CLEARFIELD 43, PUNXSUTAWNEY 34

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Feb. 25, 2009 - District 9 Class AAA Girls' Semifinals

By Fred Kavelak

HYDE - After building a 10-point halftime lead with outstanding defense and strong rebounding, Clearfield withstood challenges by Punxsutawney in each of the last two periods for a 43-34 win in the District 9 Class AAA semifinal Wednesday night.

Junior guards Gwenn Porter and Madison Sopic sparked the Lady Bisons, who will make their first appearance in a district championship game since 2004 Saturday when they take on No. 1 seed St. Marys at 1:30 p.m. in Clarion University's Tippin Gym.

Porter, who did a good job handling the Lady Chucks' pressure defense, scored a game-high 14 points, including nine free throws, and grabbed eight rebounds.

Sopic led in rebounds with nine and chipped in 11 points by canning all seven of her foul shots.

Coach Joey Castagnolo thought it very important for Clearfield (13-10) to get off to a fast start, and Sopic took care of that. She swished two free throws, followed with a conventional three-point play on a running bank shot and then hit a short jumper for before Allie Miller got Punxsy (7-16) on the board with a foul shot with 3:01 gone.

With the Lady Chucks making only one of 13 shots in the first quarter, the Lady Bisons were able to open a 12-3 lead that they maintained through the second period by sinking nine of 11 foul shots.

Punxsy began the second  half with a 9-1 run capped by Amber Fye's three-pointer that made it 24-22 with 4:28 left in the third quarter, but the Lady Chucks didn't score again in the third quarter and trailed 28-22 going to the final eight minutes.

Threes by Lauren Janocha and Jenna Reitz helped the Lady Chucks make it interesting, 35-32, with 3:09 remaining, but Porter answered by dishing to Annie Janocko for a peep and hitting two foul shots.

Pairs of free throws by Sarah Kovalick and Sopic helped keep the Lady Chucks at bay in the final minute and gave the Lady Bisons a 20-for-24 performance at the charity stripe.

The game was decided at the foul line and under the boards, where Clearfield finished with a 37-25 advantage, only the sixth time this season the Lady Bisons outrebounded an opponent.

Clearfield's 1-3-1 zone and Punxsy's tight man-for-man made it a tough shooting night for both teams. The Lady Bisons were only 10-for-41 for 24.4 percent, while the Lady Chucks were 13-for-51 for 25.5 percent.

The victory also guarantees Clearfield a trip to the PIAA Playoffs for the first time since it won the final District 9 Class AAAA crown in 2000.

CLEARFIELD 43, PUNXSUTAWNEY 34

SCORE BY QUARTERS

Punxsutawney    3  10   9  12  -  34

Clearfield          12  11   5  15  -  43

PUNXSUTAWNEY –34

Jenna Reitz 2 0-0 5, Lauren Janocha 1 0-0 3, Brittany Baker 2 0-2 4, Amanda Toven 0 3-3 3, Allie Miller 5 1-2 11, Amber Fye 3 0-0 8, Megan McCully 0 0-0 0, Shawna Crago 0 0-0 0.  TOTALS: 13 4-7 34.

CLEARFIELD – 43

Annie Janocko 4 0-0 8, Sarah Kovalick 1 2-2 5, Jayme Ryan 1 0-0 3, Madison Sopic 2 7-7 11, Gwenn Porter 2 9-13 14, Amber Byerly 0 0-0 0, Elizabeth Peters 0 2-2 2, Lori Zalno 0 0-0 0, Angela Moore 0 0-0 0, Jody Schultz 0 0-0 0.  TOTALS: 10 20-24 43.

Three-Point Field Goals: Punxsutawney 4 (Reitz 1, Janocha 1, Fye 2); Clearfield 3 (Kovalick 1, Ryan 1, Porter 1).