CURWENSVILLE – The ability to score points in bunches is one factor that has set DuBois Central Catholic apart from most of the small school boys basketball teams in District 9 in recent years.
Curwensville\’s Golden Tide, hoping to rise to the Cardinals\’ level in the Allegheny Mountain League South Division, discovered again Wednesday night it still has a ways to go.
Coach Matt Wassil\’s team had no answer when DCC turned up the heat with its fullcourt man press for a 21-5 run in the final 3:27 of the third quarter, taking a 64-38 bulge into the final period en route to an 85-50 win on the Patton Hall hardwood.
The perennial AML-South champions, with two returning starters from the 2007 PIAA Class A runner-up squad, again are firmly entrenched in first place at 3-0, while the Golden Tide slipped to 1-2 and 3-6 overall with a tough road game on tap Friday at Kane, which features most of the talent from the 2007 District 9 Class AA title team.
Curwensville still was in the game when Joey Palmer scored inside and David Kalgren drove the length of the floor for a difficult lay-up that chopped DCC\’s lead to 43-33 with 3:39 left in the third period.
In the next 2:16, the high-flying Cardinals reeled off 17 unanswered points, most coming off steals.
Standout point guard Christian Spilman, a former Clearfield resident, showcased his wares to ignite the run.
He swished a long three-pointer, snapped a pass to Michael Hasson on the right wing for another three and followed with his second trey from outside in a 35-second span. Moments later, he flashed into a passing line for a steal and an easy lay-up.
Hasson was the beneficiary of two more takeaways, including another assist from Spilman.
By the time Ryan Gardner ended the Golden Tide\’s scoring drought with a three-pointer from the right corner, the only question was how much longer the Cardinal regulars would play.
In all, Curwensville had nine turnovers in the quarter, seven of them steals.
\”We just threw the ball to them too many times,\” Wassil said. \”We didn\’t come to meet the passes.
\”They\’re a quick, athletic team, and we told the kids before, and after, the game, it\’s against good teams that when you don\’t do the little things, it shows up big on the scoreboard. And that was one of the things. We just stopped going to the ball. We\’d cut and then stop, and they\’d come right through and get a steal for a lay-up or set up a jump shot.\”
Throughout the first half and early in the third quarter, the front line of Kalgren, Palmer and Derek Dixon kept Curwensville within striking distance. The Golden Tide had leads of 4-2 and 10-9 in the first period, when four of the starters lit up the scoreboard.
Dom Varacallo\’s trey from the right wing with 44 seconds left put the Cardinals ahead to stay, 12-10.
They led 16-13 when Max Moclock banged in a three-pointer from the right wing and converted two putbacks and Taylor Pentz was on the payoff end of a fast break that made it 25-13.
Six points by Kalgren, four coming at the foul line, and a peep by Dixon sliced DCC\’s edge to 31-22 at halftime, and Dixon\’s conventional three-point play and Palmer\’s three field goals helped Curwensville offset the visitors\’ good start to the second half.
That\’s when the Cardinals put their quickness and speed on display.
\”Normally, we get a lot of effort out of ever kid, and a lot of hard work, at least, out of those guys, no matter what the situation, whether they\’re hitting shots or not,\” Wassil said. \”But, tonight, we just didn\’t seem like we were there. We seemed like we weren\’t ready to play.
\”Even when we were hanging around, we didn\’t have any emotion. We have to work on that. Our kids and our staff, we need to make sure we understand that playing a team like DCC and you\’re in the game, you\’ve got to be happy about that, and you\’ve got to show some positive motion. That often leads to positive play.
\”We were just kind of sleepwalking. We just went through the motions. And it showed in the second half.\”
Varacallo, the fifth leading scorer in District 9, maintained his season average with 19 points to top five Cardinals in double figures. Moclock netted 12, Spilman and reserve John Ferraraccio had 12 apiece and Hassan added 11. Varacallo and Spilman were starters on last season\’s 25-4 team.
Kalgren matched his average with 16 points, including eight consecutive foul shots, for the Golden Tide, which was outrebounded 39-28 and wound up with 25 turnovers.
Curwensville shot 80 percent at the foul line but just over 30 percent from the field, 16-for-52. In contrast, DCC hit a red-hot 53 percent, 37-for-70, thanks to easy shots after turnovers and seven putbacks.
Kane gets a tune-up for the Golden Tide\’s visit with a home AML makeup game against Brockway Thursday night. The Wolves own a deceiving 5-4 record, with two losses by two points and a 48-44 loss to once-beaten Elk County Catholic in their lone AML-North outing.
In the junior varsity game, Jed Greslick poured in 28 points and Tyler Johns added 12, but Curwensville went down to defeat, 60-48. DuBois Central Catholic got 25 points from Chris Marshall and 10 from Pentz.
DUBOIS CENTRAL CATHOLIC — 85
Christian Spilman 5 0-0 12, Dom Varacallo 8 1-1 19, Michael Hassan 5 0-0 11, Max Moclock 5 2-2 13, Matt Pentz 0 0-0 0, John Ferraraccio 6 0-2 12, Chris Marshall 2 0-1 4, Kelcey Gulvas 2 0-1 4, Andy Kunkle 0-0 0, Taylor Pentz 2 0-0 4, Dan McNally 0 0-0 0, Zach Lewis 0 0-0 0, Will Gangeware 2 0-0 6, Zach Volpe 0 0-0 0, Joe McNally 0 0-0 0. TOTALS: 37 3-7 85.
CURWENSVILLE — 50
Ryan Gardner 1 2-2 5, Ben McGary 1 1-2 3, David Kalgren 4 8-8 16, Joey Palmer 4 1-2 9, Derek Dixon 4 1-1 9, Sam Gardner 0 3-5 3, Jed Greslick 0 0-0 0, Tyler Johns 1 0-0 3, Nick Opaliski 1 0-0 2, Ben Johnson 0 0-0 0, Billy White 0 0-0 0, Jesse Hoover 0 0-0 0, Heath McCracken 0 0-0 0. TOTALS: 16 16-20 50.
Three-Point Field Goals – DuBois Central Catholic 8 (Spilman 2, Varacallo 2, Gangeware 2, Hassan, Moclock); Curwensville 2 (R. Gardner, Johns).
Score by Quarters:
DuBois Central Catholic 12 19 33 21 – 85
Curwensville 10 12 16 12 – 50
Officials – Jim Vollmer and Rusty McCracken.
