The Lady Bisons opened a 14-5 lead with 2:56 left in the first quarter but, unfortunately, they weren't able to sustain the momentum.

After scoring 14 points in the first five minutes, it took Clearfield 21 more minutes to double that number and the Ramettes were able to leave Arthur J. Weiss Gymnasium with a convincing 61-38 win.

"That's the kind of start that I wanted to have," said Clearfield head coach Joey Castagnolo. "Everything was going perfect and then we started missing the three's, and everybody started panicking."

The Lady Bisons (0-1) made three of their four three-pointers in the opening six minutes, as Sarah Kovalick, Annie Janocko and Jayme Ryan each connected from long distance, but Clearfield went 0-of-9 in the second quarter and 0-of-4 in the third from behind the arc.

When Clearfield got a good look, Johnsonburg was there to get the rebound.

The Ramettes quickly moved the ball up the floor and converted it into easy points, as 16 of their 26 field goals came on layups.

After trailing by double digits midway through the first quarter, Johnsonburg took a 23-18 lead into halftime.

"We were beat at our own game, and that's not the way we like to play basketball," Castagnolo said. "We had a nice run and we were playing tough defense, and then the confidence level just went right down as the lead dwindled. When they got up, I was just looking for some kind of a spark because a five-point halftime deficit isn't that bad."

Johnsonburg, which outrebounded the Lady Bisons 43-16, kept the hot hand to start the third, netting the first seven points of the second half, but the Lady Bisons answered with a Kovalick jumper and a three-point play from Madison Sopic to make it a 30-23 game with 4:36 left in the third.

The Ramettes, who turned the ball over 32 times in the contest, had an answer, though.

Kelly Kocjancic scored six of her team's 22 points in the third stanza while Abby Grumley and Anna Polaski each added four, as Johnsonburg carried a 45-24 lead into the final eight minutes of play.

"We scouted their team and we knew they turned it over," said Castagnolo, "but we'd just give it right back to them. That shouldn't be. We're a veteran ball team.

"We've got to go back to the drawing board now. The effort was there and I think they adjusted the defense the way I wanted them to, but we just can't turn right back and give it to them."

Clearfield got another three-point play, this one from Janocko, in the fourth and Elizabeth Peters added a pair of buckets, but it was too little too late.

Kocjancic led all scorers with 15 points, while teammates Bobbie Pritt (14) and Grumley (12) also finished in double digits. Grumley led all players with 14 rebounds.

Janocko led Clearfield with nine before fouling out with 2:51 left in the game.

The Lady Bisons have a week to rebound, as they return to action Monday when they travel to Harmony.

In junior varsity action, Clearfield came away with a 30-21 win. Rachel Thompson led the Lady Bisons (1-0) with nine points.

Johnsonburg-61

Pritt 6 0-0 14, J. Myers 2 0-1 4, Kocjancic 6 2-4 15, Harvey 2 0-0 4, Grumley 6 0-0 12, B. Myers 0 1-2 1, Polaski 3 2-2 8, Boylan 1 0-0 3, Barber 0 0-0 0. Totals: 26 5-9 61.

Clearfield-38

Porter 1 0-0 2, Byerly 1 2-2 4, Sopic 2 3-3 7, Kovalick 2 1-2 6, Janocko 2 4-5 9, Peters 2 0-1 4, Ryan 2 0-0 6, Moore 0 0-0 0, Zalno 0 0-0 0. Totals: 12 10-13 38.

Three-pointers: Pritt 2, Kocjancic, Boylan; Ryan 2, Kovalick, Janocko.

Score by Quarters

Johnsonburg                 ÁÁ                   11Á12Á22Á16-61

Clearfield                                  ÁÁ                   14ÁÀ4ÁÀ6Á14-38