Early Foul Trouble Leads to Easy Points as Clearfield Falls in D9 Semi-Final
DUBOIS — Preparing for a post-season game takes an entirely different mindset than one for the regular season. There’s more time to prepare, analyze, and game plan. For the Clearfield Lady Bison, that preparation meant a week of practice and planning leading into Thursday’s District 9 semi-final against the St. Marys Lady Dutch.
Playing in the Beaver Gymnasium at the DuBois High School, Clearfield got off to a quick start, but just as fast as the start came, so did the stoppage. Early foul trouble gave St. Marys more opportunities, and in the end it made the difference as Clearfield fell, 46-29, ending their season.
“That happens. We understand that when it happens, our gameplan changes dramatically when one of our starters come out,” Lady Bison head coach Missy Helsel said afterwards. “We tried to regroup, but had unfortunate turnovers, which is something we’ve battled all year.”
The opening quarter quickly went the way of Clearfield, as back-to-back threes from Mia Helsel and Hannah Glunt quickly got the score to 6-0. The Lady Dutch battled right back, scoring the next eight before Helsel tied the game up at eight.
That was the last time Clearfield was able to keep pace. Defensively, the Lady Bison were struggling, as despite preventing shots, they were picking up foul after foul. Helsel would be pulled for the latter part of the quarter after her third infraction.
Clearfield had nine fouls in the opening quarter, including a player control foul on Helsel, which gave the Lady Dutch more point opportunities. After eight minutes, the 17-8 score meant playing from behind for the third seeded Lady Bison.
Neither squad had an impressive second quarter, scoring a combined 13 points. But, the Bison were not having any luck at the basket, only shooting 1-for-17 from the floor. Glunt would account for all five points in the quarter, part of her team-high 11, but Clearfield went into the locker room down double figures, 25-13, and hoping to find an answer.
With two starters in foul trouble, Clearfield had to play conservatively to ensure the main five made it to the final quarter.
Knowing this, the Lady Dutch took advantage of the soft zone in the third, putting up 16 points while holding Clearfield to just five. Izzy Catalone had her best quarter of the game, putting up eight of her game-high 12 points in the third for St. Marys. She was joined by Jayssa Snelick, who finished with a double-double of 10 points and 12 rebounds.
Try as they might, Clearfield would not quit and pushed through the fourth quarter even with four starters on the brink of fouling out.
Clearfield would begin just trying to make shots, just hoping to get one to fall, as they finished just 10-for-50 from the floor for the game. Helsel admitted they were panicking a bit, saying “We know and understand that we need to get set with our shots, especially around the three-point line. That just comes with inexperience playing in a game like this, a district playoff.
“It’s still a good learning game for us, a lot of good things to build on tonight and from the season. I’m already looking forward to next year.”
The night ended with St. Marys jubilant at their victory, as they move into the championship contest next week against top seeded Punxsutawney.
Clearfield finishes the 2022-2023 with a final record of 10-13. It’s the second-consecutive year the Lady Bison made their way to the district playoffs, with last year finishing runner-up to Punxsutawney. Clearfield only loses one player to graduation in Riley Ryen, with a lot of experience returning for the next campaign
SCORE BY QUARTER
Clearfield 8 5 5 9 – 27
St. Marys 17 8 16 5 – 46
Clearfield – 27
Hannah Glunt 3 3-6 11, Alayna Winters 1 0-0 2, Cayleigh Walker 1 0-2 2, Riley Ryen 1 0-0 2, Mia Helsel 3 0-0 8, Arika Jones 0 0-0 0, Jaylee Gill 0 0-0 0, Elia Evilsizor 1 0-0 2, Myleigh Hudson 0 0-0 0. TOTALS 10 3-8 27.
St. Marys – 46
Alexa Schneider 2 3-8 7, Molly Hanslovan 1 1-2 3, Rose DePrater 1 0-0 3, Izzy Catalone 4 1-2 12, Olivia Eckels 3 0-0 8, Jayssa Snelick 4 2-4 10, Raelchel Braun 0 0-0 0, Maura Caskey 1 1-3 3, Emma Garstka 0 0-0 0. TOTALS 16 8-20 46.
GAME STATISTICS
Clearfield/St. Marys
- Shooting: 10-50/16-49
- Rebounds: 26/32
- Fouls: 19/8
- Turnovers: 19/20
- Three-Point Shots: Glunt-2, Helsel-2/DePrater, Catalone-3, Eckels-2
Lady Bison Final Scoreboard:
Date Opponent Score Record
12/02 & 03 @ Brookville Tip-off Tourney
12/02 vs. Clarion-Limestone 41 – 43 0 – 1
12/03 vs. Brookville 53 – 42 1 – 1
12/05 @ Curwensville 48 – 20 2 – 1
12/07 ST. MARYS 35 – 58 2 – 2
12/09 PUNXSUTAWNEY 37 -63 2 – 3
12/13 PHILIPSBURG-OSCEOLA 58 – 15 3 – 3
12/17 @ Hollidaysburg 31 – 60 3 – 4
12/20 BALD EAGLE AREA 42 – 35 4 – 4
12/27 CURWENSVILLE 64 – 22 5 – 4
01/03 @ Tyrone 41 – 62 5 – 5
01/06 BELLEFONTE 60 – 50 6 – 5
01/10 HUNTINGDON 23 – 54 6 – 6
01/11 @ DuBois Central Catholic 57 – 65 6 – 7
01/13 @ Penns Valley 46 – 58 6 – 8
01/16 @ Philipsburg-Osceola 58 – 25 7 – 8
01/19 HOLLIDAYSBURG 32 – 70 7 – 9
01/23 @ Bald Eagle Area 46 – 37 8 – 9
01/26 TYRONE 39 – 51 8 – 10
01/30 @ Bellefonte 48 – 47 9 – 10
02/02 @ Huntingdon 44 – 51 9 – 11
02/06 PENNS VALLEY 47 – 43 10 – 11
02/14 @ DuBois 25 – 39 10 -12
02/23 D9 Playoffs vs. St. Marys 27 – 46 10 – 13