HYDE – The Clearfield Area High School boys basketball team opened the New Year with a not so easy 64-48 victory over a scrappy Brookville Raiders squad Tuesday night on the Bison home floor.
Brookville entered the Bison gym with an unflattering 1-8 record on the year, but in the end, won over the admiration of the fans in attendance along with Clearfield head coach Nate Glunt.
Glunt, speaking after the game, commented, “Brookville really played a very scrappy game tonight that kept them somewhat close to us, especially after the first quarter. It seems that every single game we play is usually a battle, and tonight was no different.”
Clearfield jumped out to a quick 8-0 lead thanks to three-pointers from Will Myers and Tommy Hazel.
The Raiders never did cut into the Bison margin in the first eight minutes as all five starters for Clearfield scored.
It was a quarter were the Bison connected on four treys on their way to a commanding, comfortable 27-13 lead heading into the second frame.
One of those three point buckets came from Bison senior Caleb Strouse at the buzzer sounding the end of the first.
Many fans had thoughts of a mercy rule ending, but not the visiting Brookville squad.
Over the final three quarters Clearfield did outscore the Raiders, but not by much, not much at all, 37-35.
Brookville never truly made it close, but the teams for most of the game traded baskets and each had a few mini runs.
One difference for the Bison was that they had seven of their nine treys in the first half which helped cushion the lead.
Junior Will Myers had three of those buckets from beyond the arc for Clearfield in the opening two quarters.
On the night Myers had five three-pointers and was seven of eight from the free throw line, leading all scorers with a game high of 22 points.
The closest the Raiders would get would be at the start of the fourth quarter when Kurt Schindler hit a bucket making it 52-40 in favor of the Bison with 3:55 to play.
In fact, the basket by Schindler was the first points either team scored in the final quarter.
Two other Bison hit for double figures with Evan Brown adding 12 and David McKenzie helping out with 10.
The Raiders picked up 12 points from Jordan Tosh, who came in off of the bench.
Clearfield won the junior varsity battle as well, in a close one, 48-46 over the Raiders.
The Bison, now 9-1 on the season, are right back on the court, Wednesday evening, as visiting Bald Eagle Area comes to town for a Mountain League encounter.
The junior varsity game is scheduled to begin at 6 pm and the varsity contest will immediately follow.
Listen to the Clearfield-BEA game on WOKW-FM, 102.9, with the pre-game show beginning at approximately 7:15 pm.
BROOKVILLE – 48
Hayden Burdge 0 0-0 0, Ben Reitz 2 0-0 5, Seth Ray 3 0-0 6, Kurt Schindler 7 2-2 17, Jimmy Moore 1 0-0 2, Jordan Tosh 5 2-2 12, Bryan Dworek 2 0-1 4, Colton Singleton 0 0-0 0, Trenton Gilhousen 1 0-0 2, TOTALS – 21 4-5 48
CLEARFIELD – 64
Evan Brown 5 0-0 12, David McKenzie 5 0-0 10, Tommy Hazel 2 2-2 7, Cody Spaid 2 1-2 5, Will Myers 5 7-8 22, Caleb Strouse 2 0-2 5, Ryan Lezzer 0 0-0 0, Ethan McGinnis 0 0-0 0, Johny Gates 0 1-2 1, Taye Lynch 1 0-0 2, Wyatt Porter 0 0-0 0, Jake Sorbera 0 0-0 0, TOTALS – 22 11-16 64
SCORE BY QUARTERS:
BROOKVILLE 13 15 10 10 48
CLEARFIELD 27 16 9 12 64
THREE-POINTERS: BROOKVILLE – 2 Reitz, Schindler CLEARFIELD – 9 Myers 5, Brown 2, Hazel, Strouse
OFFICIALS: Ron Walter, Chip Mason, Barry Abbott
Bison Scoreboard:
Date Opponent Score Record
12/07 CURWENSVILLE 76 – 35 1 – 0
12/09 @ Central ppd. 1 – 0
12/11 HUNTINGDON 77 – 64 2 – 0
12/15 BELLEFONTE 44 – 30 3 – 0
12/16 ST. MARYS 68 – 59 4 – 0
12/18 @ Tyrone 59 – 50 5 – 0
12/21 @ Punxsutawney 48 – 66 5 – 1
12/23 @ Bellefonte 56 – 39 6 – 1
12/29&30 Purchase Line Christmas Tourney
12/29 vs. Harmony 60 – 30 7 – 1
12/30 vs. Purchase Line 63 – 24 8 – 1
01/05 BROOKVILLE 64 – 48 9 – 1
01/06 BALD EAGLE AREA
01/08 @ Penns Valley
01/12 PHILIPSBURG-OSCEOLA
01/15 CENTRAL
01/18 DUBOIS
01/20 @ Huntingdon
01/26 TYRONE
01/29 @ Bald Eage Area
02/01 @ Central
02/03 PENNS VALLEY
02/05 @ Philipsburg-Osceola
02/08 @ Curwensville