Falcons end Layton streak

CLEARFIELD — And then there were none.

The Clearfield Falcons gave the only unbeaten team in 5A its first loss in 34 games with a bit of a statement about what lies ahead in region 1 action, not to mention February's state tournament.

"We've got a chance to be good this year," Clearfield coach Dorne Hall said after the Falcons dominated the second-ranked Layton Lancers in a 68-51 win. "Usually when you say something like that there are three or four other good teams you have to contend with. This year in 5A there are about 10 teams."

Layton was 9-0 coming into Friday's game, while the Falcons were coming off a close loss to Fremont. Ironically, it was the loss that helped prepare the Falcons for the unbeaten Lancers.

"In a weird way, yes, it helped," said Clearfield point guard Haley Hall, who finished with 27 points. "It makes the region race interesting."

Both Halls believe the difference between Tuesday's Falcons and Friday's squad was simply mental motivation.

"Our intensity was just better," said Haley Hall, who ought to think about running sprints for the track team after the show she put on sprinting through and away from Layton's guards. "We were coming off a break, and we had a long bus ride and got stuck in traffic. And Fremont is a tough team to play. We just got so pumped up for this game, especially after losing Tuesday."

The BYU-bound guard was determined her team would not start the season 0-2. One thing they knew they had to do to win was keep track of Layton point guard Sheila Adams and guard/forward Ashley McFarland.

"We played zone the whole time, and we wanted to know where they were at all times," Haley Hall said. "We didn't want to focus all of our energy on them the whole time, but we just wanted to know where they were."

The game was very close the first half, with Clearfield nursing a slight lead going into halftime due mostly to great rebounding by its post players. Amy Arbon and Aleena Shelton did a great job grabbing both offensive and defensive rebounds. Arbon also was the beneficiary of some great passes from the guards and she scored 18 points in the win.

"Our post players were awesome tonight," Haley Hall said.

The Falcons came out in the third quarter and turned up the volume on what was already an extremely fast-paced contest. Layton started the third quarter with a bad pass, while the Falcons started the quarter with a 3-point shot by Ashley Washburn.