENSVILLE	60 – 52	3 – 5
01/04	@ Punxsutawney	30 – 46	3 – 6
01/09	@ Tyrone	49 – 60	3 – 7
01/11	PENNS VALLEY	49 – 39	4 – 7
01/14	@ Central Mountain	41 – 45	4 – 8
01/16	@ Philipsburg-Osceola	56 – 54	5 – 8
01/18	ST. MARYS	31 – 59	5 – 9
01/23	@ Central	30 – 45	5 – 10
01/25	HUNTINGDON	ppd.	5 – 10
01/28	HUNTINGDON	ppd.	5 – 10
01/29	@ Bald Eagle Area	25 – 54	5 – 11
01/31	HUNTINGDON	38 – 47	5 – 12
02/01	@ Bellefonte	27 – 42	5 – 13
02/06	TYRONE	39 – 59	5 – 14
02/08	@ Penns Valley	ppd.	5 – 14
02/11	@ Penns Valley	37 – 47	5 – 15
02/12	PHILIPSBURG-OSCEOLA	60 – 63	5 – 16
02/14	@ Curwensville	57 – 30	6 – 16

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