Girls basketball: Clearfield heats up, uses depth to push past Ogden
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- Clearfield’s Xiyah Yarbrough (2) takes a shot against Ogden’s Salote Tonga (10) on Thursday, Nov. 30, 2023, in Ogden.
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- Clearfield High’s bench celebrates a made basket against Ogden on Thursday, Nov. 30, 2023, in Ogden.
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- Ogden’s Mariah McDonald (13) takes the ball up the court as Clearfield’s Ciara De La O (1) pursues on Thursday, Nov. 30, 2023, in Ogden.
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- Clearfield’s Xiyah Yarbrough drives and shoots against Ogden on Thursday, Nov. 30, 2023, in Ogden.
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- Ogden’s Ruth Larsen dribbles the ball against Clearfield on Thursday, Nov. 30, 2023, in Ogden.
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- Clearfield’s Amber Dankwa (15) and Ogden’s Salote Tonga (10) battle for position on Thursday, Nov. 30, 2023, in Ogden.
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- Clearfield’s Amber Dankwa (15) grabs the ball over Ogden’s Izzy Nestel on Thursday, Nov. 30, 2023, in Ogden.
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- Ogden’s Taylor Duke, left, drives against Clearfield’s Izzy Wyaskett (11) on Thursday, Nov. 30, 2023, in Ogden.
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- Ogden’s Mariah McDonald passes against Clearfield on Thursday, Nov. 30, 2023, in Ogden.
OGDEN — It took Clearfield High’s girls basketball team a little more than a quarter to figure things out against Ogden on Thursday night but, once they did, they shot the lights out in the second stanza.
Up by six after one, the Falcons scored 21 points in the second period, including six 3-pointers, to take a commanding lead at the break.
The two teams played even in the second half but by that time, the damage was done and the Falcons soared to a 63-48 non-region victory over the Tigers.
“We came together more as a team in the second quarter. At first we were trying to figure out how to play and how we could beat them,” Clearfield sophomore Jayla Kearns said. “Shots started falling in the second quarter and it kind of brought the energy, and it all came together.”
Five different players netted the six 3-pointers for Clearfield (2-0), with Gretchen Higley getting two early in the second quarter, followed by Isabelle Wyaskett, Destini Gomez, Brighton Bernards and Nevea Cordova with one each.
In addition to racking up 21 points in that second quarter, the Falcon defense held Ogden (1-1) to nine points and Clearfield led 36-21 at halftime.
“On defense, we’ve been working a lot on repetition and our communication is very good,” Kearns said. “Our goal is to try and hold teams under 30, 40 points. Our defense then translates to offense and a lot of our points come from steals, turnovers and layups.”
Kearns came off the bench to lead the Falcons with 10 points. They spread the points around, with 12 different players getting into the scoring column.
“A goal of mine is to bring the energy and show people our bench is deep, not just our starters. Bring the hype coming off the bench,” Kearns said.
Xiyah Yarbrough, Amber Dankwa and Wyaskett each had seven points for the Falcons.
Sophomore post Salote Tonga led Ogden, scoring a game-high 22 points on a variety of flashy moves. She had back-to-back traditional three-point plays in the third quarter, then stepped out beyond the arc and nailed a 3-pointer.
Izzy Nestel and Megan Beus both scored six points for the Tigers.