While 3-pointers are key to the Lady Bisons' success, so is their depth and their rebounding - none of which showed in last week's season-opening loss to Johnsonburg.

Castagnolo and his squad had a week to prepare for Harmony, and showed no signs of the team that took the court in last week's 61-38 defeat.

Clearfield gained the lead with 4:45 left in the first quarter and never trailed again, defeating the Lady Owls 53-39 in Westover on Monday night.

The Lady Bisons had nine of their 10 players see time in the first half, while the Lady Owls were limited to just six through the first two quarters and seven in all.

"The whole thing to the game was our depth and versatility," said Castagnolo. "We just wore them out. Our style, my whole career, has been uptempo and I wasn't afraid to play an uptempo game with them. We worked on the press and how to beat it, and it worked just perfect. We just played the gameplan perfect. We worked hard for this win."

Clearfield's focus on the defensive side of the ball was Harmony's Alyson Leyo, who finished with a game-high 19 points.

Leyo thrived in the first two quarters, scoring 14 and pulling down nine of her 11 rebounds, but found the sledding tough in the final 16 minutes.

While Clearfield had no problems knocking down its shots, the Lady Owls couldn't buy a bucket. Harmony finished the game 16-of-64 - including 3-of-25 from 3-point range - and was outrebounded 36-25.

The Lady Bisons, on the other hand, made 19 of 52 shots and 10 of 19 from long distance.

"They made a lot of shots tonight," Harmony head coach Joe Leyo said. "Everything they shot went in, and everything we shot, didn't go. I'm not making excuses, but that's basically what happened.

"They were switching people in and out, and we just don't have the depth to do it. ... In the second half, we were outrebounded. I think we were standing flat-footed because I think we were played out."

Another thing Castagnolo looks for in his offense is balanced scoring, and the Lady Bisons epitomized the term.

Four players finished with 12 points and each of them had a big quarter for Clearfield, starting with senior Annie Janocko in the first.

Janocko scored seven of her 12, including five-straight points in the opening stanza, while teammate Madison Sopic poured in a big second quarter to give the Lady Bisons a 30-26 lead at halftime. Sopic made four-straight shots, including a pair of 3-pointers in the quarter.

Jayme Ryan scored a pair of 3-pointers in both the first and third periods, while Sarah Kovalick netted eight of her 12 in the final frame.

"What I liked was the balanced scoring," said Castagnolo. "I just can't get over the balanced scoring, and that's what we strive for. We have 10 kids that play with eight that play a lot, and they're starting to understand the system."

Harmony's Megan Brink cut the deficit to two with a short jumper to start the third, but Ryan answered with the first of her two threes in the frame.

Leyo made a foul shot to make it 33-29, but Janocko and Ryan made back-to-back 3-pointers four minutes apart to put the game out of reach.

Clearfield led 42-33 heading into the fourth and kept the Lady Owls (3-1) at bay for the win.

The Lady Bisons (1-1) will try to knock off their second undefeated opponent on Friday when they travel to face St. Marys.

Harmony is back in action again this evening, hosting Moshannon Valley - the team it tied for the Moshannon Valley League title a season ago.

"I told the girls we had to put the game behind us," said coach Leyo. "This game is over and we need to get ready for tomorrow for a league game. That's what we're going to try to do."

Clearfield also won the junior varsity game, 33-29.

The Lady Bisons (2-0) got seven points each from Rachel Thompson and Julia Ammerman, while the Lady Owls (1-1) were led by Alaina Westover's nine points.

Clearfield-53

Porter 0 1-3 1, Kovalick 4 2-3 12, Sopic 4 2-2 12, Ja. Ryan 4 0-0 12, Janocko 5 0-0 12, Peters 0 0-0 0, Moore 1 0-0 2, Byerly 1 0-0 2, Zalno 0 0-0 0, Schultz 0 0-0 0. Totals: 19 5-8 53.

Harmony-39

K. Kruise 1 0-5 3, Brink 3 1-1 7, Leyo 7 3-6 19, Neff 2 0-4 4, M. Kruise 3 0-1 6, Westover 0 0-0 0, Clark 0 0-0 0. Totals: 16 4-17 39.

Three-pointers: Ja. Ryan 4, Kovalick 2, Sopic 2, Janocko 2; Leyo 2, K. Kruise.

Score by Quarters

Clearfield                                  16            14            12            11-53

Harmony                                  13            13          7            6-39