RIDGWAY – Something had to give with Curwensville and Ridgway both seeking their first \’W\’ of the season in Wednesday night\’s Allegheny Mountain League South Division girls basketball game.
Unfortunately, the visiting Lady Tide wasn\’t celebrating at the buzzer.
The Lady Elkers jumped in front early, surrendered the lead briefly in the third quarter and then held on in the final five minutes for a 31-28 victory that ended a 32-game losing streak. Their last win was against Brockway Dec. 13, 2006.
\”We went from our best practice we had all season on Tuesday night to our worst first half effort,\” Curwensville coach Vic Gearhart said. \”We came out flat. Our intensity wasn\’t there. We were just not ready to play basketball.
\”Everything we talked about and worked on in practice we didn\’t take on to the floor.\”
The Lady Tide, now 0-13, scored only eight points in the first half but was only down seven. Hannah Walls and Holly Fink sparked a run early in the third quarter that overtook the Elkers.
\”Then we went cold from the three-minute mark in the third quarter until the five-minute mark in the fourth,\” said Gearhart, who pointed out his team made only four of 11 free throws.
\”Eleven is not very many, but we didn\’t make them,\” he said. \”And the one good thing we\’ve done this season is shoot a pretty good percentage at the foul line.\”
In the fourth period, Curwensville missed its lone free throw while Ridgway made four of 11.
The Lady Tide gained possession with 12 seconds left with a chance to tie, but a three-point attempt failed.
Walls ended up with 13 points for the Lady Tide, while Emily Mitchell and Kathy Shirey scored 10 apiece for the Lady Elkers.
Curwensville will host Sheffield (7-6) in a non-league game Friday.
Ridgway\’s junior varsity won the prelim, 26-16.
ALLEGHENY MOUNTAIN LEAGUE STANDINGS
South Division – DuBois Central Catholic 4-1, Brockway 2-3, Ridgway 1-5, Curwensville 0-5.
North Division – Elk County Catholic 6-0, Sheffield 2-0, Kane 2-2, Johnsonburg 1-2.
CURWENSVILLE — 28
Hannah Walls 6 1-3 13, Tess Bloom 0 2-5 2, Mindy Desmett 0 0-1 0, Alesia Bressler 2 0-0 4, Holly Fink 4 1-2 9, Janessa Stiles 0 0-0 0, Jenae Stiles 0 0-0 0. TOTALS: 12 4-11 28.
RIDGWAY — 31
Emily Mitchell 3 4-8 10, Andrea Redmond 1 1-2 3, Bekka Leitzel 2 2-2 6, Kathy Shirey 4 2-2 10, Jordan Cowan 0 2-4 2, Lacey Gosnell 0 0-3 0, Olivia Horning 0 0-0 0, Lauren Amacher 0 0-0 0. TOTALS: 10 11-21 31.
Score by Quarters
Curwensville 5 3 10 10 – 28
Ridgway 11 4 6 10 – 31
