Castagnolo's squad did that and rewarded their coach with a quick start, a solid rebounding effort and a lights-out performance at the foul line in a 43-34 win over the Lady Chucks in the District 9 Class AAA playoffs on Wednesday night.

The win advanced the Lady Bisons into the district championship for the first time since 2004.

"It's going to be really special to go to Clarion (University)," said Castagnolo. "I haven't been to Clarion in five years, and it's just a neat atmosphere playing at a college campus.

"The atmosphere was just so great tonight for Clearfield. It was nice to see the boys team here and their coaches, and I can't say enough (about how the girls played)."

Madison Sopic had the hot hand early and often for the Lady Bisons, scoring the first seven points of the contest and giving Clearfield the lead for good.

Sopic began the scoring with a pair of foul shots, and added a three-point play shortly thereafter to make it 5-0 with 6:40 left in the first.

The Clearfield guard also got the job done on the glass, as she pulled down four of her game-high nine rebounds in the opening period.

"That's what kind of basketball player she can be," Castagnolo said of Sopic. "I preached all day to the kids that I wanted a fast start like the boys did (against Bradford on Tuesday) and that was a big key, too. We haven't had good first quarters against Punxsy in the other two games."

Lady Bison point guard Gwenn Porter capped the scoring in the first with a 3-pointer to give Clearfield a 12-3 lead, and then was instrumental in maintaining the advantage in the second.

Porter finished 5-of-7 from the foul line in the second quarter, as the Lady Bisons ended the half 12-of-14 from the foul line. The torrid shooting from the charity stripe continued in the second half as well with Clearfield ending the contest 20-of-24.

"I thought that was the difference in the game," said Castagnolo of his team's foul shooting. "Those kids just stepped up there with so much poise. Gwenny was 9-of-13, Madison was 7-for-7 and they were all crucial foul shots. The first-quarter foul shots were just as important as the fourth-quarter foul shots."

The Lady Chucks made things interesting early in the second half after trailing 23-13 at halftime.

Punxsy's defense forced three-straight turnovers and all resulted in points to quickly erase the double-digit deficit and make it a four-point game.

Porter ended the run with a foul shot, but Punxsy's Amber Fye knocked down her second 3-pointer of the game to make it 24-22 with 4:21 to play in the third.

That was as close as the Lady Chucks got, though, as the Clearfield defense turned it up from there and the offense put the points on the board.

Punxsy got to within three with 3:07 to play on a three from Jenna Reitz, but Clearfield put the game away at the foul line. The Lady Bisons made seven of eight in the fourth, while a 3-pointer each from Jayme Ryan and Sarah Kovalick resulted in the nine-point win.

Clearfield's defense held the Lady Chucks to 13-of-49 shooting in the contest, but didn't fare much better as it went 10-of-41.

"I just can't say enough about our defense," Castagnolo said. "I heard comments, ‘(Punxsy) couldn't shoot tonight,' but I think it was because of our defense. We kicked up the tempo again (at the end of the fourth) because the kids could taste it."

GAME NOTES: Clearfield finished the game by outrebounding the Lady Chucks, 37-25. The Lady Bisons' success on the glass was a rarity this season, as they've outrebounded their opponents just five times. ... In addition to Sopic, Porter also had a strong night rebounding as she finished with eight. ... Porter and Sopic were the only Clearfield players in double figures, as they scored 14 and 11, respectively. Punxsy's Allie Miller paced her team with 11. ... The win guarantees Clearfield at least a PIAA play-in game for the first time since 2000 - Castagnolo's first at the helm of the Lady Bisons. ... Clearfield will face St. Marys, which defeated the Lady Bisons twice this season by four points each game, in the championship game at 1 p.m. on Saturday.

Punxsutawney-34

Reitz 2 0-0 5, Janocha 1 0-0 3, Baker 2 0-2 4, Toven 0 3-4 3, Miller 5 1-2 11, Fye 3 0-0 8, McCully 0 0-0 0, Crago 0 0-0 0. Totals: 13 4-8 34.

Clearfield-43

Porter 2 9-13 14, Kovalick 1 2-2 5, Ja. Ryan 1 0-0 3, Sopic 2 7-7 11, Janocko 4 0-0 8, Byerly 0 0-0 0, Peters 0 2-2 2, Zalno 0 0-0 0, Moore 0 0-0 0, Schultz 0 0-0 0. Totals: 10 20-24 43.

Three-pointers: Fye 2, Reitz, Janocha; Porter, Kovalick, Ja. Ryan.

Score by Quarters

Punxsutawney                 3     10     9     12-34

Clearfield                      12     11     5     15-43