Curwnsville– The Curwensville Area High School boys basketball team couldn\’t have found a much tougher opener than the defending PIAA Class A champion Elk County Catholic, but coach Matt Wassil said the positives out numbered the negatives in the 63-43 loss Friday night.
Veteran coach Aaron Straub\’s 2-0 Crusaders, led by returning All-State guard Jessee Bosnik, came into Patton Hall on a 34-game winning streak and did nothing to suggest they wouldn\’t be the team to beat in District 9 again this season. The 6-2 Bosnik, outstanding on both end of the floor as a scorer, playmaker, rebounder and defender, poured in 25 points.
\”We told the kids to embrace this opportunity, relax and have fun,\” Wassil said. \”And I think they did that. I though our kids gave the effort we requested.\”
\”We\’re not discouraged by what we saw. We had kids do some things they couldn\’t do last year. I thought we rebounded extremely well for our lack of size and, defensively, we played pretty well. Giving up only 63 points against that team is pretty good.\”
The Cursaders suffocating full-press bothered the Golden Tide more than Wassil would have hoped.
\”That was one of our only disappointments,\” he said. \”We had worked and worked on that. We know we have to break the press better.\”
Senior guard Craig Bartlet led the Golden Tide with 11 points. Sophomore David Kalgren added 10 in a reserve role.
Bosnik drove the lane for the game\’s first points, and the Crusaders never trailed as coach Aaron Straub utilized his deep bench to maintain pressure on the Golden Tide at all tiemes as well as fast break at every opportunity.
\”We\’ll rotate seven,\” Wasssil explained. \”They rotate 12, but we don\’t gain the advantage which they get. And they had us in size. I think that kind of took its toll in the second half.\”
The Crusaders big front line, with several interchangeable players who stand 6-3 or 6-4, made it very difficult for the Golden Tide to get second and third shot, and that dooms teams if they can\’t shoot for a very high percentage. Still, Wassil was pleased the way the Golden Tide scrapped and hustled.
Curwensville, which never backed down, trailed only 12-11 in the final minute fo the first quarter that ended 14-11 when Crusader Kiel Nissel wound up with a peep on an in-bounds play that gave the hosts fits all night.
Midway through the second quarter, the Golden Tide closed to within four at 22-18 after Bartlett swished two free throws and came right back with a jumper. The Crusaders responded with a 10-4 run for a 32-22 halftime lead.
Bosnik took charge at the outset of both the thrd and fourth quarters to foil any thoughts Curwensville had for a comeback. He canned two long jumpers, one a three, and added a free throw to balloon Elk County Catholic\’s lead to 38-22 early in the third.
Shawn Sopic converteed one of the Golden Tide\’s rare offensive rebounds into a three-point play and Philip Michaels scored on a strong drive in the final 48 seconds of the quarter to trim the deficit to a 44-32, but Bosnik retaliated with a spinnging lay-up to start the final period, grabbed a rebound for a lay-up and then added the exclamation point with a steal and dunk that pretty much settled the issue at 49-35 with 6:58 remaining.
Wassil believes success is just around the corner for this Golden Tide team if it continues its work ethic.
\”We\’re fine. We\’re only going to get better,\” he buoyed his starters\’ spirits after replacing them in the final minutes.
Next week, Curwensville travels to Brockway for an Allegheny Mountain League South Division game Tuesday, hosts Glendale it its Moshannon Valley League openers Wednesday and goes on the road for a big MVL game Friiday.
Elk County Catholic also won the junior varsity game 45-35. Ryan Gardner scored 17 points for the Curwensville underclassmen.
ELK COUNTY CATHOLIC–63
Ritz 0 0-0 0, Moholic 2 2-2 6, Bosnik 11 2-4 25, Higgins 2 0-0 4, Salter 4 1-1 9, Detsch 0 0-0 0, Mastrogiacomo 0 0-0 0, Haberberger 2 1-3 5, Jablonski 0 0-1 0, Crowe 1 1-2 3, Agosti 0 0-0 0, Nissel 4 0-2 8, Simbeck 0 0-0 0, Wortman 0 0-0 0, Jones 0 0-0 0, K. Gardner 1 1-1 3. Totals 27 8-16 63.
CURWENSVILLE–43
McGary 0 0-0 0, Bartlert 4 2-2 11, McDonald 1 1-2 3, Sopic 2 1-1 5, Michaels 3 0-0 6, Palmer 2 2-2 6, Kalgren 4 1-2 10, Gardner 1 0-0 2, Dixon 0 0-0 0, S. Gardner 0 0-0 0, Johns 0 0-0 0. Totals 17 7-9 43.
Three -Point Field Goals: Elk County Catholic 1 (Bosnik. Curwensville 2 (Bartlett 1, Kalgren 1).
