Clearfield pulled away from St. Marys for the Class 4A boys’ championship on Thursday, their District 9 record-setting ninth consecutive championship.

Both teams started off slow in the first half. At half time, it was only 21 to 12 with Clearfield in the lead. Cole Miller started the team off by scoring the first five points. Saint Marys did not score until there was 1:35 left on the clock in the first quarter, making it 5-2. Saint Marys overtook Clearfield in the second quarter for a little while until the Bison closed out the half with an 11-2 run, finished by Braison Patrick with a 3-pointer.

The Bison seemed to have this game under control the entire time, only letting the Flying Dutch score 12 in the first half of the game and 18 in the second. Two of those quarters, Saint Marys had a low of 4 points.

“When the team started making shots, everyone became more relaxed,” Anthony Lopez, varsity player from Clearfield, said.

Patrick, Miller, and Andon Greslick put the game out of reach after hitting multiple threes to pull the lead even further away. Another 3-point play from Luke Pallo early in the fourth quarter made it 41-26, and the Bison were able to finish out from there.

The Clearfield Bison basketball team will be losing three key players this year. In result of that, the whole team will have to work harder during their off season and next season practices.