BROOKVILLE, Pa. (D9Sports.com) — Opponents of the North Clarion girls’ basketball team know that in order to beat the She-Wolves this year you must contain Tori Obenrader and Abbie Schmader.
Clearfield wasn’t able to contain either in a season-opening 50-45 win for North Clarion at the Brookville Tip-off Tournament Friday afternoon.
The duo combined to score 45 of North Clarion’s 50 points and pull down 37 of the She-Wolves 57 rebounds in the victory with Obenrader scoring 21 points and hauling in 22 boards and Schmader netting a game-high 24 points to go with 15 boards.
“They both played super great,” North Clarion head coach Terry Dreihaup said. “Having them opens up the outside.”
North Clarion used a 14-7 run that started with just under two minutes to go in the third quarter to take an 11-point lead, 48-37, with 1:44 to play in the game only to watch Clearfield use a pressure defense to close the gap to four, 48-44, following the third straight steal and bucket from Emily Ryan.
“I had my quick team out there,” Clearfield head coach Joey Castagnolo said. “I was real happy. I said steal the ball, go right to the hoop and see what happens. The Ryan girl responded with three baskets in a row. I started second-guessing myself. Maybe I should have done it earlier.”
For most of the first half, the Bison didn’t really need to use pressure to play with North Clarion.
An 8-0 second-quarter run fueled by five points from Rachel Glenny, who had a team-high 15 to go with seven rebounds, put Clearfield up 23-18 with two minutes to play in the half.
“She stretches the floor for us,” Castagnolo said about Glenny. “She is the first girl down on our fast break offense. She was getting open. She is an athlete.”
But North Clarion ended the half on a 6-0 spurt thanks to two Schmader baskets and a bucket and an assist from Obenrader, to go ahead 24-23 at the break.
The She-Wolves then continued the run into the second half taking it up to 12 straight points and a 30-23 lead thanks to four more points from Schmader.
“They were playing a matchup zone on us,” Dreihaup said. “We got the ball in the middle, penetrated and it opened up the layup down low.”
But just when it looked like North Clarion was going to take complete control of the game, four straight Clearfield points topped by a 3-pointer from Margo Castagnolo, the coach’s daughter who hit three triples on her way to 13 points, cut the She-Wolves lead to 30-27 with 4:08 left in the third quarter.
Another three by Castagnolo made it 34-30 with 3:23 to play in the half before Obenrader pushed the advantage to 36-31 at the end of the quarter.
The sophomore, coming off an All American Awards & Engraving D9Sports.com Rookie of the Year performance a year ago, then made it 39-31 when she hit a 3-pointer, North Clarion’s lone three of the game 10 seconds into the fourth quarter.
“They were attacking the basket,” Castagnolo said. “We weren’t reacting to the ball. You guys ranked her (Obenrader) as one of the five best in the district. She is. She is the real deal. I was real impressed by her.”
NORTH CLARION 50, CLEARFIELD 45
Score by Quarters
Clearfield 13 10 8 14 — 45
North Clarion 12 12 12 14 — 50
CLEARFIELD — 45
Margo Castagnolo 5 0-0 13, Rachel Glenny 6 3-5 15, Sam Rockmore 0 0-0 0,
Emily Ryan 5 1-1 11, Niki Chew 0 0-0 0, Ally Lindstrom 1 2-4 4, Kate
Lansberry 0 0-0 0, Alayna Ryan 1 0-1 2. Totals 18 6-11 45.
NORTH CLARION — 50
Abbie Schmader 10 4-7 24, Cassie Wagner 2 0-0 4, Tori Obenrader 9 2-6 21,
Taylor Gatesman 0 0-2 0, Michaela Higgins 0 0-1 0, Sarah Schettler 0 1-2
1, Erika Sherman 0 0-0 0. Totals 21 7-18 50.
THREE-POINTERS — Clearfield:Castagnolo 3. North Clarion: Obenrader 1.
