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Remarkable Turnaround, Bobcats Down Lions In Overtime (02/04/14) JVs also win

What a difference 45 days and 6.4 miles can make! In what was probably one of the greatest turn-arounds in school history, the homestanding Clarion High School Boys Basketball Team defeated Clarion-Limestone 63-58, in overtime. This coming after the Bobcats lost to the Lions, 69-19, on December 20th at Clarion-Limestone.

(Photos by Scott Miller) And the crowd goes wild

(Photos by Scott Miller)
And the crowd goes wild

Do the math and it adds up to a 55 point turn around! The Bobcats surpassed their 19 point output, from the first game, before halftime, as they overcame a two point, 11-9 first quarter, deficit to take a one point, 25-24 halftime lead, on a 3-pointer by Taylor Smith.

But the Lions roared back, in the third period, outscoring the Cats 21 to 11, to take what would seem to have been a comfortable nine point, 45-36 lead, heading into the fourth.

But, Bobcat senior Ellis Painter decided to take over the game. And from the start of the last period of regulation, which ended 51-all, through overtime, Painter scored 20 points.

Painter had 26 points, in all, including three from 3-point range, to lead all scorers. Taylor Smith added 15 points, with three treys of his own.

Steven Smathers  scored eight points. Brendan Miller had 7 points and twelve rebounds. Thomas Plummer scored six points. Cody Hearst pulled down ten boards and scored a point.

Antonio sinks a free throw in overtime

Antonio sinks a free throw in overtime

Leading the Lions was Daniel Callen, with 14 points, Kolton Stiglitz with 12 and R. J. Legaund with ten.

Coach Todd Smith shared these thoughts about his team’s performance, “What a great TEAM effort. We lost to C-L by 50 points in December and to turn around and beat them a month later is a huge credit to the kids and how hard they have worked.  We have faced our share of adversity this year and the guys have never given up. We are going to the playoffs, these kids have earned it.

“Ellis’s performance tonight was amazing. He scored 20 of his 26 points in the 4th quarter and overtime.

“We rebounded about as good as we could have vs a much bigger team. Bo (Brendan Miller) and Cody were scrappy and tenacious on the boards tonight.

“When Taylor hit the 3 pointer to give us the lead at halftime I think we knew it was possible. He got excited and then I got really excited.

“Steven has been really steady for us lately off the bench and he hit a couple big shots tonight.

“Antonio was solid as always and was 6 for 6 from the foul line, where we were 21 for 24 as a team.”

The Bobcat JVs also won their game, 42-36.

Clarion jumped out to a 14-5 lead after one period, but C-L closed the gap to three points, 22-19 at the half. After three, the Bobcats held a 32-26 lead. Each team scored 10 points, in the fourth quarter, to set the final.

Michael Bartley scored 8 points for the Bobcat JVs, followed by Derek Lauer, with seven. Reed Anthony scored 5 points, while Craig Kerr, Zach Hill and Ryan Anthony each had four. Thomas Plummer and Nadir Lynch had two apiece.

Cesar Lopez led the Lion JVs with 16 points and Anthony Louder had six.

The Bobcats, who are now 8-9, are scheduled to host Venango Catholic on Wednesday.