MARTINSBURG — Riding a lot of momentum with six consecutive wins, the Clearfield Bison were ready to get back to the court after going seven straight games before finally having an off-day. After having a day of rest, Friday night meant a trip to Martinsburg for a Mountain League showdown against the Central Dragons.
The first half saw both teams duel for 16 minutes and the score reflected how close both were. But, the Bison came out of the locker room flat, and it cost them dearly. Despite reeling in the opposition in the final quarter, the Bison win streak came to a close thanks to the Dragons, 54-48.
Clearfield fell behind in the first quarter, but managed to pull to within one in the second stanza. Heading into the locker room, Clearfield trailed 28-27.
But, when the teams exited the locker room, the Dragon offense, and defense, put the Bison in check, as nothing was going right for the visiting squad. Clearfield could not find the net but one time in eight minutes, while the Dragons would drain 18 points in the stanza, to put Clearfield in a hole that would be almost impossible to climb back from.
Still, the Bison didn’t give up, as Cole Miller got hot in the final quarter, finishing the night with 15 of his game-high 23 points to help pull Clearfield within striking distance. Karson Rumsky also assisted in bringing Clearfield back with a pair of buckets. He would finish with 19 points. But, Clearfield did not have many chances to get easy points as the Dragons played disciplined basketball in the paint. Clearfield only went to the foul line only four times on the night, making three of those shots, while hitting 19 shots from the field.
For Central, Seth Bean would pace the squad with 18 points.
Clearfield (6-2) is back in action on Tuesday night with a pair of back-to-back games in consecutive days against the Bald Eagle Area Eagles. Tuesday’s contest will be inside the Bison Gym with a tip-off for the varsity coming at approximately 7:30 p.m.
SCORE BY QUARTER
Clearfield 11 16 2 19 – 48
Central 18 10 18 8 – 54
CLEARFIELD – 48
Karson Rumsky 7 3-4 19, Luke Winters 0 0-0 0, Matt Pallo 1 0-0 2, Nick Ryan 2 0-0 4, Cole Miller 9 0-0 23, Ryan Gearhart 0 0-0 0, Jake Lezzer 0 0-0 0, Morgan Billotte 0 0-0 0, Isakk Way 0 0-0 0, Andon Greslick 0 0-0 0, Nasheed Thompson 0 0-0 0. TOTALS 19 3-4 48.
CENTRAL – 54
Hunter Klotz 2 4-4 8, Devon Boyles 3 1-2 7, Lleyton Kling 3 0-0 8, Eli Lingenfelter 4 0-0 9, Hunter Smith 2 0-1 4, Cassimier Lowery 0 0-0 0, Seth Bean 8 0-0 18. TOTALS 23 5-7 54.
