HYDE, Pa. --- Clearfield overcame a 30-point performance by Curwensville standout Dani Struble with a wide open, 85-shot offensive show paced by Julianna Howell and Nikki Collins and superior boardwork highlighted by Elizabeth Sopic's 22 rebounds for a 65-57 victory in schoolgirl basketball action at Arthur J. Weiss Gymnasium Wednesday night.
Many fans questioned why the schools bothered to reschedule the late-season postponement, but it's Clearfield against Curwensville for starters. That alone it spurs interest. And both coaches got what they wanted most from the spirited non-league makeup game between the backyard rivals who had split two earlier games.
The Lady Bisons were able to close the season on a winning note 24 hours after a disappointing 36-27 District 9 Class AAA semifinal loss to Bradford, while the Lady Tide worked in a highly competitive tuneup for one of the biggest games in school history, Friday's District 9 Class AA championship contest against Karns City at Clarion University.
"I'm glad that we could win this game," Clearfield coach Joey Castagnolo said. "We wanted to play this game for community pride. The girls just love to beat Curwensville. We came to play and send the seniors off. We just didn't come to have a good time.
"I'm just proud of the kids the way we could come back after last night's loss, and the way we played. The girls know we didn't play very well at all.
"We went out winners. Not many people can say that. I'm just happy that the seniors, four of them, could play a lot."
Mallory Janocko, the fifth senior starter, was unable to take the floor because of a knee injury she suffered in the Bradford game.
The others won't forget their final home game in a successful 15-10 season that included four games against PIAA playoff teams down the stretch. Howell and point guard Collins scored 19 and 17 points, respectively. Sopic, a four-year letterwinner, added 11 points to her big rebounding effort for a double-double. And Brooke Jordan, while experiencing a tough shooting night from outside, contributed five points, seven rebounds and her usual hustle and scrap on both ends of the floor.
"They've been with us for four years, and they'll be greatly missed," Castagnolo said.
For Curwensville coach Vic Gearhart, whose team is winding down the best season in Lady Tide history with the Moshannon Valley League and Allegheny Mountain League South Division titles and a 21-6 record, the opportunity to play the Lady Bisons was a no-brainer.
"Any game against any varsity team is better than a practice against your second and third players," he explained. "You can't simulate the action, the speed, or the referees, or the clock running. It was just a great practice for us. Fortunately, nobody got hurt, but you can't play a game thinking somebody's going to get hurt. And you can get hurt in practice. You can get hurt getting on and off the bus. So, we're happy to have a chance to play tonight and I want to thank Joe for doing what he could to get this game played.
"We came in here hoping for a good game. We got a good game. We needed to just build for Friday and I think we accomplished what we needed. We would have loved a win. That didn't happen, but we're not disappointed. It's the end of our regular season. They've had a great regular season, but now we've got to continue in the playoffs."
Struble and senior classmate Jackie White showed they're ready for more action. Struble went over the 500-point mark for the season and finished the game with 523 for a 19.4 average, both tops in District 9. White scored 16 points and grabbed eight missed shots. Sophomore Hannah Walls led the Lady Tide in rebounds with 10.
Clearfield came out firing away, but the results were alarmingly similar to the previous night, and Curwensville jumped in front 6-0 on Walls' baseline jumper, White's putback and Struble's two free throws in the first 2:26.
The Lady Bisons regrouped after Jordan popped in a jumper in the lane and outscored the Lady Tide 13-7 in the final 4:45 of the first quarter. Junior Alanna Luzier came off the bench to provide what Castagnolo termed a much-needed spark with a jumper, a steal and a layup in a 12-second span that tied the score at 9-9. Struble's steal and layup with 14 seconds left got her to the 500-point plateau and forged the second and last tie at 13.
"We were a little sluggish in the first quarter, but I kind of figured that after last night's tough game," Castagnolo said. "That's why I substituted early in the first and second quarters, just to give them a little rest, because I knew down the stretch, the way the game was getting played, that was going to be nip and tuck.
"Anything can happen when Struble's on the court.
