CURWENSVILLE – Junior David Kalgren\’s putback with eight seconds remaining gave the undersized but scrappy Curwensville Area High School boys basketball team a pulsating 55-54 upset over Kane on Parents Night in Patton Hall Friday.
The visiting Wolves, loaded with all the players from the 2007 District 9 Class AA championship squad, had a distinct height advantage in the non-league game between teams heading in opposite directions, but the Golden Tide (7-11) ended its four-game slide with a scintillating, hustling, hard-working performance.
\”That was the team we believed we saw in the preseason and in the first few games of the year,\” said Curwensville coach Matt Wassil, who had every reason to be hoarse as much as he yelled instructions to his players. \”These kids just dug deep tonight, and I give them all the credit.
\”I\’ve always talked about the character of these guys, and they showed theirs by coming out and playing a really good, solid team wire-to-wire.\”
The Wolves (12-7), ranked No. 1 in Class AA and 10th overall in the latest RRR Roadhouse/D9Sports.com District 9 rankings, rotated six frontliners 6-3 or taller and outrebounded the hosts 31-22.
However, they had to battle for every missed shot even though the Golden Tide has no player standing 6-2.
\”That\’s what we need to do,\” Wassil said. \”We understand we\’re not going to win the rebounding war a lot of times. But if we compete and make them earn the opportunities, they\’re not going to get easy putbacks. That\’s what has been happening to us in the past few games. Tonight, we made them work for it.
\”Our big guys, we talked to them these past two days about just really having to compete and not give up position on the inside. And boy, did they!\”
Derek Dixon, Joey Palmer, Kalgren and Tyler Johns limited Kane\’s inside game to 21 points, 13 by strong 6-4 senior John Bizzak. Guard Mike Punk popped in 21 points, including a trio of three-pointers, and had an open look for the win at the buzzer, but his shot from the left corner was too strong.
Curwensville led most of the first half as its fullcourt, man defense proved very effective, creating 11 turnovers.
Ben McGary, becoming more of an offensive threat with his dribble penetration, sandwiched a short pull-up jumper and a driving layup around Palmer\’s putback to give the Golden Tide a 6-2 start 3:10 after the tipoff. However, he went to the bench with two fouls a minute later.
Dixon and Ryan Gardner also had to sit down with pairs of fouls before the first quarter ended, Kane gaining a 12-10 edge with the last basket after the score was knotted at 6, 8 and 10.
The Wolves might have been better off if Wassil didn\’t have to look down his bench and call on Jed Greslick when Dixon picked up his second foul with 3:10 left.
All Greslick did was wreak havoc on the Wolves with his quickness and leaping ability that belies his size. The sophomore guard scored all 11 of his points by halftime, nine in the second quarter.
Twice, he raced downcourt for a layup after making a steal. Later, he drove baseline for two. Then, he knocked down a trey from the left wing with 1:26 left, breaking the fifth tie of the period. On the next possession, he dished to Johns for a peep that gave the Golden Tide its largest lead of the game, 30-25.
\”We had foul trouble and normally that dooms us, but Jed Greslick came in there and really kept us right neck-and-neck with them,\” Wassil said. \”And without his points, we’re not in position to win at the end of the game. That’s a credit to him. And I have to make sure I let him know that he’s really a big part in this victory, as is everyone who stepped on the floor tonight.\”
A three-pointer by Kane\’s Brad Avenali set the score 30-28 at intermission.
Kalgren was the lone starter to score in the Golden Tide\’s 20-point second-quarter output, and the fact that the Greslick, Johns and Sam Gardner combined for 13 points off the bench didn\’t go unnoticed by Wassil.
\”What you want out of your bench is to maintain where you’re at,\” he said. \”If you gain on the other team, that’s a bonus. Our bench play was absolutely outstanding. At times when they were on the floor, we gained ground. I can\’t say enough about every kid.
\”If they can give us those minutes off the bench every night, we can be a dangerous team come the end of the year.\”
Kane, which had won three games in a row, switched defenses from man to zone to start the second half and immediately went on a 7-0 run for a lead it maintained until early in the fourth quarter. The Golden Tide trailed 43-37 at the end of the third period after registering only seven points on two drives by Kalgren and three foul shots by Dixon.
After Cory Waigand\’s free throw 14 seconds into the final quarter gave the Wolves their second seven-point lead, the Golden Tide knotted the count at 44-44 on a three by McGary from outside and a putback and two free throws by Kalgren.
Over the next two minutes, Punk and Bizzak boosted Kane into a 52-48 lead.
Back came the Golden Tide again. Palmer got an easy two when the Wolves got caught napping on an in-bounds play, Kalgren hit the first of two free throws and Sam Gardner soared over a defender for a lefthanded layup on a fast break that made it 53-52 and excited the hometown fans.
Kenny Kane got loose under the basket for an easy two put the Wolves ahead 54-53 with 2:10 left.
The only scoring after that was Kalgren\’s game-winner, his eighth and ninth points of the quarter, though the Wolves in-bounded the ball three times in the last eight seconds, two in the final 1.3 ticks.
\”David’s just Mr. Consistency,\” Wassil said. \”He scored 22 tonight and if you would have asked us how many he had, we probably would have said 12. He just gets them in ways you don’t even notice. And he always ends up big for us.\”
Against a good, active defense, Curwensville committed only 16 turnovers, three less than Kane, and shot 41.8 percent with 23 field goals in 55 attempts.
Wassil praised his team for sticking with the game plan.
\”They didn\’t give up on it,\” he said. \”All the credit goes to them. And they finally got a result that they deserve with their effort. We played some close games earlier, and we didn\’t get that result.
\”Every kid we put out on that court I can’t say enough about how they played, regardless of points, statistics or rebounds. The effort is what we always ask for. And tonight, every kid gave it.\”
The Golden Tide will play three games next week, Monday at home against West Branch in a Moshannon Valley League game and Wednesday at DuBois Central Catholic and Friday at home against Johnsonburg in Allegheny Mountain League games.
Greslick scored 15 points and Sam Gardner netted 14, but the Curwensville jayvees bowed 50-37 in the prelim.
KANE — 54
Kenny Kane 1 0-0 2, John Bizzak 6 1-2 13, Mike Punk 9 0-0 21, Brad Avenali 1 0-0 3, Cory Waigand 1 1-2 3, Sean Perry 3 0-0 6, Tyler Labesky 0 0-1 0, Zach Anderson 2 2-2 6, Tyler Bizzak 0 0-0 0, Arie Paup 0 0-0 0. TOTALS: 23 4-7 54.
CURWENSVILLE — 55
Ryan Gardner 0 0-0 0, Ben McGary 3 0-2 7, David Kalgren 9 4-7 22, Joey Palmer 2 0-1 4, Derek Dixon 0 3-4 3, Sam Gardner 2 0-1 4, Jed Greslick 5 0-0 11, Tyler Johns 2 0-0 4. TOTALS: 23 7-15 55.
Three-Point Field Goals – Kane 4 (Punk 3, Avenali 1); Curwensville 2 (McGary 1, Greslick 1).
Score by Quarters
Kane 12 16 15 11 – 54
Curwensville 10 20 7 18 – 55
Officials – Gary Dauber, Greg Dauber.