WINGATE - Anne Hoover's free throw with 4.8 seconds remaining gave Bald Eagle Area a 54-53 revenge win over Clearfield in the first round of the BEA Girls Basketball Holiday Tournament Thursday night.
Coach Joey Castagnolo's Lady Bisons, who lost senior Alanna Luzier and junior Annie Janocko to injuries in the second half, fell to 4-6 for the consolation game against Moshannon Valley Friday at 7 p.m.
BEA, which was beaten 56-49 by Clearfield in the season-opening Lady Bison Blast-Off Tournament, will play backyard rival Bellefonte for the championship at 8:30.
"They're a different team down there," Castagnolo said of the Lady Eagles' turnaround. "That's probably the best we've played since the Punxsutawney game. The desire was there tonight.
"We still turned the ball over way too much, but those are correctable errors."
The Lady Eagles overcame the Lady Bisons' 21-point first quarter by outscoring them 25-14 in the middle two periods to notch their second win after eight consecutive losses.
Clearfield, with junior Sara Kovalick and four sophomores or all sophomores on the floor most of the time in the fourth quarter, did tie the score but never was able to reclaim the lead.
After gaining possession with slightly less than a minute left, BEA held the ball for the last shot, and Hoover was fouled on a drive to the basket. She missed the first free throw before canning the game-winner.
The Lady Bisons failed to get off a last-second shot, losing the ball out of bounds.
Kovalick scored a career-high 10 points to lead Clearfield, including two of the team's six three-pointers.
"She played well off the bench," Castagnolo said. "They all played well, even though we lost."
BEA got 17 points from Margaret Rougeux and 13 from Brittany Butterworth.
In junior varsity action, Clearfield lost 50-42 to BEA. Elizabeth Peters' 12 points topped for the Lady Bisons.
CLEARFIELD --- 53
Jayme Ryan 3 0-0 9, Alanna Luzier 2 1-2 6, Annie Janocko 2 0-0 4, Madison Sopic 0 3-5 3, Elizabeth Peters 2 3-4 7, Gwenn Porter 1 4-7 6, Amber Byerly 3 2-2 8, Sarah Kovalick 3 2-4 10. Totals: 16 15-24 53.
BALD EAGLE AREA --- 54
Brittany Simpson 3 0-2 6, Brittany Butterworth 6 1-2 13, Carly Kristofik 1 0-0 2, Kathryn Hoover 2 0-0 4, Danielle Reese 3 0-4 6, Alissa Morgan 0 0-0 0, Margaret Rougeux 7 3-4 17, Maggie Meek 1 0-0 2, Anne Hoover 0 4-8 4. Totals: 23 8-20 54.
Three-Point Field Goals: Clearfield 6 (Ryan 3, Luzier 1, Kovalick 2).
Score by Quarters:
Clearfield 21 8 6 18 -- 53
Bald Eagle Area 17 11 14 12 -- 54
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