We just couldn't stop her. We tried. But she moves well. And she moves without the ball. And she didn't miss."
A short jumper by Collins a minute into the second period gave the Lady Bisons a lead they never relinquished, though the Lady Tide wouldn't go away. With junior forward Annie Janocko in foul trouble, soph Madison Sopic came in to match older sister Elizabeth's four points in the quarter, and her jumper in the lane gave Clearfield a 29-26 lead at halftime - and more points than the Lady Bisons had in 32 minutes against Bradford.
Castagnolo relayed that to his team at intermission, but the Lady Bisons were not about to allow the statisticians to relax. They launched 23 more shots in the third period and the four seniors teamed up for a 15-2 run to open a 43-28 lead with 3:50 left.
"I thought we'd be all right there, and they came right back," Castagnolo said. "Man, oh, man, we'd make another three, and they'd come right back. It was a great ball game We couldn't put them away. I'm just glad we played well enough to win."
Curwensville responded with a 10-2 run of its own, Struble accounting for eight points, to close the gap to 45-38 after three quarters.
"They did scrap back," Gearhart said of the Lady Tide. "We were right where we wanted to be, and we had the ball in our hands for a rebound and let it loose, and they hit a three-pointer. That was a key turnover."
With White and Struble combining for all 19 points, Curwensville kept the pressure on in the last period but could not get closer than five, 55-50 with 4:17 to go. Collins nailed a long three and Elizabeth Sopic powered inside for a conventional three to make it 61-51 lead with 1:52 left. Then, Collins and soph Jayme Ryan, who had to shoot for Jordan when she wound up on the floor on a hard foul, added pairs of free throws in the final minute.
Castagnolo chuckled in amazement when informed of the large number of shots by the Lady Bisons.
"And we made 23," he said. "That's the god part. That has to show we dominated the boards. There were so many long rebounds that we were getting, offensively and defensively."
The Lady Bisons wound up shooting 27.1 percent, but they offset that with by outrebounding the Lady Tide 46-35. They were guilty of 15 turnovers, three less than the visitors.
"Once again, rebounding is what killed us," Gearhart said. "We didn't recognize some of their shooters cheating downfloor, and we gave them some open looks. And they hit 'em. I think we played well enough to win. We had some bad bounces, and we had some lapses. And a lot of turnovers.
"One thing we talked to the girls after the game, when you're down points and you've got the ball in your hands, you've got to make something happen. You don't try to find somebody else to do it for you. It didn't matter who had the ball, they had to get it up the floor and get a shot off or until somebody stopped them.
"But I'm not unhappy with the effort. I think this is going to be nothing but a positive for us."
The Clearfield junior varsity, coached by Jerry Stewart, won the prelim 54-33 to finish 15-7. Gwenn Porter, Madison Sopic and Elizabeth Peters scored nine points apiece for the Lady Bisons, while Tess Bloom had 13 for the Lady Tide jayvees.
CURWENSVILLE --- 57
Dani Struble 11 6-12 30, Hannah Walls 2 1-3 5, Ronna Knepp 1 0-0 2, Holly Fink 2 0-0 4, Jackie White 6 4-5 16, Holly Lansberry 0 0-0 0, Shannon Hamm 0 0-0 0. Totals: 22 11-20 57.
CLEARFIELD --- 65
Julianna Howell 7 1-2 19, Nikki Collins 6 2-2 17, Brooke Jordan 2 1-2 5, Annie Janocko 0 0-0 0, Elizabeth Sopic 3 5-5 11, Alanna Luzier 2 1-2 5, Elizabeth Peters 0 0-0 0, Madison Sopic 3 0-0 6, Julie Colesar 0 0-0 0, Jayme Ryan 0 2-2 2, Amber Byerly 0 0-0 0. Totals: 23 12-15 65.
Three-Point Field Goals: Curwensville 2 (Struble 2); Clearfield 7 (Howell 4, Collins 3).
Score by Quarters:
Curwensville 13 13 12 19 -- 57
Clearfield 13 16 16 20 -- 65
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