Bison Cagers Move to Tournament Championship, Down Williamsburg

PATTON — Even with classes not in session, the high school basketball season rolled on for the Clearfield Bison cagers. Coming off a very difficult, but hard-fought, victory over West Branch, Clearfield was ready for some tournament action, as they would make the trip on Tuesday evening as part of the opening contest in the Cambria Heights Holiday Tournament. The opening opposition this year came courtesy of the Williamsburg Blue Pirates.

For Clearfield, they picked up exactly where they left off, by playing hard and being smart with the basketball. That would pay dividends as they would put on a clinic for three quarters, moving into the tournament championship with a 61-37 triumph.

The first quarter set the pace in a familiar fashion. Despite not having Braison Patrick available in their starting rotation, the Bison would get on a roll thanks to Andon Greslick and lead-scorer Cole Miller. The two would combine for 17 of the team’s 20 first-quarter points, while defensively holding Williamsburg to just a pair of three’s in the first eight minutes. The second quarter was more of the same as Miller continued to get looks, while also not being selfish with the ball and ensuring his teammates got opportunities.

Heading into the halftime break, the 34-17 lead the Bison had appeared to give them enough cushion to cruise in the second half.

Clearfield did cruise, but that didn’t stop Miller from finishing his game on a strong note. His game-high 27 points came mostly in the third quarter, which included two of his five trey’s in the game. He finished just short of a double-double, with nine boards plus three assists. Greslick also made it into double figures, finishing with 12 points and five boards, while Braylen Way added 11 points, five rebounds, and three assists to the stat sheet.

The Bison put up 24 in the third quarter, pushing the lead to 58-26, more than enough to have the running clock go into effect.

Williamsburg would win the final quarter, 11-3, but the game was well out of reach as many Bison starters got some deserving relief while the younger players got some much needed minutes on the floor. Rowan Gorsuch paced the Blue Pirates with 13 points on the evening.

Clearfield (4-2) will play in the tournament finals on Wednesday evening to finish off the 2022 portion of their schedule.

SCORE BY QUARTER

Clearfield 20 14 24 3 – 61
Williamsburg 6 11 9 11 – 37

Clearfield – 61

Cole Miller 10 1-1 27, Andon Greslick 5 0-0 12, Morgen Billotte 3 0-0 6, Anthony Lopez 0 0-0 0, Braylen Way 5 0-1 11, Kam Kushner 0 1-2 1, Ev Maines 1 0-0 3, Cole Bloom 0 0-0 0, Skylar Clark 0 0-0 0, Peyton Reasinger 0 0-0 0. TOTALS 24 2-4 61

Williamsburg – 37

Zachary Kagarise 2 2-4 7, Preston Isenberg 0 0-0 0, Aaron O. 0 0-0 0, Logan Branter 1 0-0 2, Damian Rispoli 0 0-0 0, Joey Zehner 0 0-0 0, Rowan Gorsuch 4 5-7 13, Evan Zehner 1 2-2 5, RJ Royer 3 1-2 8, Zach Merritts 0 0-0 0, Sam Parks 0 0-0 0. TOTALS 9 10-15 37.