ST. MARYS — A shockingly poor third quarter proved to be the downfall for the Clearfield Area High School boys basketball team in the opening round of the PIAA Class AAAA Tournament Friday night.
Especially on the heels of a very good first half which ended with the District 9 champion Bison sporting a 29-23 advantage over South Fayette behind seniors Reese Wilson and Jon Gates with nine points apiece.
The Lions, who were the District 7 fifth seed, roared back to outscore the Bison 16-3 in the third period and went on to a 55-44 victory in St. Marys Area High School’s Dutch Oven.
Coach Nate Glunt couldn’t have asked for much more from the Bison in the first 16 minutes.
Wilson spotted Gates behind the South Fayette defense for a transition basket that broke a 9-9 tie late in the first quarter and followed up by draining a three-pointer with six ticks on the clock.
Clearfield gained its biggest advantage, 20-13, when Wilson sandwiched Taye Lynch’s two free throws with baskets, the second on a Ryan Chew steal and dish.
Gates’ trey from the right side, four points by Keagan Hess and two more foul shots by Lynch kept the Bison ahead as they outscored the Lions 15-14 in the turnover-filled second period.
But the Bison lost all of their momentum during intermission.
After shooting 50 percent in the first half, they made only one of seven field goal tries in the third quarter and also were guilty of five turnovers while the Lions were grabbing control of the game.
“We talk all the time that the first three minutes of the second half are the most important in the whole game,” Glunt said. “The first four possessions of the third quarter, we didn’t execute offensively. We took quick shots, and we weren’t in position to get offensive rebounds and get in our transition defense.”
And South Fayette (18-8) capitalized.
The Lions began the second half with nine consecutive points before Chew interrupted the run with a bucket that ended the Bison’s drought of nearly six minutes.
Tim Locher then scored seven straight points, and the Lions were up 39-32 at the start of the fourth quarter.
Keagan Hess and Cade Walker did supply the Bison a spark with back-to-back baskets.
“We just needed one more stop,” Glunt said. “I think it was three points for a couple of minutes, and they hit a three to go up seven, and that was it.”
Connor Mislan’s trey ignited a 15-4 run by the Lions, though the Bison were able to close to within four twice, 42-38 and 44-40, before the spread grew to 54-40 with 1:40 remaining.
“We had to overextend our defense,” Glunt said. “Without a shot clock, you have to gamble to get some steals, or foul, and it’s hard to turn them over. And they made their foul shots.”
The Lions converted six of nine free throws in the fourth quarter and were 12-for-21 overall.
The Bison were perfect on nine foul shots in the first half but never toed the charity stripe in the last two quarters.
Wilson was the lone Bison in double figures with 11 points, while Gates had nine and Walker eight.
Lynch came off the bench to snare a team-high eight rebounds in addition to adding six points.
Locher topped the Lions with 17 points, Mislan tallied 14 and Noah Flack, a Delaware football commit, added a double-double with 11 points and at least that many rebounds.
The trio combined for 26 of South Fayette’s 32 points in the second half.
“It was one bad quarter,” Glunt said. “I was really happy with how we played the first, second and fourth quarters. I watched them play a bunch of teams, and we executed better offensively and better defensively than all of them.
“When we worked the ball and took good shots, they couldn’t stop us. And they’re good. They’re really skilled.
“When we took bad shots, we were more vulnerable.”
The Bison finished 15-10 and will be remembered as a team that reached its full potential and, perhaps, overachieved with only one starter and two key reserves as returnees.
“This game against one of the better teams in the state shows how far this team has come,” Glunt said. “I couldn’t be more proud of them.”
South Fayette (18-8) will move on to a rematch of its WPIAL quarterfinal game with District 7 king New Castle, which eliminated Fort LeBoeuf 80-48 Friday.
SOUTH FAYETTE — 55
Connor Mislan 4 5-7 14, Drew Franklin 0 5-6 5, Tim Locher 7 1-4 17, Noah Plack 5 1-2 11, Braden Hoy 1 0-0 2, Austin Smith 0 0-2 0, Joe Alcorn 2 0-0 6, Ben Coyne 0 0-0 0, Drew Saxton 0 0-0 0. TOTALS: 19 12-21 55.
CLEARFIELD — 44
Ryan Chew 1 0-0 2, Reese Wilson 5 0-0 11, Jon Gates 3 2-2 9, Wyatt Porter 0 0-0 0, Cade Walker 3 1-1 8, Taye Lynch 1 4-4 6, Keegan Hess 2 2-2 6, Jake Lezzer 1 0-0 2, Karson Rumsky 0 0-0 0, Andrew Lopez 0 0-0 0. TOTALS: 16 9-9 44.
Three-Point Field Goals — South Fayette 5 (Mislan, Locher 2, Alcorn 2); Clearfield 3 (Wilson 1, Gates 1, Walker 1).
Score by Quarters
South Fayette 9 14 16 16 – 55
Clearfield 14 15 3 12 – 44
Final Bison Scoreboard:
Date Opponent Score Record
12/08 CURWENSVILLE 54 – 52 1 – 0
12/13 CENTRAL 45 – 56 1 – 1
12/15 @ Huntingdon 62 – 85 1 – 2
12/20 @ Bellefonte 50 – 41 2 – 2
12/28 @ Purchase Line Christmas Tourney
12/28 vs. Harmony 73-31 3 – 2
12/29 @ Purchase Line Christmas Tourney
12/29 vs. Purchase Line 45 – 56 3 – 3
01/05 TYRONE 56 – 63 3 – 4
01/08 @ Punxsutawney 54 – 68 3 – 5
01/10 @ Bald Eagle Area 56 – 45 4 – 5
01/12 PENNS VALLEY 40 – 28 5 – 5
01/15 @ Clarion-Limestone 57 – 41 6 – 5
01/16 @ Philipsburg-Osceola 49 – 42 7 – 5
01/19 @ Central 46 – 50 7 – 6
01/22 DUBOIS 69 – 60 ot 8 – 6
01/24 HUNTINGDON 70 – 53 9 – 6
01/26 BELLEFONTE 42 – 35 ot 10 – 6
01/30 @ Tyrone 43 – 75 10 – 7
02/01 BROOKVILLE 38 – 40 10 – 8
02/02 BALD EAGLE AREA 64 – 46 11 – 8
02/07 @ Penns Valley ppd. 11 – 8
02/09 PHILIPSBURG-OSCEOLA 51 – 42 12 – 8
02/12 @ Curwensville 49 – 29 13 – 8
02/15 @ Penns Valley 36 – 38 13 – 9
02/21 District 9 AAAA Semi-finals
02/21 ST. MARYS 60 – 57 14 – 9
02/28 District 9 Finals
02/28 vs. Bradford @ DuBois 42 – 36 15 – 9
03/09 PIAA Playoffs
03/09 vs. South Fayette @ St. Marys 44 – 55 15 – 10