STRATTANVILLE, Pa. – Clarion-Limestone gave Clearfield everything they could handle, and despite losing leading scorer Hayden Callen to injury late in the third quarter, the Lions still trailed by three points with 10 seconds left and ended up getting two good looks at a potential tying three-pointer, but both were off the mark. A pair of free throws by the Bison with .02 seconds left gave Clearfield a 45-40 victory on Tuesday evening at the Lions’ Den.
(Archived Photo from the 2019-20 Season by: Jared Bakaysa)
C-L (5-8 overall) led 32-27 with 13 seconds remaining in the third quarter when Callen left the game with an injury. Ryan Gearhart’s layup with one second left in the quarter cut the lead to 32-29 after three.
Clearfield then began the fourth on a 5-0 run to take a 34-32 lead before Jordan Hesdon made a short jumper to tie the score at 34-all with just over five minutes to play. Gearhart made a three, and Karson Rumskey added a put-back sandwiched around a free throw by Tommy Smith which put the Bison up four at 39-35 with 4:05 to play. The Lions missed three consecutive free throws before Hayden Siegel knocked down a three-pointer to cut the lead to one at 39-38 with 1:11 left. Rumskey and Nick Ryan made 3-of-4 free throws to push the lead back to four at 42-38 with 27 seconds remaining. After Rumskey missed both free throws with 12 seconds remaining, Smith was fouled after the second attempt and made both of his attempts cutting the lead to two at 42-40.
Rumskey was fouled with 10 seconds left and missed the first while making the second to give the Bison a 43-40 lead. C-L got the ball down the court, and Siegel attempted a three that grazed off the rim and caromed out to Hesdon, who attempted another shot with two seconds left that fell short, and Rumskey got the rebound and was fouled. He made both free throws to set the final score.
“I was extremely proud of the kids and how they’ve matured as the season has gone on,” said C-L head coach Joe Ferguson. “We’ve had some rough games which the schedule being so crammed due to the COVID issues and not having much practice time. It was really impressive to me tonight to be able to hang tough and even give ourselves a chance against a very good and very athletic team.”
Despite the injury, Callen still led the Lions with 14 points and nine rebounds. Jordan Hesdon added eight points with eight boards. Ryan Hummell also pulled down eight rebounds.
“I thought we actually held our own on the boards tonight, especially against a good team,” said Ferguson. “Jordan was getting several boards in the first half, and I’m not sure how many he ended up with. We were getting contributions from about everybody we put in there tonight. Where we struggled was at the free-throw line, which had actually been one of our strengths this season. We missed several free throws at some pretty crucial times tonight.”
Rumskey led Clearfield with a double-double of 16 points and 10 rebounds. Cole Miller added eight points. Clearfield struggled from three-point range, making just 4-of-22 attempts from long range.
In a low-scoring first quarter, C-L held a 9-7 lead after the first eight minutes.
C-L led 16-13 halfway through the second before a three by Miller tied the score at 16. A pair of buckets by Callen and Smith put the Lions ahead 20-16. A 5-2 run by the Bison, including another three by Miller, closed the quarter with C-L ahead 22-21 at the half.
The Lions led by as many as five at 28-23, with three minutes elapsed in the third. Clearfield finished the quarter with a 6-4 scoring edge to cut the lead to 32-29 after three.
C-L will host A-C Valley tomorrow evening.
“Everybody is faced with the same situation with back-to-back games,” said Ferguson. “I just hope our guys get a good night’s rest, and we’ll come out and give it our best shot tomorrow night.”
Box score
Clearfield 45, C-L 40
Score by quarters
Clearfield 7 14 8 16-45
C-L 9 13 10 8-40
Clearfield- 45
Matt Pallo 0 0-0 0, Luke Winters 2 1-2 5, Ryan Gearhart 1 4-4 7, Curvey Purkett 2 0-0 4, Karson Rumskey 5 5-8 16, Jake Lezzer 1 0-0 2, Cole Miller 3 0-0 8, Nick Ryan 1 1-2 3. Totals: 15 11-16 45.
C-L 40
Hayden Callen 5 4-4 14, Ryan Hummell 2 0-0 4, Jordan Hesdon 3 2-4 8, Hayden Siegel 1 0-0 3, Tommy Smith 1 3-6 5, Braden Rankin 0 1-2 1, Riley Klingensmith 2 0-0 5, Alex Painter 0 0-0 0. Totals: 14 10-16 40.
Three-pointers: Clearfield 4 (Miller 2, Gearhart, Rumskey), C-L 2 (Siegel, Klingensmith).
Fall Sports
Rocky Grove and Lakeview Team Up for Mason
