Boys hoops clipped by Clearfield
PUNXSUTAWNEY — In basketball, they say that you can live by the 3 and die by the 3, speaking of the 3-point shot, and on Wednesday evening in Punxsutawney, the Clearfield Bison didn't just live by the 3, they thrived on it. Clearfield hit a total of 12, including nine in the first half, to power an offensive attack that led to a 72-56 win over the Chucks.
“I played the game long enough to know it’s unforgiving. It doesn’t owe you anything,” Punxsy coach Jake Perrin said. “The guys did everything we wanted, did everything right, and a kid goes 7 for 10 from 3, and they started the game out 11 for 14. What can you do about that?
“The way this season went, for these guys to be playing this hard, I feel for them. They beat us by 40 points two weeks ago, and we turned around and had a five-point game in the fourth quarter. If a few things go differently there or a couple calls go the other way, it’s a different story. But we move on and get ready for the next one.”
Punxsy, which honored its seniors prior to the game, saw a pair of seniors reach double digits in scoring, with Andrew Young scoring 15 to lead the way and Nick Humble adding 12. Fellow senior Ethan Presloid added nine points, and Noah Weaver finished with eight. Gabe Kengersky scored seven points for Punxsy, with Kyle Nesbitt adding three and senior Graham Lott tallying two.
Speaking about his seniors, Perrin said, “We have team standards that we believe make a good team, and these seniors have represented every one of them. Nobody loses their mind, nobody acts out or talks down on anybody, and there’s no negativity on this team.
“That’s all because of our leadership and because of our seniors. They do an excellent job; they all fill a different role on this team, and as a firstyear coach, I couldn’t ask for a better group of seniors.”
The hottest hand for the Bison on the night was Cole Miller, who knocked down seven 3s, including three in the first quarter, on his way to a game-high 24 points. Joining him in double digits were Matt Pallo and Karson Rumsky, who each finished with 15.
The game's first quarter was as close as one will get, with the two teams trading the lead 10 different times in the 8-minute stretch. Clearfield had the game's first lead, but the Chucks had the last bucket of the quarter on a Kengersky floater, which put them up by one point, 17-16.
The rest of the game only had one total lead change, though, and it came just 35 seconds into the second quarter when Carson Rumsky knocked down a three from the wing to put Clearfield ahead by two. The Bison rattled off a 17-4 run to give themselves plenty of breathing room and ended up taking a 37-25 lead into the big break.
The Chucks didn't go anywhere in the second half, though, as they battled and ended up putting up nearly as many points in the third quarter, 23, as they did in the entire first half. They also outscored the Bison by two in the frame to cut the lead to a manageable number, 10, by the quarter's end.
Punxsy made things very interesting in the fourth quarter, scoring the first five points to cut the Clearfield lead to 58-53 with six minutes to play. The Bison managed to regroup, though, and scored the next 14 points to put the game out of reach before a late 3 by Kyle Nesbitt closed out the scoring with 11 seconds to play.
Punxsy (3-9) returns to action Friday with a trip to West Sunbury to face off with the Moniteau Warriors.
• Junior varsity: In the JV contest, the two teams played an even first quarter, but advantages of nine and eight points in the next two quarters gave Clearfield the cushion it needed en route to a 47-30 victory.
Ryen Heigley finished as Punxsy's top scorer with 10 points, followed closely by Zach Dinger with nine. Aramy Ferrent added three points, with Jaugar McDivitt, Tysen Leasure and Josh Shoemaker tallying two each and Logan Brown and Donnie Neese each hitting one free throw.