Edinboro University—The Bisons were 28 seconds from forever being immortalized in school history as the only team to win a state playoff game, but it ultimately was not to be. Clearfield watched their season slip away as Meadville stepped to the line with a chance to take the lead on free throws, and as both shots went through the net everyone in the arena could feel the young Bisons hearts sink. Parker Herrington drove the length of the court and with seconds remaining just narrowly missed a game winning shot from the top of the key as the Bisons fell short 48-47.
The Bisons new they would have to come out of the gates running and that’s exactly what they did. Clearfield came out ready to play, knocking down open looks and chewing time off of the clock with every possession. Jarrin Campman was a key component in putting the Bisons up early as he hit three, three pointers in the period to put the Bisons up 12-6.
“Todd (Hryn) dominated in the first quarter even though he didn’t really score. He was a huge reason why we were able to pull ahead early. We had a rebounding advantage over them (Meadville) in the first half, and they were a lot bigger than us,” said Coach Campman.
In the second quarter the Bisons continued to execute Campman’s game plan to perfection. They continued to hit the open three pointers and control the tempo of the game. The Bisons handled the highly touted Meadville press, rarely turning the ball over. The Bisons also may have put out one of their best defensive performances of the year dictating what the Bulldogs did on offense the entire first half. The Bisons took a 26-19 lead into the intermission.
“We played great as a team tonight. We executed our game plan to near perfection. We were one big play away from beating a great team; they just made the one extra play that we needed to. I wasn’t surprised at all how we played, we had a great practice yesterday and we finally played a complete game as a team. Not one single player played bad, everyone played well,” said Campman.
In the second half Meadville’s athleticism showed superior over the Bisons. The Bulldogs star Toney Phillips took over the third quarter by scoring nine points in the frame and helping Meadville pull within six points at the end of the period. The Bisons Matt Shiner also came alive in the quarter chipping in with nine points in period to keep the lead.
“Our guards played their best game of the year tonight. Matt, Jarrin, and Parker (Herrington) played great tonight. They shot the ball as well as they have all season and handled Meadville’s defensive pressure, and didn’t turn the ball over,” said Campman.
Clearfield was able to maintain the lead until four minutes to go when Meadville was able to take the lead on a Philips jumper, but Shiner was able to answer right back with a three. The Bisons were able to keep that lead and get the ball back into their possession with two minutes to go, and set up their spread offense to run out the clock. Clearfield was able to chew up the clock as time ran down putting themselves into a position to pull off the monumental upset. Then things went south with 28 seconds remaining as the Bisons saw a bad pass lead to a mishandled possession and a turnover. Meadville in bounded the ball, drove the length of the court and got fouled with 17 seconds remaining setting up the eventual game winning free throws. As Drew Hipps' desperation put back fell short the Bisons starters fell to the floor in tears as they knew their season had ended.
Though the Bisons were unable to make school history Tuesday night they put together a season worth hanging their hat on. Clearfield ended with a 19-8 record - the best in nearly 10 years, and the best under Head Coach Forrest Campman.
“When you lose a game like we did tonight it’s tough to find something to feel good about, but we did. People didn’t really give us a shot coming into tonight, because they thought our record was deceiving due to the fact we didn’t play a lot of great teams this year. Hopefully when people look at this game they see we are a great team, because we played a great team to the wire. It’s really a testament to our program. In my eight years here we haven’t had a lot of talent, but my assistant Coach Wood and I make sure we get the best possible effort we can out of our players and tonight our kids made us proud. We have great coaches in our system from the junior high up. All of our coaches know the game of basketball and give our players the best chance to win. I’m really proud of everyone in our program and I expect to be back here next year,’ commented Campman
For five Bison seniors this was the final game they would dawn the red and black. Todd Hryn, Drew Hipps, Joel Fox, David Ryan, and Nate Greenland all played intricate roles in every Clearfield victory.
“We had an amazing group of seniors this year, they were true leaders. I asked a lot of them to sacrifice playing time for the greater good of the team, and no one complained. They showed up everyday for practice and went hard and lead by example. They were great role models for the younger kids, because they showed them the way leaders are supposed to be. The hardest part about this loss is tomorrow when school is over I’m not going to be going to practice with these guys anymore, I’m really going to miss those guys they were a great group of kids,” said Campman.
If you ever see one of these members of this great Bison Basketball team thank them for a memorable season full of excitement. This writer enjoyed every game and would like to personally thank them for providing a season to remember.
Clearfield-47
Hipps 0 0-0 0, J. Campman 4 0-0 12, Herrington 4 1-2 13, Shiner 5 2-2 15, Hryn 3 0-2 7, Kerr 0 0-0 0, Fox 0 0-0 0, Ryan 0 0-0 0, Greenland 0 0-0 0, T. Campman 0 0-0 0. Totals: 16 3-6 47.
Meadville-48
Ness 5 3-7 13, Barba 2 0-0 5, Barton 2 2-4 6, Cowan 1 0-0 3, Phillips 6 9-11 21, Mullen 0 0-0 0, Cronin 0 0-0 0. Totals: 16 14-22 48.
Three-pointers: J. Campman 4, Herrington 4, Shiner 3, Hryn 1; Barba, Cowan.
Score by Quarters
Clearfield 12 14 12 9-47
Meadville 6 13 13 16-48
|
