Preview: Clairton Bears vs. Geibel Catholic Gators
Clairton is 4-0 against Geibel Catholic since January of 2017, and they'll have a chance to extend that success on Thursday. The Clairton Bears will finish 2023 at home by hosting the Geibel Catholic Gators at 5:00 p.m. Both teams took a loss in their last game, so they'll have plenty of motivation to get the 'W'.
Last Thursday, Clairton came up short against West Mifflin and fell 58-46. The loss unfortunately continues a disappointing trend for Clairton in their matchups with West Mifflin: they've now lost three in a row.
Clairton's defeat shouldn't obscure the performances of Bryant Blair, who scored 11 points along with six rebounds and three blocks, and Taris Wooding who scored 11 points along with seven rebounds. The contest was Wooding's fifth in a row with at least ten points. Mike Wright jr. was another key contributor, scoring six points.
Meanwhile, this season hasn't been kind to Geibel Catholic, who are still winless after their seventh match. They took a hard 73-56 fall against Aquinas Academy last Tuesday. Having run the score up that high, both teams probably have some extra defensive drills coming up.
The loss doesn't tell the whole story though, as several players had good games. One of the most active was Tommy Kolencik, who dropped a double-double on 18 points and 12 rebounds. That's the first time this season that he scored 15 or more points. The team also got some help courtesy of Gary Tarbuk, who scored nine points along with eight assists.
Even though they lost, Geibel Catholic were working as a unit and finished the game with 14 assists. That's the most assists they've managed all season.
Clairton now has a losing record at 4-5. As for Geibel Catholic, they bumped their record down to 0-7 with that loss, which was their fifth straight on the road dating back to last season.
Thursday's contest is shaping up to be a scrappy game: Clairton have been smashing the glass this season, having only averaged 28.2 rebounds per game. It's a different story for Geibel Catholic, though, as they've been averaging only 21 rebounds per game. Given Clairton's sizeable advantage in that area, Geibel Catholic will need to find a way to close that gap.
Everything came up roses for Clairton against Geibel Catholic in their previous matchup back in January of 2018 as the team secured a 87-37 win. One of the biggest obstacles trying to stand in the way of that victory was Geibel Catholic's Cole Kendall, who scored 19 points. Now that he won't be playing on Thursday, will it be that much easier for Clairton to walk away with another win? Check MaxPreps.com after the match to find out.
