RIDGWAY — Senior standouts Dani Struble and Jackie White recorded double-doubles as the Curwensville Area High School girls basketball team capped a special week with a record-breaking 56-38 victory over Ridgway in an Allegheny Mountain League South makeup game Saturday afternoon.
The Lady Tide\’s 18th win in 22 games — and third in four days — not only broke the school record of 17 set by the 2004-2005 squad, it also wrapped up the Allegheny Mountain League South Division title. Curwensville (8-2) will win the AML South for the second year in a row via a better overall record even if DuBois Central Catholic (10-11, 7-2) defeats Kane Monday.
Coach Vic Gearhart\’s Lady Tide, which locked up the Moshannon Valley League crown Wednesday, will meet North Division winner Elk County Catholic (17-5) in the AML championship game Saturday at 6 p.m. in the DuBois Middle School gym.
\”We really happy with everything this week,\” Gearhart said. \”Going into the season, I don\’t know if the kids thought they could be this good. They\’re a hard group to read. I don\’t know what their expectations were. I think we\’re all pleasantly surprised with the results so far.
\”I don\’t know how long it will last, but a school record is a school record.\”
He added, \”The seniors have had three coaches in four years, and I appreciate all the adjustments they\’ve made.
\”This team has lost a head coach (Alan Fairman) and an assistant coach (Brenda Thornhill) who died in the last year. They\’ve really had some adversity that probably has helped toughen them up some.
\”They can be proud of all they\’ve done this year. They\’re a lot more cohesive than they were at the beginning of the season. It\’s been enjoyable to see them grow as a team. We\’re a different team as far as spreading the ball around and looking for open shots. I think we counted too heavily on Dani and Jackie most of the season. Now, other girls are looking for and draining shots. And I think we\’re better defensively now, too. As coaches, we\’re pleased at where they are.\”
The Lady Tide leaned on Struble and White against the Lady Elkers, who are 1-21 with a 1-9 AML South record.
Struble pumped in 13 points in the first quarter as Curwensville bolted to a 17-5 lead and finished with 26 markers and 10 rebounds in less than 24 minutes of playing time. White checked in with 14 points, a game-high 12 rebounds and five assists.
\”With as much shuffling as I did, nobody played more than 24 minutes,\” Gearhart said. \”Of the seven players I\’ve been using a lot, all played at least 17 minutes. And we were able to get all 12 people in. I thought it was important everybody played in the game that broke school record. We couldn\’t have done it without all of them at practice every night.\”
Curwensville, which led 28-9 at halftime, outrebounded Ridgway 37-24. Kathy Shirey topped the Lady Elkers with 10 points.
The Lady Tide will be on the road three times next week, a non-league game against backyard rival Clearfield Tuesday, the MVL finale against Glendale Wednesday and the AML title game Saturday.
In the junior varsity game, Ridgway eked out a 33-31 win. Tess Bloom scored 15 points for Curwensville.
CURWENSVILLE — 56
Dani Struble 9 8-8 26, Hannah Walls 2 0-0 4, Ronna Knepp 2 0-0 4, Holly Fink 1 0-0 2, Jackie White 6 2-2 14, Holly Lansberry 0 3-4 3, Shannon Hamm 0 2-2 2, Alesia Bressler 0 0-0 0, Shannon McDonald 0 0-0 0, Jenae Stiles 0 0-0 0, Jenessa Stiles 0 0-0 0, Tess Bloom 0 1-2 2. Totals: 20 16-18 56.
RIDGWAY — 38
Lacey Gosnell 2 1-2 5, Jacki Davison 2 4-6 8, Emily Mitchell 3 2-4 8, Bekka Leitzell 0 1-4 1, Jordan Cowan 1 0-0 2, Kathy Shirey 4 0-0 10, Andrea Redman 1 0-0 2, Miki Quatrone 1 0-0 2. Totals: 14 8-16 38.
Three-Point Field Goals: Ridgway 2 (Shirey 2).
Score by Quarters:
Curwensville 17 11 10 18 — 56
Ridgway 5 4 14 15 — 38
